After enjoying a fantastic start to the season in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, Hampshire Hawks captain Georgia Adams says the mood among her club-mates has jumped even further as they prepare for Friday’s Vitality Blast double-header against Essex at Utilita Bowl.
The start of the Vitality Blast women's competition signals the next step in a new era for professional domestic women's cricket, and for Adams the excitement is palpable.
“Everyone loves T20 cricket and the atmosphere around it,” she says. “The whole feel and vibe is just so exciting. You can tell the mood in camp changes just a little bit when T20 is on the horizon. Everyone’s up for it and there’s an extra spring in people’s step. We can’t wait to get going and we’re starting with an absolutely great double header.”
Further north, at Trent Bridge, Georgia Elwiss is quickly settling into her new surroundings and feeling similar excitement ahead of The Blaze’s double header against Bears.
“With the Blast, it’s an entertainment piece,” says Elwiss. “You’ve got the music, the fireworks, the big crowds, and the weekend games. It’s all good fun and we’re really excited to get going with it.”
Both players have enjoyed a successful start to the Metro Bank One Day Cup. Elwiss has contributed to The Blaze winning five of their eight fixtures so far, while Adams and her Hampshire Hawks team-mates have collected six victories.
“It’s been nice to have such a lengthy block of eight games, so you can really focus on getting your teeth stuck into it,” says Elwiss. “We’re pretty happy with how we’ve started and where we’re sitting.”
Adams agrees. She says: “We couldn’t be happier with how the team has started. We’ve had a lot of fun, the culture has been fantastic, and we’ve really embraced the one-club ethos and brought all the fans together behind one big family. It’s been really enjoyable.”
Elwiss has been quick to adapt to her new surroundings, having moved north to Nottingham to start a new chapter in her career.
“Everyone at Notts is super supportive,” she says. “We’re really blessed that we’ve got a great set-up and good interaction with the men’s team and their coaches. It’s been a pretty seamless transition so far.”
Both players say the new one-club approach in a revamped 2025 model is already paying huge dividends.
“Being able to play on the First-Class grounds has been the biggest difference for us this year,” says Elwiss, “because the pitches have been brilliant. We’ve seen high-scoring, tight games and you can’t really underestimate the part the pitch plays in the quality of the cricket that’s being produced.”
Adams says: “What’s been lovely about Hampshire is the respect, right at the very top, between the men’s and women’s teams. This year, having one club with the same identity, that connection feels even stronger. We’re doing more content and media stuff alongside the men, because we’re all in the same colours, and hopefully now we’ll move forward together with the same fan base.”
Both Elwiss and Adams struggle to believe how much women’s cricket has changed in the last 15 years. Comparing their experience as 18-year-olds with the experiences available to today’s 18-year-old cricketers is, says Elwiss, “like chalk and cheese.”
She adds: “What I’ve been really pleased to see is how well the Tier 2 and Tier 3 systems seems to be working in terms of providing more players within the game. Today’s 18-year-olds have an unbelievable skill level. They’re young, energetic, and they’re playing shots I wouldn’t have dreamed of playing until I was in mid-to-late twenties. For them, it's brilliant. It provides them with an amazing platform, and they’ve got a really clear pathway through the domestic game.”
Adams says: “Women’s cricket is on a real journey at the moment and it’s only really going way – bigger and better. It’s been absolutely incredible to be part of women’s cricket in the last five years. For someone like me, who got a professional contract out of nowhere aged 26, to be able to be paid to do what I love, I feel incredibly privileged. When we’ve now got so many people tuning into the live streams, sometimes I sit back, reflect, and just say ‘wow’. For young players today, it’s phenomenal to have these pathways in place.”
Tickets for the Vitality Blast are on sale now.