Vitality Ultimate Picks returns for the 2026 season, with some great prizes on offer for those who can predict the star players each gameweek. The Vitality Blast gets underway on Friday 22 May, while England Women are in Vitality IT20 action against New Zealand and India as well.
To give you a little helping hand, we’ve put together a list of players we think will get off to a flyer this summer and are perfect picks for gameweek one (22 May – 28 May).
Sign up to play Vitality Ultimate Picks and get your selections in by 2pm on Friday 22 May to enter in gameweek one.
Batters
Ella McCaughan (Hampshire Hawks)
Ella McCaughan was one of the standout players in the Vitality Blast last season before injury curtailed her campaign. The Hampshire batter scored three 50s and the first ever century in the women's competition, finishing with 327 runs from five innings at an average of nearly 82.
She's had a solid start to the 2026 season in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, with a top score of 90 in her first game of the season, and she'll be looking to prove her 2025 antics weren't a one-off. If she can continue her 153.52 strike rate from last year's Blast then McCaughan will be in many people's Ultimate Picks lineup this season.
Daniel Hughes (Sussex Sharks)
Left-handed Aussie opener Daniel Hughes has great pedigree in the Vitality Blast, scoring 940 runs over the last two seasons for Sussex Sharks.
While 2025 was a slightly more fallow year, in 2024 he smashed nearly 600 runs at an average of 40, scoring five fifties and a top score of 96.
He comes into the 2026 Vitality Blast in fine form as well, having hit centuries in two successive games in the Rothesay County Championship. He’ll need to go through the gears to get into T20 mode ahead of the Sharks’ opening against Essex, but no doubt he’ll be confident of a fast start.
All-Rounders
Dani Gibson (England Women)
One of the most talked-about players in the country, thanks to her £190,000 price tag in the recent auction for The Hundred; Dani Gibson will be looking to play her way into England Women's starting XI for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup during the series against New Zealand and India over the next few weeks.
Injury curtailed much of her 2025 season, but she remains an important prospect for England Women and a potential match-winner in the World Cup. While she had an unremarkable ODI series against New Zealand, Gibson provides an excellent option as a middle-order batter and seam bowler, especially with Nat Sciver-Brunt absent through injury.
David Willey (Northamptonshire Steelbacks)
With the end of the IPL season running into gameweeks one and two of Vitality Ultimate Picks, star players like Jamie Overton, Liam Livingstone and Will Jacks are likely to miss a number of Blast games.
Never fear though – there’s a set-and-forget option available in the ever-reliable David Willey. The all-rounder was on fire last season, taking 20 wickets and scoring over 450 runs.
Willey looks to have his eye in early as well, smashing 77 and taking a wicket as Northamptonshire 2nd XI beat Somerset 2nd XI ahead of the Blast starting.
Wicketkeepers
Kira Chathli (Surrey)
Kira Chathli broke out in the 2025 edition of The Hundred, showing her pedigree as an opening batter in the shortest format and a safe pair of hands behind the stumps.
Bouyed by her first England call up to the recent Metro Bank ODI squad, Chathli will be looking to build on her 225 runs in last year’s Blast. She also took eight catches and four stumpings as Surrey won the inaugural edition of the women’s Blast in 2025.
Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)
With the likes of Phil Salt and Jordan Cox absent at the IPL, Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow is a great pick to start the season in Vitality Ultimate Picks.
England commitments mean that Bairstow’s appearances in the Blast have been restricted in recent seasons, but now his full focus is with his county, he has the chance to push Yorkshire to their first finals day since 2022.
On his day, Bairstow is a destructive opening batter and will form a fearsome partnership at the top of the innings with Adam Lyth.
Bowlers
Lauren Bell (England Women)
Quite simply, one of the best T20 bowlers in world cricket – in fact she’s third in the ICC’s rankings at the time of writing.
Incredibly reliable with the new ball in the power play, Bell just takes stacks of wickets, including 19 in last year’s edition of The Hundred, and 12 in the WBBL earlier this year.
She’s got three matches for England Women in gameweek one against New Zealand and India, where she’ll be looking to fine tune for the ICC T20 World Cup starting in June.
Scott Currie (Hampshire Hawks)
Another bowler who’s used to taking bagfuls of wickets in recent years – Scott Currie has been a phenomenon with the white ball.
He took 27 wickets in 17 games for Hampshire Hawks in 2025 and impressed for England Lions against Pakistan Shaheens in February this year, with six wickets in three games.
He’s handy with the bat as well, averaging nearly 15 with the bat in T20 cricket, giving a great option for quick runs in the lower order.