Lancashire Thunder bid to end Super League era on a high in Blackpool

The Thunder travel to Stanley Park for their final Super League event, with the The Hundred to launch next summer as part of a wider restructure of English women’s domestic cricket.

It is a clash between two sides who can’t qualify for this weekend’s finals day at Hove, with the Thunder yet to win in nine games this summer.

They have lost eight and tied once, against Southern Vipers at Hove, with a lack of runs a particular problem.

General manager Bobby Cross said: “We’ll want to finish well, and I’m sure Surrey will be the same because they can’t qualify either.

“It’s been a disappointing four years performance wise. At times this year – the results haven’t reflected it – we’ve played some really good stuff.

“It’s been frustrating because we’ve had a tie and four of the games have finished in the last over. If we’d had a bit more luck and played better at key times, it could have been different.

“Hopefully we can win well on Wednesday and then start looking forward to next year and how the landscape changes with all of that.”

The Thunder have given opportunities to homegrown Lancashire talent.

Emma Lamb and Ellie Threlkeld, both girls with England representative experience, are players who have grown their games.

“It’s been a great competition for us in that regard,” said Cross. “We’ve given so many of our young girls the opportunity to play at this level.

“The competition has also been a good tool for England. They’ve found some players on the back of Super League performances.

“We’re really excited about how the future looks, especially having a (Hundred) team at Manchester.

“There’s a really exciting future in prospect for the women’s game.

“If someone had told me 10 years ago that we’d be playing at venues like Emirates Old Trafford and Trent Bridge and be on TV, I wouldn’t have thought it.”

Surrey have won two of nine games and sit second-bottom above Lancashire.

One of their wins came against the Thunder at Guildford earlier this month when they chased down 121.

Lancashire beat Yorkshire on their previous visit to Blackpool 12 months ago.