With the Vitality Blast just around the corner, let’s take a look at the Men’s Vitality Blast T20 South Group teams, highlighting overseas signings, key players from 2024 and wildcards to watch.
This Part One preview will focus on Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Hampshire Hawks.
Part Two will feature Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey and Sussex Sharks.
Essex
Captain: Simon Harmer
Overseas: Simon Harmer (South Africa, full competition), Mohammad Amir (Pakistan, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: Six (2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2019, 2023)
Titles: One (2019)
2024 Finish: Fifth (South Group)
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Michael Pepper (535)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Paul Walter (17)
Key Moves: With Sam Cook likely to be requisitioned by England for much of the summer, Essex reacted by re-signing Mohammad Amir to replenish their seam-bowling stocks. The experienced Pakistan international left-armer returns after taking 24 wickets across two Blast spells in 2017 and 2019, the latter helping Essex along the road towards their only success in the competition.
The Big Question: Can Essex shrug off their perennial enigmatic form in T20 cricket? Their entire history in the short format has been littered with fits and starts, false dawns and letdowns. Now, will the new management axis of (coach) Chris Silverwood and (captain) Simon Harmer align to produce something more concrete and significant?
Wildcard Watch: Matt Critchley has played in all four iterations of The Hundred – for Welsh Fire (2021-2022) and London Spirit (2023-24) – but was overlooked in the 2025 Draft. The golden-arm all-rounder was Essex’s second-highest wicket-taker in last season’s Blast with 14, evidence that leg-spinners are more than worth their weight in white-ball cricket. What’s more, he’s also an explosive bat.
Final Thought: Michael Pepper has established himself as one of the most exciting of big-hitting gunslingers. In a personal 2024 Blast campaign that included two centuries, he peppered the stands and terraces of South Group venues with 32 sixes – seven more than anyone else and that during a season in which Essex failed to qualify for the latter stages. He toured West Indies with England’s white-ball team in the winter; is he ready to step into the first XI at international level?
Glamorgan
Captain: Kiran Carlson
Overseas: Colin Ingram (South Africa, full competition), Hayden Kerr (Australia, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: Two (2004, 2017)
Titles: None
2024 Finish: Sixth (South Group)
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Kiran Carlson (380)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Mason Crane (19)
Key Moves: Glamorgan’s biggest miss for the T20 campaign this season will be Marnus Labuschagne. The all-action Australian joined for a couple of Rothesay County Championship matches, but international duties mean he’s not available for the Blast. But Glammy have made a smart move to bring in Aussie all-rounder Hayden Kerr who has been a mainstay with the Sydney Sixers and offers flexibility in the batting as well as a left-arm option.
The Big Question: Can interim head coach Richard Dawson bring his Midas Touch in white-ball cricket to Glamorgan? He led Gloucestershire to 50-over success in his first season across the Severn Bridge and the club reached the knockout stages of the Blast in four of his finals five seasons. He coached England U19s to a World Cup final and was on the England staff when the men’s team won the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Wildcard Watch: Mason Crane is currently the only Glamorgan player in a The Hundred squad where he’ll continue to work with Dawson at Welsh Fire. Ben Kellaway will have eyes on him after his breakout white-ball campaign in 2023 and enters the tournament with solid red-ball form which could propel the ambidextrous 21-year-old’s hopes.
Final Thought: After securing a white-ball title last year when winning the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, Glamorgan will feel as though they underperformed in the Vitality Blast. They did show their quality in the final group game with a record-breaking win over eventual runners-up Somerset by 120 runs. They have players who will push at the door with Alex Horton, a potential replacement for veteran wicket-keeper Chris Cooke, and all-rounders Tom Bevan and Dan Douthwaite ensuring plenty of selection headaches.
Gloucestershire
Captain: Jack Taylor
Overseas: D’Arcy Short (Australia, all group matches), Cameron Bancroft (Australia, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: Four (2003, 2007, 2020, 2024)
Titles: One
2024 Finish: Winners
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Cameron Bancroft (534)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: David Payne (33)
Key Moves: Dynamic with the bat and a capable wrist spinner, Aussie international D’Arcy Short looks sure to prove an exciting replacement for fellow countryman Beau Webster, who featured in 13 of Gloucestershire’s 17 Blast matches last season. Aged 34, Short has represented his country 23 times in T20s and in eight ODIs.
The Big Question: Gloucestershire have always revelled in the role of underdogs and did so again to become surprise winners of last year’s Blast. As holders of the trophy, no one will be underestimating them this season, so can them perform as well with the added pressure of being among the favourites to reach Finals Day?
Wildcard Watch: Only Cameron Bancroft scored more Blast runs for Gloucestershire last season than Miles Hammond, who notched 54 fours and 23 sixes in averaging 32.46 as an ever-present throughout the competition. The 29-year-old left-hander will again be a key figure in defending the trophy.
Final Thought: Mark Alleyne’s influence on Gloucestershire’s one-day cricket promises to be as important as when he captained the side in their glory years. No one expected a trophy last season, his first since returning to the club as head coach, but his shrewd tactical brain and winning mentality quickly transferred to the team as they beat hot favourites Somerset in a one-sided final to become Blast champions.
Hampshire Hawks
Captain: James Vince
Overseas Players: Lhuan-dre Pretorius (South Africa, 10 matches from June 13), Dewald Brevis (South Africa, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: Ten (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Titles: Three (2010, 2012, 2022)
2024 Finish: Seventh (South Group)
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Joe Weatherley (324)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: John Turner (15)
Key Moves: The Hawks have completely refreshed their overseas contingent with two of the most exciting young players in the world. Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the top run-scorer in the SA20 over the winter and wunderkind Dewald Brevis. Fast bowler Sonny Baker is also added from last year’s Blast.
The Big Question: Can James Vince feel at home again? The Hawks skipper is only playing in the Blast for Hampshire this year after moving to Dubai over the winter. He had a rare lean 2024 – understandable after attacks on his family house – but the Blast’s all-time leading run scorer has been tearing up franchise leagues around the world and is ready to return to the UK with his destructive brand of cricket.
Wildcard Watch: Dewald Brevis. Has been mentored by South African great AB de Villiers and it shows. He burst onto the scene by breaking the most runs at the 2022 U19 World Cup. He ended that year by smashing 162 in 57 balls – the joint third highest T20 score of all-time. More recently, he won the SA20 with MI Cape Town with the competition’s highest strike-rate. Also bowls very useful leg-spin.
Final Thought: Having won the Blast in 2022, before reaching Finals Day the following year, 2024 was underwhelming, filled with a series of overseas not arriving and general under performance. The new Proteas contingent provides an exciting new headline but the core squad, that knows the unique challenges of the expansive Utilita Bowl, is still there. Vince should return fresher without two months of Rothesay County Championship cricket in his legs but with PSL form.
