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 Two preview will focus on Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey and Sussex Sharks.
Part One features Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Hampshire Hawks.
Kent Spitfires
Captain: Sam Billings
Overseas: Wes Agar (Australia, all group matches) Tom Rogers (Australia, all group matches)
Finals Day Appearances: Four (2007, 2008, 2009, 2021)
Titles: Two (2007, 2021)
2024 Finish: Ninth (South Group)
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Sam Billings (411)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Matt Parkinson (16)
Key Moves: Rogers was an emergency signing last year and enjoyed himself so much he said he’d come back for free (although he is being paid). Agar was only supposed to play red-ball cricket last year but did enough as emergency cover to earn a multi-format deal. Chris Benjamin’s arrival from Bears should add some firepower.
The Big Question: Will the return of Fred Klaassen galvanise a bowling unit that was badly exposed last year? The Dutch international missed most of 2023 and all of 2024. Inexperienced replacements were severely punished for the slightest lapses in length, line or both, but Klaassen offers both a wicket-taking threat and a level of discipline and control severely lacking last season.
Wildcard Watch: Daniel Bell-Drummond. The stylish right-hander is without a The Hundred team after previous stints at London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix. He’s a safe bet for any team looking for top-order hitting with more than 4,000 Vitality Blast runs to his name at a strike rate close to 140, while he enjoyed a profitable 2024 with 373 runs which included three half-centuries.
Final Thought: Does any side blow as hot and cold as Kent have done in the last few seasons? They won the Blast in 2021, finished bottom of the South Group in 2022, were unlucky not to reach the quarter-finals in 2023 and struggled again in 2024. If this pattern continues they should be due a good season, and seven of the 2021 champions (Crawley, Bell-Drummond, Joe Denly, Billings, Leaning, Stewart and Klaassen) remain at the club.
Middlesex
Captain: Stephen Eskinazi
Overseas: Kane Williamson (New Zealand, full competition) and Josh Little (Ireland, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: One (2008)
Titles: One (2008)
2024 Finish: Eighth (South Group)
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Martin Andersson (282)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Luke Hollman (23)
Key Moves: The signings of a world-class batter in Kane Williamson and left-arm seamer Josh Little, a man with stacks of experience of franchise cricket, is a statement of intent. Last year’s leading run-scorer Martin Andersson has left for Derbyshire and it remains to be seen if another new arrival, Zafar Gohar will form a two-pronged spin attack alongside Luke Hollman.
The Big Question: Can Middlesex live up to head coach Richard Johnson’s great expectations? Johnson declared pre-season it was time to move from ‘developing to winning’. Williamson and Little’s presences will help, but youngsters invested in over recent years need to emulate Hollman’s feats from 2024 if the Seaxes are to improve on their record since lifting the trophy in 2008.
Wildcard Watch: Joe Cracknell. The 25-year-old regressed a little last season, when shifted around the order and unable to settle into a specific role. However, whether in the powerplay or as a finisher he’s shown his ability as a big-hitter and a return to his best could see him add to the three appearances made for London Spirit in the inaugural Hundred of 2021.
Final Thought: The only way is up for Middlesex, but their long-suffering supporters have heard that before. Andersson was 41stamong tournament runscorers last season while Max Holden’s strike-rate of 160 was strong but he rarely batted long enough. Williamson’s presence should help the pace the innings, which had some good starts but too many collapses. Hollman, fifth in last season’s list of wicket-takers can shine again, while Little’s experience in the powerplay and death overs will be key to any improvement.
Somerset
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Overseas Players: Riley Meredith (Australia, full competition), Matt Henry (New Zealand, first 11 group matches)
Finals Day Appearances: Ten (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Titles: Two (2005, 2023)
2024 Finish: Runners-up
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Tom Banton (515)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Ben Green (21)
Key Moves: Australia T20 international pace bowler Riley Meredith was signed to replace Kiwi Matt Henry last season. Now both have been recruited to form an exciting new-ball partnership, which promises to be as potent as any in the Blast, with Craig Overton as an accomplished back-up.
The Big Question: Can the likes of Will Smeed and Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit the ground running with their powerful stroke play, without the benefit of some red-ball cricket behind them this summer? The hugely talented Smeed averaged only 21 in last year’s Blast and needs to reestablish himself as a destroyer at the top of the order.
Wildcard Watch: Lewis Goldsworthy has not featured in Championship cricket for Somerset this season, but his ability as a spinner allied to his prowess with the bat could make him a candidate to replace Roelof van der Merwe, whose Somerset T20 career has ended after two impressive spells with the club.
Final Thought: The burning memory of a shock defeat by arch-rivals Gloucestershire in last year’s Blast final should be all the incentive Somerset need to drive them to another Finals Day with a team that looks stronger in the bowling department than last season and equally explosive with the bat.
Surrey
Captain: Sam Curran
Overseas Players: Mitchell Santner (New Zealand, available after IPL and knockout matches), Nathan Smith (New Zealand, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: Nine (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2023, 2024)
Titles: One (2003)
2024 Finish: Semi-finals
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Jamie Smith (285)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Tom Curran (16)
Key Moves: New Zealand’s white-ball captain, Mitchell Santner, is available when the rescheduled IPL finishes and will also be available for the knock-out stages in September if the team – now captained by Sam Curran – qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. Left-arm spinner Santner’s fellow Kiwi, all-rounder Nathan Smith, has already impressed in the Rothesay County Championship as the club’s other new overseas signing this season.
The Big Question: As ever, and especially after a second successive semi-final exit against Somerset, who beat them by 24 runs in 2023 and then by six wickets last year, Surrey are desperate to jettison the tag of only winning the T20 Cup once before – the inaugural tournament under Adam Hollioake’s captaincy in 2003. There have now been eight unsuccessful Finals Day appearances since that triumph.
Wildcard Watch: Dom Sibley. England’s erstwhile 22-times capped Test opener reinvented himself in last season’s Vitality Blast by unveiling some previously unseen strokes – including an extraordinary reverse-scoop for six in his quarter-final winning 67 not out against Durham. Sibley scored 269 runs in 11 matches at the top of the order, at the highly creditable strike rate of 133.83.
Final Thought: Surrey are used to it by now – 24 players appeared in last summer’s Blast campaign – but juggling their resources around international call-ups means another big test of the squad’s envied depth. A major plus, however, is Sam Curran’s availability throughout the group stages. Surrey’s new T20 captain, at present surplus to England’s white-ball requirements, played only five Blast innings last year but smashed 13 sixes while scoring 237 runs at a strike rate above 150.
Sussex Sharks
Captain: Tymal Mills
Overseas Players: Nathan McAndrew (Australia, all group stage), Gurinder Sandhu (Australia, all group stage), Daniel Hughes (Australia, full competition).
Finals Day Appearances: Six (2007, 2009, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2024).
Titles: One (2009)
2024 Finish: Semi-finals
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Daniel Hughes (596)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Tymal Mills (24)
Key Moves: No major changes. Tall Australian seamer Gurinder Sandhu, who has played for three teams in the Big Bash, has mainly been signed for red-ball cricket in June and July but will be another option for Mills.
The Big Question: Mills was outstanding in his first season as captain. Calm and composed under pressure, he revelled in the responsibility, and rather than affecting his bowling he finished with 24 wickets – more than any other Sussex bowler and his most productive season since debut 14 years earlier. He will relish the opportunity to prove that reaching Finals Day was no fluke and going one better than the semi-finals.
Wildcard Watch: Harrison Ward has been on Sussex’s staff since 2021 but until last season didn’t seem to have a defined role and sometimes came in as low as number eight. Mills gave him clarity by making him Hughes’ opening partner and he responded with 350 runs, three fifies and a strike rate of 157.65, form that earned him a chance in The Hundred.
Final Thought: Sussex were unexpected semi-finalists last year, having won ten games out of 28 in the previous two seasons, but Mills led them superbly and with virtually the same squad there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be competitive. Head coach Paul Farbrace has set the bar high again, and both he and Mills will regard not reaching the knockout stages at least as failure.
