All-rounder Sophie Munro is hoping to leverage home advantage as the Nottinghamshire born-and-bred player takes to Trent Bridge to face Thunder in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. 

She is in a squad of 14 for the fixture, with last year’s finalists seeking to secure back-to-back wins after their victory over Northern Diamonds in Scarborough. 

“Out of everywhere we play our cricket, Trent Bridge feels the most like home for me because we are here so much, and there is a lot that we can gain from that feeling,” Munro said. 

“When you turn up to train here every day, as we have for the last 18 months, you don’t necessarily give much thought to the fact of where you are and what Trent Bridge offers.

“But when you reflect on it, you realise how good the facilities are and actually how surreal it is too, having grown up playing for Nottinghamshire personally, that this is home for us. 

“There is the familiarity we get from playing here, having our branding in the dressing rooms - the small things which add up to make us feel like we belong here and give us confidence.”

Munro has seen near wall-to-wall cricket since the conclusion of the 2023 season, having been selected on England A tours of Oman and New Zealand - the reward for impressive performances with bat and ball in both 50 and 20-over competitions. 

Those tours not only served as recognition, but provided a platform for further progression with Munro having developed on both camps. 

“I made some technical changes off the back of the tours and that has definitely really helped improve my accuracy and bring about more consistency with the ball,” she said, “It has put me in the best place I’ve ever felt in a cricketing sense. 

“Chris Liddle (England Women Performance Bowling Coach) and Matt Mason (England Women Fast Bowling Coach) suggested things for me to try and I did some work at Lougborough before the tours which seems to have worked. It has been nice to see those things come to fruition and benefit my game. 

“Being around a lot of experienced players and hearing their insight to the game has developed my tactical awareness too. The access to different coaches, and their thoughts on how I can make batters play slightly differently and set new fields has helped me grow”

The Bank Holiday fixture - which is being run concurrently with the Notts Street Food Festival - will see the return of England international Tammy Beaumont. 

Her presence provides reassurance for The Blaze after a challenging start for the top order in the competition. 

“Tammy strengthens our side. We’ve been a bit light on batting, and having her in the top order definitely helps. 

"She has that experience and knowhow in games, too, so even if she doesn’t contribute with the bat, her presence around the group can only be beneficial. 

“We’ve managed to turn a little bit of a bad run into a win against Diamonds which is really good for the confidence.

“It felt like a bit of a must-win game to get us back on track as soon as possible, so it has been nice to do that. 

“Throughout the team talks we had spoken about what happened last year, the run we went on, and what we did right that can help us again this year. It definitely helps that we have that in the bank to fall back on when we encounter challenges, and hopefully we can go on a run now.”

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The Blaze at Trent Bridge

The Blaze will appear at Trent Bridge on no fewer than four occasions this May - including a 50-over fixture as part of the Notts Street Food Festival, and a T20 double-header alongside Notts Outlaws.

Find out more here...