Birmingham head to Emirates Old Trafford with a distinct Red Rose flavour to their side, with captain Alex Davies joined by fast bowlers Hassan Ali and Richard Gleeson, the latter who swapped counties over the most recent winter.
The Bears have gone seven years without a Finals Day appearance, their last in 2017. Given they host English Cricket’s showpiece occasion, they will be particularly desperate to put that statistic to bed.
And they certainly have the quality to do so.
They have two Pakistani overseas fast bowlers in their ranks.
Joining Ali, who played Championship cricket for Lancashire at the start of 2022), is Aamir Jamal. The latter hasn’t played at the start of the Blast following injury, though he was in the squad for Saturday’s win over Nottinghamshire, by 22 runs defending 150.
Ali has struck five times in two matches so far, while opener Rob Yates has scored their only fifty – 68 in the Notts win.
Spin trio Danny Briggs, Jake Lintott and Dan Mousley are experienced and emerging talents respectively.
Lancashire fans know all too well the capabilities of Davies and Gleeson, while Sam Hain and Chris Benjamin are batting dangers. They have also signed one-time England T20 international all-rounder George Garton on a T20 only contract.
