Grace Ballinger column: Summer weather to greet T20 Blast

This weekend, the T20 Blast returns in all its glory.

And with it we welcome all the things that makes the Blast what it is - big Friday night crowds, double headers, the iconic Finals Day Mascot Race.

After a bitter and windy April which saw the start of the women's One-Day Cup and the men's County Championship, the forecast predicts timely improvements for the change of format.

The opening round of fixtures get under way on Friday afternoon, with the weather predicting a 27 degree scorcher in both Nottingham and London.

And with fixtures running across all four days of the Bank Holiday weekend - the weather set fair for the entirety of it - English cricket has been handed the perfect backdrop to open the competition.

The change of format from the One-Day Cup to T20 cricket is one that is certainly welcomed by myself and many other female professionals alike.

I'm sure in the men's game they quietly might be looking forward to 20 overs in the field and a maximum of four to bowl, in stark comparison to the County Championship grind.

The shorter format is, in the most part, just more fun.

Whilst I do enjoy a 10-over spell and the time it allows to get into decent rhythm and set batters up, the excitement that surrounds T20 cricket is easy to get a buzz off.

This year, nearly all our home fixtures at the Blaze are double headers with the men at Trent Bridge, our fixtures preceding theirs.

I'm not sure if this is slightly controversial, but I actually prefer playing in the earlier fixture (starting at 14:30 BST on Fridays and 11:00 BST on Sundays).

Playing in the first game means you have as long as you need to warm up, with full pitch access. It also means I can relax and watch the men's fixture after ours.

This summer there have been some changes to the scheduling in both the men's and women's competitions.

There will be 12 group fixtures in both competitions. For us, we will play every other team in the league once, and half of the league twice (coincidentally, we play all the northern teams twice, but I believe that it is random for all the other sides).

In the men's game, there are three groups of six teams apiece, grouped geographically as North, Central, and South. Each team plays every side in their group both home and away once, as well as playing two random teams outside their group (one home, one away).

The women's Finals Day - which was previously the top three in the competition - has now been changed to mimic the men's Finals Day, with four teams.

It will now be made up of two semi-finals and a final, as opposed to an eliminator and a final.

And it goes without saying that the men's Finals Day - always at Edgbaston - is iconic, and something that I would love to see emulated in the women's game in many ways.

However, I do question the increase of the amount of teams at Finals Day. The men's Blast has 18 teams, so getting to the final four is certainly difficult.

The women's professional T20 Blast, on the contrary, is composed of only nine teams, meaning nearly half the teams who play in the tournament will be at Finals Day.

This, to me, seems too many, although maybe I will feel differently if the Blaze finish fourth in the group stages.

Whilst I will evade giving my predictions for the women's competition, I do feel confident in the squad depth at the Blaze for us to compete and put ourselves in a position to win, the Blast this summer.

In the men's game, I will naturally be hoping for Notts to make finals day this summer.

For predicting a winner, it is hard to look past Surrey. Led by Sam Curran, and stacked with players with international and franchise white-ball experience, the side look fit to compete, and take the trophy from last summer's champions, Somerset.

Who do you think is in with a chance to win the mens and women's trophies this summer?

Click here to read article