County cricket: Birmingham and Somerset reach T20 Blast last eight

As anyone attending the first Test at Edgbaston could see from promotions around the ground, the Bears were playing in a T20 derby against Worcestershire last week. Come Friday night, the local heroes did not disappoint, securing qualification to the knockout stage from the North Group with a crushing 53-run win.

It seems strange to talk of Glenn Maxwell as a veteran but he is 35 later this year. The relative unknown who shot to fame as the million-dollar man in an IPL auction when such deals were newsworthy is now a grand old man on the franchise circuit. Forty-four off 20 balls and a couple of overs of flat spin shows that he’s still got it.

But Dan Mousley, the Englishman making a name for himself this season, out-Maxwelled the man 14 years his seniors, with 51 off 25 balls and four for 41, – a second consecutive four-fer for his off-breaks. It was another sign that the next generation of England’s white-ball players are ready to step up after the World Cup later this year.

The Bears may have mauled Worcestershire, but the Rapids are still on course to reach the quarter-finals thanks to their win against Nottinghamshire the previous evening at New Road.

Notts have plenty of talent, but have stumbled twice in their last two matches and are in danger of letting a place in the last eight slide through their fingers. They will need some of the old-fashioned coolness under pressure demonstrated by Adam Hose and Ed Pollock, who came together at 80 for five in the 12th over and steered Worcestershire to their target with a 60-run partnership without a six hit between them.

Next up for Notts is a match at home to the Bears who – and this is one good aspect of a hotchpotch of a format – still have something to play for, with