Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. On loan from Lancashire so unavailable to play in tomorrow’s Roses clash, Alice Clarke will watch on with interest at York.
On-loan Alice Clarke says Yorkshire’s determination to progress has stood out to her since arriving on loan from Lancashire at the start of this month.
Clarke, 24-years-old, has played four matches for the White Rose county in both the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One-Day competitions since crossing the Pennines for the remainder of the 2026 season.
A wicketkeeper-batter by trade, the left-hander has played only as a specialist batter given captain Lauren Winfield-Hill’s presence behind the stumps.
A product of Accrington CC, where the Lloyds – David and Graham – learnt their trade, left-handed Clarke has encouraged so far in Yorkshire’s middle order with best scores of 32 and 34 in her four innings. Both of those came in the T20 Blast, one against Durham at home on debut and the other against Hampshire away on Friday just gone.
Next up for Yorkshire is a meeting with Clarke’s parent county, an eagerly-anticipated Roses Blast clash at York on Wednesday afternoon (2.30pm).
Now, Clarke will not be permitted to play in this game but will be a keen observer when two sides who have struggled for results go head to head.
Yorkshire have lost six of their seven Blast games so far, a run which also included a rainy No Result up at Durham. Lancashire, meanwhile, have only won one of seven. They have lost six.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Lauren Winfield-Hill and co are bidding for a second Roses win of the summer.
But they were double winners last year, winning the One-Day Cup and the Vitality County T20 Cup title. And, clearly, that is a place Yorkshire want to get to.
Clarke played in the latter stages of their successful One-Day Cup campaign, including in the final victory over Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl last September.
Asked if there is anything she has seen from her first month at Yorkshire which can compare to Lancashire’s success, Clarke said: “I think the honest conversations are something which has stood out for me.
“A lot of honest conversations for such a young group.
“First year in Tier 1, it would be easy to sort of sit back and lean on that a bit, you know, ‘Don’t worry girls, it’s our first year’. But, do you know what, there’s been none of that and this group are really keen to show they’re good as anyone.
“Lancs have led the way in the women’s game in terms of their set-up, but what I’ve seen here is a club that is really invested in this team and a group of staff and players who really care about getting better and starting to win games quicker.
“Every game that we can compete in, and win, puts us in better stead. It’s a learning experience.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jess Jonassen scored a hundred and took four wickets when Yorkshire beat Lancashire in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup at Emirates Old Trafford in late April.
“We’ll be better for every game we play, and I think we just need to get over the line in one of these T20s and a couple more wins will follow.”
Clarke played a couple of early-season One-Day Cup games for Lancashire before heading to Yorkshire.
She has been around a Red Rose group whose overseas player is Australian batting great Meg Lanning – she will play at Clifton Park – and here at Yorkshire she is able to learn from the likes of Jess Jonassen, Sarah Glenn and fellow keeper-batter Winfield-Hill.
“They’re great people to be around and learn from, to pick their brains and talk to about cricket,” added Clarke.
“You don’t last this long in the professional game and thrive for as long as they have without doing the right things and without being on it in every department.
“So I’m just soaking in everything I can from the likes of JJ, Loz and Glenny.
“And hopefully everyone else is doing the same because you don’t get to play with players like them very often.”
Picture by Johan Rynners/Getty Images. Lancashire captain Ellie Threlkeld is preparing for England Test duty.
Lancashire are coached by former England men’s wicketkeeper-batter Chris Read and captained by Ellie Threlkeld, the wicketkeeper-batter who has just been named in England’s squad for next month’s Test against India at Lord’s.
Their overseas is, as aforementioned, Lanning, who has totalled 291 runs in seven innings so far and is the second leading run-scorer in the competition.
Yorkshire are expected to have Sterre Kalis, Hannah Rainey and Rachel Slater available from T20 World Cup duty with the Netherlands and Scotland respectively. Both of those nations were knocked out in the group stage.