With the 2026 season fast-approaching, Worcestershire Women’s Rapids captain Clare Boycott is full of optimism as she gears up for a second season leading a team with big ambitions.
After a testing start to last summer, Boycott’s side finished the season on a real upward trajectory, mounting a late charge for knockout qualification in both white ball competitions.
Despite pulling up just short, a winter of hard work paired with a reinvigorated attitude amongst the group has put the squad in a buoyant mood ahead of their first competitive match of the season, against Sussex Sharks Women on the 19th of April.
During the Club’s recent Kit Launch shoot in Bologna, with new Teamwear partners, Macron, we caught up with Clare, who expressed her excitement about the new kits the girls will be sporting this summer and the knock-on effect she hopes it will have on the next generation of aspiring female cricketers.
“This is the first time I have seen the shirts, but straight away I thought, wow! They are so bold and I love that, I think everyone will love it. I think it is so important the fact we have two shirts this year, it just adds another bit of excitement to this season.
“I can see people who maybe aren’t even into cricket wearing these, they’re so trendy that you could wear them out and about, which is again different to anything else I have seen.
“The women’s game has come such a long way since I first started back in 2008 and to see and feel the club backing us as much as they do is amazing.”
With Head Coach, Ed Wilson strengthening his squad during the winter, the side entering just their second season as a fully-fledged Tier 2 outfit have added firepower in both departments to fully equip themselves for another competitive summer.
Dutch International Sanya Khurana has signed on at New Road for the new campaign, fresh off her exploits with the national team earlier this year, bringing some vital experience with both the bat and ball to the Worcestershire team.
Touching on the new additions, the Rapids’ skipper was quick to notify fans of some of the key names they should be keeping a close eye on with preparations for the start of the summer hotting up for the girls.
“We have got some news faces to welcome in, some talented youngsters as well, so all in all there is so much excitement about every aspect of this year.
“Caitlin Baker-Smith was brilliant last year, she took a three-fer on debut, Bryony Gillgrass is so exciting, and Maddie Windeatt, who I have known for a few years, is another up-and-coming batting talent.
“And of course, Sanya, who looks like a great prospect to welcome into the squad as well.”
The hard-work across the winter has been thorough and extensive, according to the Worcestershire Women’s figurehead, with training indoors at Malvern College proving rigorous.
But, after a positive surge in form at the end of 2025, Boycott says that the collective effort from the team to bond away from training has been a key factor in the reason the team are so well positioned just over a month until they first take the field together in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
Team social events, regular coffee catchups and a more open environment have played a key part in the cohesive feel around the group.
“We know how important it is to get the team feeling good, so if that means a coffee or hanging out together, we want to build those relationships.
“We only finished a few points short in both competitions last season, but with the positive feeling and some momentum to help us get off to a good start to the season, I think we can go that bit further this year.
“In the T20 competition in particular we know how important it is to get off to a good start, we saw that last year getting off to a bit of a bad start and that kind of kept feeding into the rest of the games, but as soon as we got that win at Derbyshire, we then won against Leicestershire soon after, which just shows how key that momentum is in cricket.”
With an amended schedule providing supporters with two-double headers to enjoy in the Vitality Blast T20 this summer, the anticipation amongst the Women’s Rapids fanbase continues to build, where 2026 will see the team play in front of fans across the county across both white ball competitions.
The special feeling of playing at New Road in front of an ever-growing fanbase is not lost on the skipper, however, almost two-decades on from her first appearance for the Rapids.
“We love playing at New Road. It is so exciting, the atmosphere and build-up on those days get the crowd’s going which is great to be involved in.
“One game at Astwood Bank last year, it was the peak of the summer and there were hundreds of people there to watch us, which again is a really positive thing for Women’s cricket in Worcestershire.
“It does make me very proud as a captain to lead the girls out. We have come a long way since the days where the only people watching would be your parents, now there is people you don’t even know supporting us and cheering us on!
“I am really looking forward to the same again this year.”
