As T20 Blast action heads towards Finals Day at Edgbaston, defending champions Birmingham Bears are preparing to play Northants Steelbacks in the semi-finals, with Hampshire taking on Lancashire Lightning.
Here Press Association Sport takes a look at five talking points for Saturday's action.
Will Woakes shine under pressure?
Chris Woakes could be set for a thrilling end to the summer, as the Birmingham Bears all-rounder will attempt to help his side become the first to successfully defend the T20 Blast title. But the small matter of an England call-up could well play on his mind. He will link up with the Three Lions soon after Finals Day, for the T20 and ODI series against Australia. Woakes will no doubt demand a match-winning performance from himself against Northamptonshire at Edgbaston to set up for England duty, but pressure can do strange things to cricketers.
James Faulkner - Lancashire's bad boy?
He was man-of-the-match for Australia in no less than the World Cup final, but Faulkner hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in July when he was slapped with a drink-driving charge in Manchester, an incident that also saw him excluded from Australia's limited-overs squads for the post-Ashes series. Faulkner, though, is a game-changer in his own right, and he responded with wickets and runs, earning him a contract extension. The Australian has 20 wickets in the Blast - among the top 10 in fact - and dragged Lancashire into Finals Day with some scrambled running in the last-eight match against Kent Spitfires - the Lightning won by virtue of losing fewer wickets. Helping Lancashire to a long-awaited piece of silverware will go a long way to bringing his season full circle.
Will Steelbacks show their mettle?
Northamptonshire are reportedly in dire straits financially - but hopes of a measure of comfort on Finals Day took a hit just after they secured that Edgbaston spot. Star man David Willey, whose century powered their last-eight win, left for Yorkshire on a three-year contract, and all-rounder Steven Crook is looking a doubt due to injury. In what has been another mediocre season in the Championship and in the One-Day Cup, the Northants players that take the field at Edgbaston may well opt for the typically T20 approach of nothing to lose - defending champions and semi-final opponents Birmingham Bears have been warned.
Craning for a look-in
Amid all the talk of spin that will dominate England stories in the next few months, a young leg-spinner by the name of Mason Crane has been gaining praise both at Hampshire and at England Under-19 level. While T20 may still be relatively skewed in the batsmen's favour, Crane could become a surprise package on Finals Day should he get a surprise nod. In his debut year, he made his presence known in July, Kumar Sangakkara and Vikram Solanki his first two T20 wickets. A few high-profile Finals Day victims and some thrilling late hitting, and who knows where his international career might be heading next year.
What about the window?
Nevermind the PCA survey, there has been a slow-but-steady build up of noise around the T20 Blast having its own separate window. Cases of teams getting back to home base at 2am after a T20 game, and then playing another the same day are not unheard of. Following another long and convoluted season - convoluted across formats that is - will a sluggish display on Finals Day prove a tipping point? Warwickshire and Lancashire still have Championship aims to consider after the Blast, the latter for promotion out of Division Two, in fact. So how much risk will they be prepared to take for a shot at T20 glory?
Source: PA
