Woakes and Stone set for Bears Blast return to Edgbaston

England pace aces Chris Woakes and Olly Stone will line up for the Bears against Lancashire Lightning on Friday (6.30pm) when the Vitality Blast returns to Birmingham in star-studded style.

The Bears v the Lightning is always a cracking game - who can forget the 2014 final when the Bears lifted the trophy after a last-ball thriller in front of a packed house at Edgbaston?

On Friday, the atmosphere will be cranked up again as the Bears aim to launch their home campaign in style - and both sides will be armed with the full might of their England players. While Woakes and Stone go hunting wickets for the Bears, the Lightning will have the explosive batting talents of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone available.

Some tickets are still available for the mouth-watering contest. Bears first team coach Mark Robinson doesn't need a ticket...but would certainly be buying one if he wasn't involved in it.

"It will be my first taste of having the Bears fans behind me in the Blast at Edgbaston and I can't wait. It just adds extra spice that we will have Woakesy and Olly and all the England players are available.

"It will be a great night in the Edgbaston atmosphere that the players love. When we beat Nottinghamshire in the championship recently, even though it was a relatively small crowd, the noise they made and the backing they gave us was brilliant and really helped the players push on and win. I know how much the players appreciate that backing and are looking forward to having it behind them on Friday and in all our Blast home games."