Ellyse Perry, Tom Abell and Sophie Ecclestone confirmed as captains in The Hundred

Ellyse Perry, Tom Abell and Sophie Ecclestone have been confirmed to lead their teams in The Hundred, as five of the eight sides taking part announce their captains.

Perry is joined by Birmingham local Moeen Ali as the men’s team captain at Edgbaston, Jos Buttler will continue to take the reins for the men’s Manchester Originals team and Tammy Beaumont is to lead the Welsh Fire women’s side.

Dane van Niekerk and Sam Billings, and Anya Shrubsole and James Vince, will continue their captaincy roles at Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave respectively. London Spirit had already announced England duo Heather Knight and Dan Lawrence as their sides’ captains. Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets are yet to announce their captains.

Birmingham Ellyse Perry and Moeen Ali

Manchester Originals: Sophie Ecclestone and Jos Buttler

Oval Invincibles: Dane van Niekerk and Sam Billings

Southern Brave: Anya Shrubsole and James Vince

Welsh Fire: Tammy Beaumont and Tom Abell

For World No.1 spinner Sophie Ecclestone it’s a first captaincy role: “I’m buzzing to be captaining Manchester Originals this year. The Hundred is such a great competition to take part in and I can’t wait to lead the girls out at Emirates Old Trafford. I like what we’ve done in the draft, we’ve got the makings of a world class side, and hopefully our fans will come out in their numbers as ever to cheer us on.”

Tom Abell, who’s moved from Birmingham Phoenix to join Mike Hussey in Cardiff, is also looking forward to the challenge: “I jumped at the opportunity to come and take a leadership role with Mike here at Welsh Fire. I’m really excited by the challenge that lies in front of us and we’re both really keen to bring some success to Welsh Fire. We did some really great work at the draft and it’s going to be really enjoyable to lead this group of players.”

The third year of The Hundred gets underway on Tuesday 1 August with a double-header at Trent Bridge – the first of 34 matchdays that promise high-octane men’s and women’s sporting action, live music, and a host of family-friendly entertainment.

More than half a million people attended games during The Hundred’s second year in 2022, including a record-breaking 271,000 watching live women’s fixtures across the competition and more families buying tickets than in 2021.

Tickets are selling fast and are available here. Tickets this year remain great value in line with 2022 pricing, with prices set at £5 for juniors aged 6-15, free for children five and under, and adults starting from £12.   

Over 14.1 million people tuned in to watch The Hundred action in 2022 and games will again be broadcast live on Sky Sports and BBC broadcast and digital channels throughout the competition.

To stay up to date with the latest news, buy tickets or to sign up for priority access, visit thehundred.com or follow The Hundred, and the eight teams, on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

To view all the players selected to play in The Hundred, please visit this link.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About The Hundred: 

The Hundred is an action-packed, unmissable cricket competition that fuses world-class cricket with blockbuster entertainment. 

Combining a short, fast format of cricket, with each game lasting less than three hours, and incredible entertainment beyond the sport, The Hundred is making cricket more accessible and reaching a broader audience. It’s simple: 100 balls per team, most runs wins, so every ball counts.  

The Hundred features eight teams from seven cities, with men’s and women’s competitions taking place side by side:  Welsh Fire (Cardiff), Southern Brave (Southampton), Northern Superchargers (Leeds), London Spirit, Trent Rockets (Nottingham), Oval Invincibles (London), Manchester Originals and Birmingham Phoenix. Each teams features some of the best international and domestic cricketers from around the world, including England Men’s & Women’s World Cup winners. 

Highlight statistics from The Hundred 2022: 

• More than 500,000 people attended games across the course of the competition 
• The Hundred continued to take cricket to new audiences with more women (28%), children (22%) and families (41%) attending than in the first year 
• 2022 once again set a new global record for total attendance at a women’s cricket competition, with 271,000 people attending  
• All eight venues broke their previous best for domestic women’s attendances
• Of the Sky and BBC TV coverage, 42% hadn’t watched any other ECB cricket in 2022 prior to The Hundred, resulting in 5.9m new viewers
• Women (31%) and children (14%) made up a significant share of the TV audience

About The Hundred fixtures:

For all fixtures in The Hundred, follow this link.