Luke Wells and Chris Cooke join Welsh Fire alongside Emily Windsor and Ella McCaughan

Welsh Fire have now confirmed their squads as the Vitality Wildcard selections in the men’s competition and the final round of signings in the women’s competition have been announced.

Vitality Blast stars Luke Wells and Chris Cooke will join Mike Hussey’s Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens this summer after excellent performances in the T20 format. Cooke will feel very at home at Cardiff while Wells is set to make his debut in the competition this year.

Emily Windsor and Georgia Davis will represent Welsh Fire this year having both previously been at Trent Rockets, Georgia Davis from Southern Brave and Kate Coppack will also make her debut in the competition.

Both teams kick off their competitions on Wednesday 2 August, hosting Manchester Originals in Cardiff.

New signings announced today:

Birmingham Phoenix: Davina Perrin, Abbey Freeborn, Charis Pavely, Jacob Bethell, Henry Brookes

London Spirit: Richa Ghosh*, Lauren Filer, Chloe Hill, Alice Monaghan, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Matt Critchley, Matthew Wade*, Daryl Mitchell*

Manchester Originals: Ami Campbell, Amara Carr, Mahika Gaur, Laura Jackson, Max Holden, Fred Klaasen, Usama Mir*

Northern Superchargers: Georgie Boyce, Lucy Higham, Grace Ballinger, Grace Hall, Leah Dobson*, Ollie Robinson, Saif Zaib, Matthew Short*

Oval Invincibles: Sophia Smale, Beth Langston, Cordelia Griffith, Claudie Cooper, Lizzie Scott*, Tawanda Muyeye, Zak Chappell, Tom Lawes*, Adam Zampa*

Southern Brave: Kalea Moore, Seren Smale, Ellie Anderson, Mary Taylor, Jafer Chohan, Matt Fisher

Trent Rockets: Jo Gardner, Fran Wilson, Nat Wraith, Cassidy McCarthy*, John Turner, Tom Moores

Welsh Fire: Emily Windsor, Ella McCaughan, Georgia Davis, Kate Coppack, Luke Wells, Chris Cooke

*denotes replacement player

Luke Wells said: “I’m absolutely honoured to have been given this opportunity at the Welsh Fire. An opportunity I wouldn’t have dreamed of a few years ago. I can’t wait to meet up with the squad and the coaching staff and I’m incredibly excited by the idea of working with Mike Hussey. Hopefully I can contribute to wins and help bring success to the team.”

Emily Windsor said: "The Hundred is always a lot of fun to take part in, and it's going to be brilliant to be involved at Welsh Fire. We're really looking forward to coming together as a team and hopefully getting all of Wales behind us."

Other names signed in the Vitality Wildcard Draft include Tawanda Muyeye, who joins Chappell at Oval Invincibles, John Turner – who heads to Trent Rockets, and England seamer Matt Fisher, who joins Southern Brave.

Trent Rockets and Southern Brave will go head-to-head on Tuesday 1 August, the opening matchday of the third year of The Hundred. The double-header is 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.

Over 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 for this season, and remain great value, with prices set at £5 for juniors aged 6-15, free for children five and under, and adults starting from £10.

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.

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