Players signed in Vitality Wildcard Draft as The Hundred teams confirm squads

All eight teams in The Hundred have now confirmed their full 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.

Batters Daniel Bell-Drummond and Max Holden and all-rounder Zak Chappell have been drafted by London Spirit, Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles respectively, after impressive campaigns in the Vitality Blast.

Meanwhile Indian wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh, England seam bowler Lauren Filer and Mahika Gaur, a young bowler who’s making waves in domestic cricket at Thunder, are three stand-out signings in the women’s competition.

Other names signed in the Vitality Wildcard Draft include Tawanda Muyeye, who joins Chappell at Oval Invincibles, John Turner – who heads to Trent Rockets, Chris Cooke who’ll be at home in Cardiff for Welsh Fire and England seamer Matt Fisher, who joins Southern Brave.

Two local players are heading to Birmingham Phoenix, Henry Brookes and Jacob Bethell, while Durham wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson will link up with Northern Superchargers.

Indian wicketkeeper Ghosh joins London Spirit as a replacement for the injured Georgia Redmayne, with Oval Invincibles’ Tash Farrant and Trent Rockets’ Emma Jones replaced by Lizzie Scott and Cassidy McCarthy respectively. Leah Dobson has replaced Phoebe Franklin at Northern Superchargers.

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 Klaassen, 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

In the men’s competition, six replacement players have been confirmed. Adam Zampa will replace Sunil Narine at Oval Invincibles when Narine returns to the West Indies for the Caribbean Premier League after 13 August.

At Manchester Originals, Pakistan's Usama Mir will replace Wanindu Hasaranga ,who will be playing in the Lanka Premier League, and at Northern Superchargers, Australia's Matthew Short will replace Michael Bracewell who has been ruled out through injury.

Saqib Mahmood has been ruled out of The Hundred, and he’ll be replaced at Oval Invincibles by Tom Lawes. At London Spirit, Daryl Mitchell and Matthew Wade replace Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh.

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 £12.   

Daniel Bell-Drummond said: “I’m really happy to have been signed in the Vitality Wildcard Draft. It’s great to have a mechanism that rewards form in the Vitality Blast and links up the competitions and I’m hoping to take some of my form into The Hundred. Lord’s is a great place to play cricket, we’ve got a great squad and I can’t wait to be involved.”

Lauren Filer said: “I absolutely can’t wait to play at Lord’s in The Hundred for London Spirit. It will be great to link up with Heather Knight, and it’s obviously so special to play at the home of cricket. It’s just a brilliant competition, with some of the best players in the world, and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it.”

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