The Ashes series is headed towards another thrilling finish and the English cricket fans have yet another extravaganza to feast on, just a day later - the Hundred. The new 100-ball competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) may have financially been under fire of late, however, has been successful enough for the fans and viewers to be buzzing ahead of its third season and for it to have its separate window with probably all the local international players available. The vibrant tournament, especially the women's competition, has done for the women's game more in two seasons than other franchise leagues and it's all down to the number of young fans it has been able to attract in the previous two seasons.
The squads for all eight teams - Trent Rockets, Southern Brave, Oval Invincibles, Northern Superchargers, Manchester Originals, Welsh Fire, London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix - have undergone a few tweaks in both men's and women's competitions like every other franchise league in the world but the core of most teams has remained the same.
The biggest difference has been in the Welsh Fire squad with a new captain in Tom Abell, a few international stars - including the Pakistan pace duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf and hopefully availability of their marquee player, Jonny Bairstow, even if only for a few games. Trent Rockets will start as favourites once again in the men's competition and in the women's too, the team in yellow might not be far off with Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur reuniting with her Mumbai Indians teammate Nat Sciver-Brunt. But Oval Invincibles, the two-time champions will be a contender once again with Southern Brave hoping to break the jinx, once and for all.
Here's all you need to know about the Hundred 2023 - men and women:
Squads
Birmingham Phoenix
Men - Chris Woakes, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Shadab Khan (Tanveer Sangha from August 14), Adam Milne, Benny Howell, Will Smeed, Kane Richardson, Jamie Smith, Tom Helm, Miles Hammond, Chris Benjamin, Dan Mousley, Henry Brookes, Jacob Bethell
Women - Amy Jones, Issy Wong, Emily Arlott, Sophie Devine, Hannah Baker, Katie Levick, Eve Jones, Abtaha Maqsood, Erin Burns, Chloe Brewer, Sterre Kalis, Davina Perrin, Abbey Freeborn, Charis Pavely
London Spirit
Men - Mark Wood, Nathan Ellis, Liam Dawson, Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley, Jordan Thompson, Mason Crane, Adam Rossington, Chris Wood, Ravi Bopara, Michael Pepper, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Matt Critchley, Matthew Wade, Daryl Mitchell, Dan Worrall
Women - Heather Knight, Amelia Kerr, Charlie Dean, Danielle Gibson, Grace Harris, Sarah Glenn, Sophie Munro, Sophie Luff, Grace Scrivens, Tara Norris, Niamh Holland, Richa Ghosh, Lauren Filer, Chloe Hill, Alice Monaghan
Manchester Originals
Men - Jos Buttler, Usama Mir, Phil Salt, Laurie Evans, Ashton Turner, Jamie Overton, Tom Hartley, Richard Gleeson, Paul Walter, Josh Tongue, Josh Little (Zaman Khan between August 16 and knockout rounds), Wayne Madsen, Tom Lammonby, Mitchell Stanley, Max Holden, Ben Raine
Women - Sophie Ecclestone, Deandra Dottin, Emma Lamb, Ellie Threlkeld, Laura Wolvaardt, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Kathryn Bryce, Katie George, Liberty Heap, Phoebe Graham, Fi Morris, Ami Campbell, Amara Carr, Mahika Gaur, Laura Jackson
Northern Superchargers
Men - Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Harry Brook, Reece Topley, Tom Banton, Matthew Short, Adam Lyth, Adam Hose, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, David Wiese, Bas de Leede, Wayne Parnell, Callum Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Saif Zaib
Women - Phoebe Litchfield, Hollie Armitage, Linsey Smith, Bess Heath, Kate Cross, Georgia Wareham, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Davidson-Richards, Marie Kelly, Aylish Cranstone, Leah Dobson, Georgie Boyce, Lucy Higham, Grace Ballinger, Grace Hall
Oval Invincibles
Men - Sam Curran, Sunil Narine (Adam Zampa from August 13), Will Jacks, Jason Roy, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood (replaced by Tom Lawes), Heinrich Klaasen (Jimmy Neesham from August 20), Ross Whiteley, Jordan Cox, Gus Atkinson, Ihsanullah Khan, Danny Briggs, Nathan Sowter, Zak Chappell, Tawanda Muyeye
Women - Marizanne Kapp, Alice Capsey, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Lizzie Scott, Suzie Bates, Dane van Niekerk, Mady Villiers, Paige Scholfield, Eva Gray, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Kira Chathli, Sophia Smale, Hannah Rainey, Cordelia Griffith, Claudie Cooper
Southern Brave
Men - Jofra Archer, Tim David (Mitchell Santner from August 20), Leus du Plooy, James Vince, Chris Jordan, Devon Conway, Tymal Mills, Rehan Ahmed, Craig Overton, Finn Allen, George Garton, James Fuller, Alex Davies, Joe Weatherley, Jafer Chohan, Matt Fisher
Women - Smriti Mandhana, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Danni Wyatt, Anya Shrubsole, Chloe Tryon, Maitlan Brown, Georgia Adams, Rhianna Southby, Danielle Gregory, Kalea Moore, Seren Smale, Ellie Anderson, Mary Taylor
Trent Rockets
Men - Joe Root, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rashid Khan (Ish Sodhi from August 10), Dawid Malan, Alex Hales, Lewis Gregory, Luke Wood, Colin Munro, Sam Cook, Daniel Sams, Samit Patel, Sam Hain, Brad Wheal, Matt Carter, Tom Moores, John Turner
Women - Nat Sciver-Brunt, Kat Sciver-Brunt, Alana King, Bryony Smith, Harmanpreet Kaur, Lizelle Lee, Grace Potts, Kirstie Gordon, Josie Groves, Cassidy McCarthy, Naomi Dattani, Alexa Stonehouse, Jo Gardner, Fran Wilson, Nat Wraith
Welsh Fire
Men - Jonny Bairstow, Tom Abell, David Willey, Shaheen Afridi, Joe Clarke, Glenn Phillips, Ben Green, Haris Rauf, David Payne, Roelof van der Merwe, Jake Ball, Stephen Eskinazi, Dan Douthwaite, George Scrimshaw, Luke Wells, Chris Cooke
Women - Tammy Beaumont, Hayley Matthews, Sophia Dunkley, Shabnim Ismail, Georgia Elwiss, Freya Davies, Laura Harris, Alex Hartley, Alex Griffiths, Claire Nicholas, Sarah Bryce, Emily Windsor, Ella McCaughan, Chloe Skelton, Kate Coppack
Match Details
The Hundred will have matches starting at 7:30 PM IST for women and 11 PM IST for men. If there is a double header, the women's matches will have starts at 3 PM and 7:30 PM while the men's games will begin at 7:30 PM and 11 PM with the second match of the women's Hundred and first of the men's competition clashing with each other.
Live streaming and telecast
The matches will have live broadcast on the Sony Sports 5 channel on TV while the live streaming will be available on the SonyLiv app and website. Fancode has also retained the live streaming rights and hence the Hundred will have another broadcaster for India.
