Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball) – 24/07/24
Competiton – Women’s Hundred
Ground – Utilita Bowl, Southampton
Head Coach – Charlotte Edwards
Captain – Georgia Adams
2023 Finish – Champions
Order of Content – The Draft & Construction of Squad, 2023 Season & What To Expect, The Squad, My Starting XI, Players To Watch, The Leadership, The Schedule & Where To Watch, Tickets.
The Draft & Construction of Squad
Given their title winning year Charlotte Edwards and the Southern Brave were under no pressure to make any drastic decisions ahead of The Hundred Draft. In the retention stage of the squad formulation, sides have the option to retain up to eight of their 2023 squad. Brave, rather unsurprisingly owing to their success opted to use all eight slots. England centerally contracted players Danni Wyatt, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier and Freya Kemp made up half of the picks with 36 wickets and 1,292 runs in the tournament between them, South African power hitter Chloe Tryon was the overseas pick and the domestic trio of Georgia Adams, Rhianna Southby and Mary Taylor all rejoined Edwards from her Region the Southern Vipers.
After retention comes The Draft, with sides having to fill any remaining gaps in their top 13 salary bands. Due to their first place finish, Brave had to wait for all seven other teams to make their picks with them being the last. As they waited patiently to pounce with the security of a right to match card if required, their turn came and they used it to retain Indian superstar opening bat Smriti Mandhana. Mandhana has scored 378 runs for the side since 2021! Next they draft allrounder Naomi Dattani from Trent Rockets, Australian Lauren Cheatle, domestic talent Kalea Moore and finally 16-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman. Cheatle becomes a good replacement for retired pacer and former Brave captain Anya Shrubsole, combined with the swing of Lauren Bell they become well set in their pace bowling department.
This leaves Brave with two slots to fill in their lowest two salary bands, done a few months after the March draft in the Vitality Wildcard Draft, which allows domestic form to be rewarded. They opt to select experienced opening/middle order batter Sophie Luff from Western Storm and young wicket-keeper Katie Jones as backup for Southby.
Brave have not yet reported any injuries with their full squad expected to compete. The only complication for the side is Smriti Mandhana being unavailable for the opening two games as she represents India in the Asia Cup. Talented Australian allrounder Charli Knott comes in to replace her for that period however.
2023 Season & What To Expect
2023 saw Southern Brave finally successful in their quest for silverware after falling short at the hands of the Oval Invincibles and Marizanne Kapp in both the 2021 and 2022 finals. The addition of Rhianna Southby behind the stumps helped elevate the side in the field, as she took 11 dismissals across the tournament.
What worked so well for the side was the balance of runs and wickets among a number of players especially in the batting department with Bouchier, Wyatt and Mandhana all reaching the 200s. The batting was certainly their strong point with the firepower of Wyatt and Mandhana at the top of the order, mixed with the skill and conviction of Adams and Bouchier in the middle combined to enable success both batting first and chasing.
However, the work of the bowlers didn’t go amiss with the opening partnership and pace of Shrubsole and Bell succeeding in early wickets and the leader of the spin attack in Georgia Adams coming in the middle orders to build the pressure through her economical and successful spells. She ended the tournament as top wicket taker overall with 16.
In 2024 with nine core members of the squad including Wyatt, Adams, Bouchier and Mandhana remaining we can expect much of the same, with Edwards bolstering her squad further with the additions of young talent Tilly Corteen-Coleman, long-standing domestic stars Sophie Luff and Naomi Dattani as well as Australian Lauren Cheatle she is certainly setting them up for another title winning campaign. The only key challenge for the side is the retirement of three-year captain Anya Shrubsole and the change of leadership which comes with Georgia Adams taking over.
The Squad
Smriti Mandhana (o), Danni Wyatt, Chloe Tryon (o), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Naomi Dattani, Georgia Adams, Lauren Cheatle (o), Kalea Moore, Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Rhianna Southby, Mary Taylor, Sophie Luff, Katie Jones, Charli Knott* (o).
*replaces Smriti Mandhana for first two games as she represents India in the Asia Cup.
My Starting XI
Smriti Mandhana/Maia Bouchier
Danni Wyatt
Maia Bouchier/Charli Knott
Georgia Adams (C)
Freya Kemp
Chloe Tryon
Naomi Dattani
Lauren Cheatle
Till Corteen-Coleman
Rhianna Southby (WK)
Lauren Bell
Bench – Kalea Moore, Mary Taylor, Sophie Luff & Katie Jones
Players To Watch
Star Player: Danni Wyatt
Wyatt has been a core part of the Brave side since day one with 680 runs across the three additions; her power hitting, opening partnerships with Smriti Mandhana and exceptional work in the field have led Brave to three finals in three years and her contribution of 59 runs (38 balls) helped them to their first title last year. She also is the holder of two T20I centuries as she plays a crucial role at the top of the order for England in the format.
Young Talent: Tilly Corteen-Coleman
The 16-year-old left-arm spinner has had quite the season since Charlotte Edwards took the plunge to sign her in the main stage of the draft, before she had made her professional debut! She made history becoming the youngest to take a 5-wicket haul in the Charlotte Edwards Cup as she recorded figures of 5/19 for her side the South East Stars vs Northern Diamonds, including four wickets in a four ball spell! She also helped edge her team into the final of the tournament, taking 2 wickets in their semi-final win against the Southern Vipers. With 16 T20 wickets overall for the Stars in T20 cricket this season she is on for a great tournament.
The Leadership
Georgia Adams (Captain):
Georgia Adams enters her third year with the Brave side and her first as captain owing to Anya Shrubsole retiring from the game after the tournament last year. Adams is a two time Hundred champion, the first coming with Oval Invincibles in 2021 before she made the move to join Edwards at Brave and the second coming last year in the dark green of the Southern Brave. With 369 runs and 25 wickets over three seasons in the tournament as well as being named top wicket-taker last year it is safe to say her individual success matches her team success. From a captaincy perspective, Adams has plenty of experience under coach Adams as a present part of her Vipers side since 2020. As captain of the Vipers side she has won five trophies. If there is anyone you want replacing the experienced Shrubsole, it’s the equally experienced Adams.
Charlotte Edwards (Coach):
When it comes to women’s cricket and success within it Charlotte Edwards is infamous. As England captain in 2009 Edwards led her side to a World Cup double and Ashes retention. In 2014 she became one of the first English women’s cricketers to turn professional as she recieved one of 18 ECB central contracts. Since her retirement Edwards has had the English T20 tournament (which she coaches in) named The Charlotte Edwards Cup, has won five of the eight trophies available to her with the Southern Vipers, a women’s Hundred title with Brave, a WIPL title with Mumbai Indians and she has reached countless finals across the world.
The Schedule & Where To Watch
*Home games indicated in bold*
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Time (BST) | Coverage (UK) |
| Wed 24th July | London Spirit | Utilita Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Tue 30th July | Northern Superchargers | Headingley, Leeds | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Thu 1st August | Manchester Originals | Utilita Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Sat 3rd August | Birmingham Phoenix | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 11:00 AM | Sky Sports |
| Mon 5th August | Welsh Fire | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Thu 8th August | Oval Invincibles | The Oval, Kennington | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Sat 10th August | Trent Rockets | Utilita Bowl, Southampton | 11:00 AM | Sky Sports |
| Wed 14th August | Welsh Fire | Utilita Bowl, Southampton | 11:30 AM | Sky Sports |
Eliminator – Saturday 17th of August @ The Oval, 2.15pm – Sky Sports, BBC Two & BBC iPlayer
Final – Sunday 18th August @ Lord’s, 2.15pm – Sky Sports, BBC Two & BBC iPlayer
Tickets
https://www.thehundred.com/tickets?matches=group
Join in with the action! Tickets start at £5 for Juniors and £11 for Adults in the group stage. After all, every ball counts!
