Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball) – 25/07/24
Competiton – Women’s Hundred
Ground – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
Head Coach – Stephen Parry
Captain – Sophie Ecclestone
2023 Finish – 7th
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
2023 was a difficult one for the Originals with a mix of weather and poor showings limiting them to a seventh place finish. However, the talent within their squad doesn’t go amiss with some of the best international and domestic players making there way to Old Trafford. The first stage of squad building is retention: in the retention stage of the squad formulation, sides have the option to retain up to eight of their 2023 squad. Originals, somewhat unsurprisingly, opted to use all eight of those available slots. From an overseas perspective they stuck with Laura Wolvaardt, who became the first women’s player recently to score a century in all three formats in a one year period. They went with world number one Sophie Ecclestone, opening bat Emma Lamb and tall pace bowler Mahika Gaur as their England internationals and domestic quartet Fi Morris, Kathryn Bryce, Ellie Threlkeld & Liberty Heap made up the eight.
After retention comes The Draft, with sides having to fill any remaining gaps in their top 13 salary bands. Due to their seventh place finish, Originals had the second pick of the draft which they used to sign it to sign Australian superstar Beth Mooney, who is arguably the number one batter in the world and doubles up as a back up keeper to Ellie Threlkeld. Their second pick is used to sign another Aussie star, this time in all-rounder Sophie Molineux. Molineux has experience in the tournament but missed out last year through injury. Their next signing brings England international Lauren Filer to the side, who is often regarded as the fastest in the English game. Next comes another batter, this time in former Phoenix captain Eve Jones. Their last pick brings some more reinforcement in the pace department, with Thunder local Phoebe Graham completing the squad. For me, Originals had the most successful draft in filling in the gaps, there woes with ball for the quicks and bat last year were there downfall so the world-class editions in both departments lead towards a much more positive season.
This left Originals 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 elected to sign spinner Danielle Gregory from the South East Stars and pace-bowler Alice Monaghan from the Southern Vipers.
Since the conclusion of player selection, Originals have lost two key players. Leading pace bowler Mahika Gaur pulls out with a side strain, with Bethan Ellis named as her replacement and Aussie Sophie Molineux is ruled out with a broken rip, with fellow Australian international Kim Garth her replacement.
2023 Season & What To Expect
Luck was certainly not on the Originals side during their 2023 campaign, with their first two games getting abandoned due to rain they certainly didn’t set off on the right foot, followed by losing their star player and captain Sophie Ecclestone to a shoulder injury before the conclusion of the tournament. They ended up placing 7th after winning 4 of the 6 games the weather allowed them to contest. Their continued struggle with bat throughout the tournament, and more specifically the inability for the top and middle order to play coherent and positive cricket in the same innings was at the core of their struggle. The absence of Kate Cross after she was picked up by Northern Superchargers proved quite the struggle as well, as she took more wickets for Superchargers in the 2023 addition than all of Original’s pace options that season.
Heading into 2024 their remains a question mark over the pace bowling situation, with their best option in 2024, Mahika Gaur dropping out due to injury. In addition, member of their 2023 squad, Katie George has moved down the way to Trent Rockets. They have however brought in England quick Lauren Filer, who is often regarded as one of the quickest in the English game and Bethan Ellis from the Central Sparks. With bat the addition of experienced Beth Mooney and Eve Jones should help to allow them to bolster their innings from the get-go and could fill in the missing piece of the jigsaw to enable them to go further this season.
The Squad
Beth Mooney (o), Sophie Ecclestone, Kim Garth (o), Laura Wolvaardt (o), Lauren Filer, Eve Jones, Emma Lamb, Fi Morris, Kathryn Bryce, Phoebe Graham, Ellie Threlkeld, Liberty Heap, Danielle Gregory, Alice Monaghan, Bethan Ellis.
*Replaced injured Mahika Gaur before the tournament began
**Replaced injured Sophie Molineux before the tournament began
My Starting XI
Laura Wolvaardt
Beth Mooney
Kathryn Bryce
Fi Morris
Eve Jones
Bethan Ellis
Sophie Ecclestone (C)
Ellie Threlkeld (WK)
Phoebe Graham/Danielle Gregory (Depending on the need for additional pace/spin option)
Lauren Filer
Players To Watch
Star Player: Kathryn Bryce
Kathryn Bryce is having one of the best seasons you will see. The 26-year-old all-rounder has captained Scotland to the 2024 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, their first following the qualifiers in May. She played a key role on the field during the qualifiers, scoring 177 runs and taking 9 wickets. Upon her return to domestic cricket with The Blaze in England she tops the run scoring tallies in both the concluded Charlotte Edwards Cup (T20) with 478 runs, leading her side to the trophy and earning herself the player of the tournament award. With ball she has 17 wickets to her name across formats.
One to watch: Bethan Ellis
Coming into the tournament as a late replacement for Mahika Gaur, all-rounder Ellis remains a core member of the Central Sparks Squad and was top wicket taker in their 2023 T20 campaign. With bat at the top of the order this season she has 161 runs to her name this season as well as 12 wickets to her name through her right-arm medium bowling. Despite being a late edition to the squad, her quick-paced playing style is made for the format and she could be in for quite a tournament if enabled the opportunities to play.
The Leadership
Sophie Ecclestone (Captain)
It is safe to say if you were building your ideal side Sophie Ecclestone would be first on the list. She remains at number one in both the T20I and ODI bowling rankings and had taken a wicket in 35 consecutive international innings, prior to the final T20I vs New Zealand. The budding all-rounder has 20 and 192 runs to her name in the tournament and enters her second year of captaincy after she took over from Kate Cross following her move to the Northern Superchargers in 2023.
Stephen Parry (Coach)
The former Lancashire batter enters his second year coaching the side after taking over from Paul Shaw in 2023. Following Originals worst placed finish last season, he’ll be looking to rebuild and take them into the top half of the table for the first time in their history. For me, Parry has put the best squad together despite the late injuries, with good balance in all departments paired with substantial firepower from their international contingent.
The Schedule & Where To Watch
*Home games indicated in bold*
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Time (BST) | Coverage (UK) |
| Thu 25th July | Welsh Fire | Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports & BBC Two/iPlayer |
| Mon 29th July | Trent Rockets | Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Thu 1st August | Southern Brave | Utilita Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Sun 4th August | Northern Superchargers | Headingley, Leeds | 2:30 PM | Sky Sports |
| Tue 6th August | Oval Invincibles | Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester | 11:30 AM | Sky Sports |
| Fri 9th August | London Spirit | Lord’s, London | 3:00 PM | Sky Sports |
| Sun 11th August | Northern Superchargers | Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester | 2:30 PM | Sky Sports |
| Thu 15th August | Birmingham Phoenix | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 3:00 PM | 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!
