Alice Capsey: Women's Hundred winner reflects on breakthrough year

It is safe to say 17-year-old Alice Capsey burst into cricket's consciousness in 2021.

She won The Hundred, the Charlotte Edwards Cup, and her first professional contract. Now she's preparing to start 2022 on a tour of Australia with England A.

"It's been incredible," Capsey says, reflecting on her whirlwind year. "It's definitely one I'll hold on to. I'm not sure it's going to be like this forever."

Her breakthrough moment came when she opened the batting for the Oval Invincibles, who hosted the Manchester Originals in The Hundred's curtain-raiser.

"It was a completely different experience to anything else," Capsey says, of walking out to bat at The Oval, having not even expected to feature in the playing XI let alone bat at two.

"There's a photo before I go out and I look so out of it. I was completely zoned out and I couldn't hear what people were saying. The home crowd was amazing."

Sure enough, it was some start for Capsey, who, a few minutes later, seemed nerveless as she skipped down the track and hit World-Cup winning Alex Hartley for four with ease.

"I'm not really too sure what I did on that first ball. It just sort of happened," she adds.

In front of a 10,000-strong crowd, the shot was some way to announce herself, but the Surrey academy graduate didn't stop there.

It was just the start of a tournament she would go on to dominate.

'I went into The Hundred a bit naive'

Capsey scored 150 runs and took 10 wickets for Oval Invincibles in the inaugural women's Hundred

In the next few weeks, Capsey continued with a run of stellar performances with bat and ball, as the all-rounder took 10 wickets and hit 150 runs in the tournament.

Notable highlights included a half-century at Lord's and two wickets in the final, where the Invincibles swept the Southern Brave aside to win The Hundred.

"Everything was more than I expected," Capsey says.

"To all be on the field and experience the final together, it was a surreal experience - the crowds, the people, the media. It was a lot.

"I feel like I went into the tournament a bit naive to what it was.

"But it has made a massive difference to people's knowledge of women's cricket and getting more girls into the sport.

"My school friends don't like cricket, but by the end of the tournament they were getting involved. At the start they didn't know the rules, but when I went back to school, they were all discussing it.

"At my local club in Capel all the juniors were asking for autographs. And, I'm like: 'This is incredible.'"

Award winner to first professional contract

Away from The Hundred, the 17-year-old hit an unbeaten 40 in the final as the South East Stars won the Charlotte Edwards Cup.

Then, after being named the PCA Women's Young Player of the Year for 2021, Capsey was awarded her first professional contract, as the ECB increased the number of professional players in each regional women's team to six.

"It's another nice phone call to get," she says, before looking ahead to her first England tour next year.

"Australia is a once in a lifetime opportunity for sure. I'm going to enjoy it, but I'll still be doing some school work.

"I'll be pushing myself to get ready, because I want to perform, whoever I'm playing for next year."

"Hopefully, the Invincibles will have me back in 2022," she adds, laughing.

You'd think they would, wouldn't you?