The Hundred: Welsh Fire teams make changes for 2023
- Published
Jonny Bairstow and Tammy Beaumont will captain the Welsh Fired teams in 2023
Both Welsh Fire teams have opted for major changes in their squads for the third Hundred tournament after finishing bottom in 2022.
The men's side will include England batters Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope, but has only retained six of the maximum ten players allowed.
The women's line-up will again be captained by England batter Tammy Beaumont.
West Indies' Hayley Matthews and Australian Annabel Sutherland return.
But the team has not used its fourth option to retain players.
The changes follow another season of struggles for the Cardiff franchise, which has brought former Australia batter Michael Hussey in as head men's coach to replace Gary Kirsten after a winless season.
Bairstow and Pope will be joined by fellow batter Joe Clarke, while fast bowlers David Payne, Jake Ball and George Scrimshaw also remain in the Fire squad.
None of Welsh Fire's overseas players from 2022 - David Miller, Adam Zampa, Noor Ahmad, Ish Sodhi or Dwaine Pretorius - have been signed up again.
The women's squad was only marginally more successful, winning one game out of six.
The remaining squad places for the eight franchises will be decided at a draft on 23 March, while the Welsh Fire teams begin their campaigns at home to Manchester Originals on 2 August.
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