The Hundred 2023: Meet London Spirit as Dan Lawrence & Charlie Dean name players to watch
- Published
Dan Lawrence (left) and Charlie Dean (right) have told us which players you should keep an eye on this year
The Hundred returns on 1 August, but how are London Spirit shaping up ahead of the third season?
BBC Sport has spoken to a player from their men's and women's teams and worked with data analysts CricViz to assess Spirit's chances and key players.
Who are they?
Ground: Lord's, St John's Wood in London
Men's captain: Dan Lawrence
Men's coach: Trevor Bayliss
Women's captain: Heather Knight
Women's coach: Ashley Noffke
Previous record: Men: 2021 - eighth; 2022 - third; Women: 2021 - fourth; 2022 - seventh
When are London Spirit's fixtures?
London Spirit fixtures in the 2023 Hundred | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Team | Date | Time (all times BST) | Venue |
Oval Invincibles | 2 August | Women at 15:00, Men at 18:30 | Lord's |
Manchester Originals | 5 August | Women at 11:00, Men at 14:30 | Emirates Old Trafford |
Southern Brave | 8 August | Women at 15:00, Men at 18:30 | Lord's |
Trent Rockets | 12 August | Women at 11:00, Men at 14:30 | Lord's |
Oval Invincibles | 15 August | Women at 15:00, Men at 18:30 | Kia Oval |
Northern Superchargers | 18 August | Women at 15:00, Men at 18:30 | Lord's |
Welsh Fire | 20 August | Women at 14:30, Men at 18:00 | Sophia Gardens |
Birmingham Phoenix | 24 August | Women at 15:00, Men at 18:30 | Edgbaston |
BBC coverage: Games in bold (see time column) are live on BBC TV & iPlayer, with every match having ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds. The BBC Sport website and app will have live text updates, the TV/radio coverage, in-play video clips plus contributions from Hundred super fan community and all the best stats. |
How are they shaping up?
Sarah Glenn has moved from Trent Rockets to London Spirit
BBC Sport has worked with data analysts CricViz to look at the strengths and weaknesses of each side.
Men's team
Spirit are somewhat overwhelmed with options to open the batting, with Zak Crawley, Adam Rossington, Matthew Wade and Daniel Bell-Drummond all vying for spots at the top of the order.
Spirit's lack of a true finisher to replace Kieron Pollard as a result of recruiting so many top-order batters could hurt them and it's an area where newly appointed skipper Dan Lawrence and overseas star Daryl Mitchell will have to be at their best to repeat last season's finishes.
All-rounders Liam Dawson and Jordan Thompson both impressed last season and bring balance to the side - Dawson's left-arm spin is capable of tying down right-handers during all phases of the innings, while Thompson's knack for consistently taking wickets makes him a threat.
Nathan Ellis, Mark Wood and Olly Stone all provide high-pace options for the Lord's outfit but the fitness and availability of Wood and Stone remain lingering questions - neither player has made an appearance in the Hundred thus far.
Women's team
With the second pick in the draft, Spirit opted to choose hard-hitting Australia all-rounder Grace Harris for her first taste of Hundred cricket.
She will add some devastating boundary-hitting ability to the engine room of Heather Knight, Amelia Kerr and Richa Ghosh, making Spirit's batting - on paper - one of the more formidable line-ups.
Spirit will be boosted by the acquisition of breakout Ashes star Lauren Filer, who will bring some much-needed ball speed to the bowling ranks. Along with the left-arm threat of American Tara Norris and all-round talent of Danielle Gibson, Filer will provide good variety to the seam attack.
Arguably, however, Spirit's strongest aspect of their squad composition is their spin attack, led by England duo Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean and bolstered by the all-round talents of Kerr.
They have every base covered in this sense with a mixture of wrist and finger spin, and both attacking and defensively-minded bowlers. Although not traditionally a happy hunting ground for spinners, should any pitches at Lord's take turn, expect Spirit to be very difficult to beat at home.
Who do the players think you should keep an eye on?
Grace Scrivens captained England to the final of the Under-19 World Cup earlier in 2023
BBC Sport spoke to a player from each men's and women's team and asked them to pick two key players to watch and to consider their chances this year.
London Spirit captain Dan Lawrence: "Our opening batter Adam Rossington is someone to really look out for off the back of a really good T20 campaign in South Africa.
"Michael Pepper, who is a team-mate of mine at Essex, has done really well for us and it would be really good if he could put on a few performances.
"We've got a really good chance. We got every single player that we looked for in the draft and if not we managed to get the other option that was a really good alternative. We've got really good bowlers, we've got some really exciting batting and we're looking strong."
London Spirit spinner Charlie Dean: "I'm going to go for Grace Harris, she is a big overseas signing for us, and Grace Scrivens, who has scored plenty of runs and I don't doubt that she's going to score in the summer.
"We're shaping up really well. We've made some interesting picks in the draft and we've gone really spin heavy. We definitely want to be higher up that table and maybe even win."
Where will they finish?
Now it's your turn to have your say. Pick how you think the men's and women's group-stage tables will finish and share them on social media using #BBCCricket, external.
Read about the other teams: Birmingham Phoenix, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets, Welsh Fire.