Tag: Women’s Sport

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The Hundred

The Hundred 2026: Players to Watch 

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Photo taken from @sunrisersleeds on instagram 

The Hundred will return for the sixth edition this month (21st July) with Sunrisers Leeds looking to go back to back (got the last title under Northern Superchargers). Earlier on in the year, the competition hosted the first auction, with many new players joining different teams, showing a different exposure for women’s cricket. 

Birmingham Phoenix: Davina Perrin  

She became the youngest player in either competition when she made her debut aged 15 in 2022 and was the youngest to score a century in the 2025 Eliminator, with 101 runs in just 43 balls. This made her announce herself on the cricketing stage for Northern Superchargers and was named 2025 Professional Cricketers’ Association Women’s Young Player of the Year. 

She was the first player ever acquired at the The Hundred Auction where she returned to Birmingham Phoenix after two years away for £50,000. She has become a young player to watch throughout the tournament due to her calmness on the ball and becoming relentless, never allowing time for the bowlers to take a break. 

London Spirit: Marizanne Kapp 

Having been in the competition since the inaugural season, Kapp has become part of the furniture for the tournament and won player of the match in the final for Oval Invincibles in 2022. Being a confident all-rounder, she bowled the first ball in the hundred and took the first wicket in the competition. 

In the Auction, she was a pre-picked player and joined London Spirit hoping to bring her experience and all-rounder knowledge to the team to help them get far in the competition. 

Manchester Super Giants: Smriti Mandhana 

Vice-Captain of the Indian Women’s National Team, Smriti Mandhana is comfortable in front of any bowler and showed that in the recent test match against England. After missing the previous tournament, she joined this year for the Manchester Super Giants as an overseas direct signing after having a standout performance in the WPL for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. 

Having appeared in many franchise leagues, she looks to maintain her form again in The Hundred and secure steady batting partnerships in the Manchester Super Giants squad. 

MI London: Melie Kerr

New Zealander, Melie Kerr joins MI London from Manchester Originals (now known as Manchester Super Giants) and was a direct signing pre-auction as an overseas player. The comfortable all-rounder knows what it takes to be in the competition after previously being with London Spirit and aims to bring her expertise to the MI London Squad, batting alongside the likes of Hayley Matthews and Danni Wyatt-Hodge. 

Last year for Manchester Originals | Photo taken from @meliekerrr on instagram

Southern Brave: Lauren Bell 

Being with the Brave since the inaugural season, she has become an integral player within the squad and an important bowler playing within the 100 balls. Playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the WPL, they won the league earlier on in the year and she was an important piece in the puzzle for England, during the T20 Women’s World Cup. 

Bell will be an important player in the Southern Brave squad hoping that her quick bowling style will help get players out efficiently and in less balls, making her a player to watch. 

Sunrisers Leeds: Phoebe Litchfield 

Recently winning the T20 Women’s World Cup with Australia, Phoebe Litchfield won last year’s competition with Northern Superchargers (now known as Sunrisers Leeds) and stuck with the group this season. Being an important player for the Australians, the 23 year old is a vital batter for any team she is with and her batting expertise, despite being young, makes her one to watch in this competition. 

Prior to the auction, she was one of three players that stuck with the squad and was pre-picked, alongside Annabel Sutherland and Kate Cross making her a trusted batter within the squad looking to go back to back. 

Trent Rockets: Nat Sciver-Brunt 

All-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt was another player who stuck with their original team before the auction, being trusted with her teammates and coaches. Being among one of England’s greatest cricketers, she is a massive loss when being injured and is feared by every opponent she faces. 

The experienced England international is one to watch this tournament as a paced bowler and an established middle-order batter, helping any team get runs on the board with a trusted partner on the field. 

Welsh Fire: Freya Kemp 

England allrounder, Freya Kemp changed from Southern Brave after staying there for the last five tournaments and was secured by Welsh Fire prior to the auction. The all-round youngster has huge potential in domestic, franchise and international cricket of all formats and can reach a boundary with ease. 

She is one to watch this tournament and has also had a 62-ball hundred to her name in the past during The Hundred. With a good partner on the field, the pair of them can get runs on the board and help Welsh Fire get some wins on the board after a poor couple of last competitions. 

Freya Kemp for England | Photo taken from @freyagkemp on instagram

Categories
Cricket

How a Home World Cup changed the way women’s cricket is perceived

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Photo taken from @englandcricket on Instagram

On Sunday (5th July), the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup finished at Lord’s Cricket Club with Australia winning their 7th title. They faced England who were dominant throughout their home tournament but this appearance in the final was more than just a second place, it changed how Women’s Cricket was perceived in the UK. 

This tournament also secured four countries’ places in the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA – South Africa, India, Australia and Great Britain (taking the place of England). Netherlands also qualified for the first time in this tournament but defending champions New Zealand were eliminated in the Group Stage, with the latter being a shock. 

Australia’s Beth Mooney was revealed as Player of the series with England’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge having the most runs throughout the tournament (302 runs) and Shree Charani from India got the most wickets throughout (14). 

There were seven venues throughout the tournament including the semi-finals at The Oval and the final at Lord’s. The other venues included Edgbaston (Birmingham), County Ground (Bristol), Headingley (Leeds), Old Trafford Cricket Ground (Manchester) and Rose Bowl (Southampton). 

Match 28 between New Zealand and England saw the latter win by 9 wickets with over 21,000 in attendance for the game. Match 29 and 30 was a double header with Bangladesh facing South Africa and India playing against Australia, with 27,163 in attendance across both matches seeing South Africa win by 4 wickets and Australia winning by 6 wickets. 

Semi Final 1 and 2 was another big one for attendance statistics, improving the competition as a whole. Despite it being during a weekday where many people are at work or school, just over 10,000 watched Australia win by 8 wickets against West Indies in just 13 overs. Meanwhile for England vs South Africa, being held on a Thursday night helped attendances as 21,128 fans were in attendance, watching some of the best people in international cricket battle it out for a place in the final. 28,887 fans were in attendance during the final which was the highest attended women’s match held at lord’s and was packed out right until the final bat of the ball. 

In 2026, the WPL season (held in India) featured many of the same players who played throughout the tournament and drew 37.1 million viewers for the Eliminator and Final on television. The tournament saw a number of new fans taste cricket for the first time with 42% of women saying this will be the first time watching the tournament and a quarter of men saying this will be the first time they would be watching any form of women’s cricket (YouGov, 2026). 

England Women’s Cricket has definitely benefited from the recent successes of both the Lionesses and Red Roses with around 27% saying that this is one of the reasons as to why they planned on watching the tournament. 

The opening weekend of the T20 World Cup was the most watched ever of any ICC T20 Women’s Tournament (since being shown on Sky Sports and since 2016) on Sky Sports with 3.3 million viewer hours over a few days of cricket. The opener between England and Sri Lanka drew the highest average on record (393k) for the T20 tournament on Sky Sports with a peak audience of 510k watching England’s first win of the tournament. The opening game was also streamed on Youtube where nearly 75,000 people watched and 90,000 people were on the live blog on Sky Sports. 

The tournament was shown multiple times on the Sky Sports app and free-to-air to make it more accessible for people getting into the sport. With the games only lasting around two and a half hours, there wasn’t a long lasting commitment to people watching, compared to a one day international. 

Women’s Cricket doesn’t stop there for the summer. The first ever test match at Lord’s sees England face India on Friday (10th July) at 11am BST. The Hundred starts on 21st July lasting for an entire month and if you liked some of the players from the tournament, you will more than likely spot them.

Categories
Netball NSL

Hometown Heroes: Manchester Thunder claim their 5th NSL win against London Pulse

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Celebrations | Photo taken from @eleanor_cardwell on instagram 

Manchester Thunder claimed their fifth Netball Super League win at Manchester’s Co-op Live against London Pulse as they won 54-51. Coming on during the game, Experience Kissimmee Player of the Match, Sophie Fawns was the standout player throughout and changed the game. 

After a dominant season, Manchester Thunder are now tied with Team Bath for Netball Super League titles and their first title since the undefeated 2022 season. With the Co-op Live hosting the final, it held a backdrop for the future of netball in the North West.  

Manchester Thunder won the toss with Amy Carter taking the first ball as centre and the home side took full advantage in the opening minutes. Quick passing across the shooting circle helped with the pace of the game with Eleanor Cardwell dominating in the goals across the four players. With three super shots and seven one-pointers for Eleanor Cardwell, Thunder were three points ahead going into the first break of the afternoon with them also using every player possible on the court effortlessly transitioning between thirds.

Alicia Scholes and Taylor McKevitt battled together across the court throughout the period and beyond with Halimat Adio vocal on the court for Pulse as Vice Captain. Funmi Fadoju was gamechanging throughout as she has been all season with multiple pickups and intercepts to help London Pulse fall just three off in the first quarter. 

End of Quarter One: Manchester Thunder 15-12 London Pulse

Starting the second quarter, there were no changes with London Pulse’s Liv Tchine chasing away with one-point shots but in the Amex Super Shot zone, failed to convert. This was the same for Sophie Kelly as she only put two goals on the board throughout the 15 minutes but worked well with Liv Tchine to get her tally, in the quarter, to 13 goals. First goal for Eleanor Cardwell came six minutes in, proving just how dominant Pulse was in the second quarter with Alicia Scholes firing a pass to Tchine around 9 minutes left on the clock from one side of the court to the other. 

A Tactical Change for Manchester Thunder saw Sophie Fawns come in at Goal Attack or Thunder with 7 minutes 45 on the clock and changed the game for the home side. After just one super shot in that quarter, she fired more and more in as the game went on. Various pick ups happened in the game from both Zara Everitt and Josie Huckle with Sophie Fawns performing an intercept in the centre third just before the Amex Super Shot period. Both Pulse defenders continued to double stack in the circle as they have done all season leaving Sophie Fawns open at times as they focused on shooter Eleanor Cardwell. 

Half-time: Manchester Thunder 25-27 London Pulse

Photo taken from @londonpulsenetball on instagram 

Changes from Thunder happened prior to the quarter with Cerys Finn came on as Goal Defence and Lois Pearson came back on but in the Wing Attack position with this changing the game. Cerys Finn defended against Sophie Kelly really well as she only put one one-pointer on the board with London Pulse missing opportunities throughout this quarter, slipping a two goal lead and tilted it to Thunder’s favour by six goals. 

Gracie Smith had an intercept and pick up to her name with Sophie Kelly having a turnover in the quarter. Thunder had multiple passes around the court, making it difficult for Pulse to follow what they were doing with fresh legs helping the movement throughout the fifteen minutes. 

End of Quarter Three: Manchester Thunder 42-36 London Pulse

Sam Bird did not change the lineup at all during the 60 minutes, and stuck with the same starting seven for majority of the season which confirmed a challenge for Alicia Scholes who just came off the back of an ankle injury and was yet to play a full game until then. Taylor McKevitt and Josie Huckle continued to intercept the ball ahead of the Pulse attackers with Pulse pressured to take shots and passes at times. 

Manchester Thunder used all players when in the shooting third and even coming up to the centre third to change the flow of the game, with Funmi Fadoju reading the situation and adding another intercept to her list. After the second time out of the game, Pulse looked to try and attack with three super shots in a row for Sophie Kelly but a mis-timed pass from Alicia Scholes to Liv Tchine wasn’t read from the Goal Shooter. A Supershot from Eleanor Cardwell secured the win for Thunder and a one-pointer on the buzzer from Sophie Fawns earned her Player of the Match after her impressive performance throughout. 

Full-time: Manchester Thunder 54-51 London Pulse

Starting Sevens: 

Manchester Thunder: GK: Josie Huckle, GD: Elia McCormick, WD: Taylor McKevitt, C: Amy Carter, WA: Natalie Metcalf, GA: Lois Pearson, GS: Eleanor Cardwell. 

Impact Players: Sophie Fawns, Emma Rayner, Cerys Finn. 

London Pulse: GK: Halimat Adio, GD: Funmi Fadoju, WD: Zara Everitt, C: Gracie Smith, WA: Alicia Scholes, GA: Sophie Kelly, GS: Liv Tchine. 

Impact Players: Tyler Orr, Darcie Everitt, Kamogelo Maseko

Thunder celebrations post match | Photo taken from @netballsl on instagram
Categories
PWR Rugby

How the PWR are helping the representation of women’s sports in the South West. 

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Gloucester-Hartpury celebrating their PWR Victory | Photo taken from @gloucesterhartpury on Instagram

Premiership Women’s Rugby are inspiring the next generation of women’s sports stars in the south west with three teams already in the league and two in the play offs, this season. The South West is normally forgotten about when it comes to sports, whether that is hosting events or having teams itself and the PWR are trying to change that with elite level competition. 

In the last year itself, the region hosted the Subway Women’s League Cup final in 2026, Will host 6 matches at the County Ground (Bristol) in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, and had two venues in the Rugby World Cup 2025 (Exeter and Bristol). In the region, their highest Women’s Football team is Bristol City who play in the WSL2, with Cheltenham Town, Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle all playing in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division. 

Becoming a benchmark for the rest of the league, Gloucester Hartpury are the reigning champions in Premiership Women’s Rugby and secured their third consecutive title in 2025. Consistency, squad depth, and a number of England internationals prove that they are one of the popular sides in the PWR and in the South West, playing their games at the Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester. 

Captain, Natasha Hunt is from Gloucester herself, being with the side since January 2019 (where she signed her professional contract) and co-captained the side to PWR victory in 2023. She paves the way for young girls from the South West and helps the visibility in the region, allowing them to be just like her. 

Steadily becoming a powerhouse in the league, Exeter Chiefs have reached multiple finals in recent years blending experienced internationals and rising young talent. Widely seen as a threat to the traditional giants, the club based at Sandy Park has a strong advantage with their home fans singing loud and proud every game. 

A standout player from the region that plays for Exeter Chiefs is Bath-born, Maddie Feaunati. She could have played for New Zealand or Samoa but decided to play for her home nation England after taking just four years from taking rugby more seriously to her International debut. 

Founded in 1984, Bristol Bears are one of the most northern teams in the county and play their games at Shaftsbury Park. They have called it home since 2018, which brings security to their fans, knowing where to go on a matchday. Steadily building on becoming a top force, they have become regular contenders for a play off spot in recent years. 

Sarah Bern studied at Hartpury before heading to Gloucester-Hartpury but has been with the Bears since 2018. Despite not being from the South West herself, she continues to pave the way for young girls looking to get into Rugby. Another player from the South West is World Cup winner Marlie Packer, with the Saracens flanker recently moving to Harlequins but called Yeovil her home before moving away.

Bristol Bears appeal players from the West Country’s local talent and nurture players through pathways such as the University of Bristol. They hope to develop a wealth of rugby talent from across the region and have strong partnerships from local colleges such as SGS and Weston to help with this. 

The South West might be lacking in a number of things, but teams in the PWR is not one of them, with the competition hoping to allow visibility to the south west. 

Categories
FA Cup

Rise, Fall and Rise again of Manchester City in the Women’s FA Cup. 

Joie Stadium | Photo taken from @mancitywomen on X 

Six years on since they last won the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, Manchester City won the trophy again and managed a league double for the first time in their history. Since their last Women’s FA Cup win, they have only returned on one occasion and since then they have failed to return to the home of football. 

2019/20: Winners

Manchester City faced Everton in the final at Wembley which was held behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. After extra time, the Cityzens won 3-1 with goals from Georgia Stanway (111’) and Janine Beckie (now Sonis) (120+2’) in added time. Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, the final was hosted later on in the year in November with the game also being shown on BBC One at the time. 

From the Starting 11, Alex Greenwood is the only one to have stayed with the Sky Blue with many of the squad retiring, have left the league or alternatively moved to a different club in the Women’s Super League. 

Starting 11: Ellie Roebuck, Lucy Bronze, Steph Houghton, Alex Greenwood, Demi Stokes, Sam Mewis, Keira Walsh, Caroline Weir, Chloe Kelly (Janine Beckie 118’), Ellen White (Georgia Stanway 63’), Rose Lavelle (Jess Park 70’). 

Unused Subs: Karen Bardsley, Karima Benameur Taieb, Gemma Bonner, Laura Coombs, Jill Scott, Esme Morgan. 

2020/21: Semi- Finals

Manchester City faced Chelsea in the Semi-final stages at the Joie Stadium (then known as the Academy Stadium) where 1,343 fans saw Chelsea head to the finals. Goals from Erin Cuthbert, Melanie Leupolz and Beth England helped the side head to the finals, with Manchester City bowing out at that stage after winning the previous season. 

An injury hit side saw a change in a number of positions throughout the season with Goalkeeper Grace Pilling involved in the squad. She stayed in and around the first team for the next few seasons (alongside dual-registration at a number of lower-league sides) before heading out to America for College. 

Starting 11: Karima Benameur, Janine Beckie, Demi Stokes, Keira Walsh (Vicky Losada 67’), Jill Scott, Alex Greenwood, Laura Coombs, Caroline Weir, Khadija Shaw (Jess Park 45’), Lauren Hemp.

Unused Subs: Hayley Raso, Filippa Angeldahl, Grace Pilling. 

2021/22: Finalists

Manchester City were in the final again after a year away but faced Chelsea who won the previous year against Arsenal. The game went to extra time and on this occasion, Chelsea got the upper hand in extra time as the side won 3-2. 49.094 fans were in attendance at Wembley (the highest crowd at the time) with goals from Lauren Hemp (42’) and Hayley Raso (89’) helping the side get to extra time. 

The side that headed back to Wembley included a number of new faces who were heading to the home of football for the first time. Meanwhile, several England internationals went to the biggest stage before returning later that year for the Women’s European Championship Final. From the squad that headed down to London, 13 players have since played for England (or were playing at the time for them). 

Starting 11: Ellie Roebuck, Lucy Bronze, Alanna Kennedy, Alex Greenwood, Demi Stokes (Julie Blakstad 83’), Georgia Stanway (Laura Coombs 80’), Keira Walsh (Vicky Losada 119’), Caroline Weir, Chloe Kelly (Hayley Raso 76’), Bunny Shaw (Ellen White 80’), Lauren Hemp.

Unused Subs: Filippa Angeldahl, Jess Park, Ruby Mace, Khiara Keating. 

Manchester City at Wembley Stadium, 2022 | photo taken from @alexgreenwood5 on instagram

2022/23: Quarter-Finals

After their second place the year prior, the side looked to improve that year, but managed to exit in the Quarter-final stages against Aston Villa. After an extra time goal from Rachel Daly, the Cityzens were going backwards since their win in 2020 and becoming finalists the year before. 

The starting 11 that started the game was something Manchester City fans were getting used to as they continued to build on the strong squad as a whole, with substitutes only coming on during Extra-time. Something to note though is the fact that all the unused substitutes have now moved on to different clubs, with many of the starting 11 also doing the same. 

Starting 11: Ellie Roebuck, Esme Morgan, Laia Aleixandri (Laura Coombs 105’), Kerstin Casparij, Alex Greenwood, Yui Hasegawa, Deyna Castellanos (Mary Fowler 105’), Lauren Hemp (Hayley Raso 113’), Chloe Kelly, Filippa Angeldahl, Khadija Shaw. 

Unused Subs: Sandy MacIver, Demi Stokes, Steph Houghton, Leila Ouahabi, Alanna Kennedy, Julie Blakstad. 

2023/24: Quarter-Finals 

For the second time in two seasons, Manchester City bowed out in the Quarter-Final stages as they lost on penalties to the eventual finalists, Tottenham Hotspur. After an early lead from Mary Fowler in the sixth minute, Beth England equalised in the sixth minute of added time with Amy James-Turner getting the deciding penalty in. 

Despite bowing out at the same stage they did the previous season, there was a very similar lineup that was put out apart from the notable absentee of Ellie Roebuck (who later announced she was battling with a left occipital infarct injury). 

Starting 11: Khiara Keating, Kerstin Casparij, Laia Aleixandri, Alex Greenwood, Leila Ouahabi (Esme Morgan 73’), Filippa Angeldahl, Yui Hasegawa, Jess Park (Chloe Kelly 91’), Mary Fowler, Khadija Shaw (Laura Coombs 71’), Lauren Hemp. 

Unused Subs: Demi Stokes, Steph Houghton, Sandy MacIver, Ruby Mace, Alanna Kennedy. 

2024/25: Semi-Finals 

Manchester City returned to the Semi-Final stage in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup but failed to secure their place in the final as their rivals, Manchester United won 2-0. Goals from Celin Bizet and Grace Clinton within the first 22 minutes helped the side secure their third successive final appearance but for Manchester City, it was back to the drawing board. 

After an injury hit season, this game was the same as a very weak bench had two goalkeepers and two youngsters, with two more youngsters starting the game. Gracie Prior played a lot of the season as centre back and played a pivotal role throughout. More injuries came for the side as Mary Fowler ruptured her ACL just 25 minutes in, and returned halfway through the 25/26 season. 

Starting 11: Khiara Keating, Leila Ouahabi, Laia Aleixandri, Gracie Prior, Kerstin Casparij, Yui Hasegawa, Lily Murphy (Laura Wienroither 82’), Laura Coombs, Jess Park, Kerolin, Mary Fowler (Naomi Layzell 25’) 

Unused Subs: Sacha Lewis, Aemu Oyama, Katie Startup, Ayaka Yamashita. 

2025/26: Winners

Manchester City were back to winning ways in the FA Cup this season as they won 4-0 against Brighton. 43,917 fans were in attendance for the final (which was the lowest it has been since 2021) as the side won in the 90 minutes for the first time since 2019. Goals from Bunny Shaw (38’), Alex Greenwood (45+6’), Aoba Fujino (66’) and Vivianne Miedema (87’) helped the side win their first FA Cup since 2020. 

Manchester City got back to the high of 2020 after beating a tricky Chelsea side in the Semi-final. Andrée Jeglertz kept with a very similar side throughout all the campaigns that they competed in with substitutes being used when needed throughout, for freshness. 

Starting 11: Ayaka Yamashita, Kerstin Casparij, Jade Rose, Rebecca Knaak, Alex Greenwood, Laura Blindkilde Brown (Sydney Lohmann 77’), Yui Hasegawa, Kerolin (Aoba Fujino 61’), Grace Clinton (Vivianne Miedema 61’), Lauren Hemp (Mary Fowler 77’), Khadija Shaw (Laura Coombs 85’). 

Unused Subs: Eartha Cumings, Leila Ouahabi, Gracie Prior.