London Spirit

London Spirit
Personnel
Captain	Heather Knight (women); Dan Lawrence (men);
Coach	Ashley Noffke (women); TBA (men);
Overseas player(s)	Erin Burns; Deepti Sharma; Grace Harris; Meg Lanning; Georgia Redmayne; (women); Nathan Ellis; Shimron Hetmyer; James Neesham; Andre Russell; (men);
Team information
Colours
Founded	2019; 5 years ago
Home ground	Lord's
Capacity	30,000
History
No. of titles	1
Women's title wins	1 (2024)
Official website	London Spirit

London Spirit are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in North London. The team represents the historic counties of Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire in The Hundred,^[1] which took place for the first time during the 2021 English and Welsh cricket season. Both the men's and women's sides play their home games at Lord's.

History

The announcement of the new eight-team men's and women's tournament series in 2019 was not without controversy, with the likes of Virat Kohli criticising the England and Wales Cricket Board for pursuing a shift away from Test cricket,^[2] while others argued the format should have followed the established and successful Twenty20 format. The ECB however decided it needed a more unique format to draw crowds.

In August 2019 the side announced that former Australian spinner Shane Warne would be the men's team's first coach, while former Australia Women coach Lisa Keightley was appointed coach of the Women's team.^[3]

The inaugural Hundred draft took place in October 2019 and saw the Spirit claim Rory Burns as their headline men's draftee, and Heather Knight as the women's headliner. They are joined by England One-Day captain Eoin Morgan and Essex's Dan Lawrence for the men's team, while Freya Davies joins Knight in the women's side.^[4]

Honours

Men's honours

The Hundred

Third place: 2022

Women's honours

The Hundred

Winners: 2024

Ground

Lord's

Both the London Spirit men's and women's sides play at the home of Cricket, Lord's, in the St. John's Wood area of London. The women's side had been due to play at the home of Essex County Cricket Club, the County Ground in Chelmsford, and the home of Northamptonshire, the County Ground in Northampton but both teams were brought together at the same ground as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Current squads

Bold denotes players with international caps.
* denotes a player who is unavailable for rest of the season.

Women's side

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
5	Heather Knight	England	(1990-12-26) 26 December 1990 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Captain
6	Cordelia Griffith	England	(1995-09-19) 19 September 1995 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
7	Meg Lanning	Australia	(1992-03-25) 25 March 1992 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Overseas player
All-rounders
3	Charlie Dean	England	(2000-12-22) 22 December 2000 (age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
17	Grace Harris	Australia	(1993-09-18) 18 September 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player; Ruled out
20	Erin Burns	Australia	(1988-06-22) 22 June 1988 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player; Replacement player
27	Niamh Holland	England	(2004-10-27) 27 October 2004 (age 20)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
28	Danielle Gibson	England	(2001-04-30) 30 April 2001 (age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
42	Deepti Sharma	India	(1997-08-24) 24 August 1997 (age 27)	Left-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player; Replacement player
Wicket-keepers
8	Georgia Redmayne	Australia	(1993-12-08) 8 December 1993 (age 30)	Left-handed	—	Overseas player
15	Abigail Freeborn	England	(1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 (age 28)	Right-handed	—	Wildcard player
Pace bowlers
18	Eva Gray	England	(2000-05-24) 24 May 2000 (age 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
24	Tara Norris	United States	(1998-06-04) 4 June 1998 (age 26)	Left-handed	Left-arm medium	UK passport
44	Sophie Munro	England	(2001-08-31) 31 August 2001 (age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
45	Ellie Anderson	England	(2003-10-30) 30 October 2003 (age 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Wildcard player
Spin bowlers
29	Hannah Jones	England	(1999-02-10) 10 February 1999 (age 25)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
33	Sarah Glenn	England	(1999-08-27) 27 August 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break

Men's side

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
1	Keaton Jennings	England	(1992-06-19) 19 June 1992 (age 32)	Left-handed	Right-arm medium	Replacement player
2	Shimron Hetmyer	West Indies	(1996-12-26) 26 December 1996 (age 27)	Left-handed	—	Overseas player
15	Zak Crawley	England	(1998-02-03) 3 February 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Ruled out
28	Dan Lawrence	England	(1997-07-12) 12 July 1997 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Captain
45	Daniel Bell-Drummond	England	(1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
80	Ollie Pope	England	(1998-01-02) 2 January 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	—	Ruled out
—	Tom Prest	England	(2003-03-24) 24 March 2003 (age 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Replacement player
All-rounders
8	Liam Dawson	England	(1990-03-01) 1 March 1990 (age 34)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
12	Andre Russell	West Indies	(1988-04-29) 29 April 1988 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas player
20	Matt Critchley	England	(1996-08-13) 13 August 1996 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
25	Ravi Bopara	England	(1985-05-04) 4 May 1985 (age 39)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Wildcard player
29	Ryan Higgins	England	(1995-01-06) 6 January 1995 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Wildcard player
—	James Neesham	New Zealand	(1990-09-17) 17 September 1990 (age 34)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas player; Replacement player
Wicket-keepers
17	Adam Rossington	England	(1993-05-05) 5 May 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	—
19	Michael Pepper	England	(1998-06-25) 25 June 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	—
Pace bowlers
9	Olly Stone	England	(1993-10-09) 9 October 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast
33	Richard Gleeson	England	(1987-12-02) 2 December 1987 (age 37)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
36	Matthew Taylor	England	(1994-07-08) 8 July 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Left-arm fast-medium	Replacement player
38	Daniel Worrall	Australia	(1991-07-10) 10 July 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	UK passport
72	Nathan Ellis	Australia	(1994-09-22) 22 September 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas player
Spin bowlers

Seasons

Women's team

Season	Group stage							Playoff stage		Ref.
Season	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	Pos	Pld	Pos	Ref.
2021	8	4	4	0	0	8	4th	Did not progress		^[5]
2022	6	2	4	0	0	4	7th	Did not progress		^[6]
2023	8	2	4	0	2	6	6th	Did not progress		^[7]
2024	8	4	3	1	0	9	3rd	2^[a]	1st	^[8]

Men's team

Season	Group stage							Playoff stage		Ref.
Season	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	Pos	Pld	Pos	Ref.
2021	8	1	6	0	1	3	8th	Did not progress		^[9]
2022	8	5	3	0	0	10	3rd	1^[b]	3rd	^[10]
2023	8	2	4	0	2	6	7th	Did not progress		^[11]
2024	8	1	7	0	0	2	8th	Did not progress		^[12]

Notes

^ London Spirit women qualified for the eliminator in 2024. They played 2 games, winning the eliminator against Oval Invincibles by 8 wickets, and winning the final against Welsh Fire by 4 wickets.
^ London Spirit men qualified for the eliminator in 2022. They played one match, losing the playoff for the final against Manchester Originals by 5 wickets.

References

^ "The Hundred: Team-by-team guides, coach details and venues". Sporting Life. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ sport, The Guardian (28 August 2018). "Virat Kohli gives ECB's 100-ball 'experiment' the thumbs down". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
^ "Shane Warne named as coach of Lord's Hundred team". The Guardian. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
^ "The Hundred: Central contract and local icon 'drafts' explained". ESPNcricinfo. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
^ "The Hundred Women's Competition 2021". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Women's Competition 2022". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Women's Competition 2023". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Women's Competition 2024". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Men's Competition 2021". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Men's Competition 2022". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Men's Competition 2023". espncricinfo.com.
^ "The Hundred Men's Competition 2024". espncricinfo.com.

External links

Official web page

[fn2-8] London Spirit women qualified for the eliminator in 2024. They played 2 games, winning the eliminator against Oval Invincibles by 8 wickets, and winning the final against Welsh Fire by 4 wickets.

[fn1-11] London Spirit men qualified for the eliminator in 2022. They played one match, losing the playoff for the final against Manchester Originals by 5 wickets.

[1] "The Hundred: Team-by-team guides, coach details and venues". Sporting Life. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2021.

[2] sport, The Guardian (28 August 2018). "Virat Kohli gives ECB's 100-ball 'experiment' the thumbs down". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 October 2019.

[Coaches-3] "Shane Warne named as coach of Lord's Hundred team". The Guardian. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.

[4] "The Hundred: Central contract and local icon 'drafts' explained". ESPNcricinfo. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.

[5] "The Hundred Women's Competition 2021". espncricinfo.com.

[6] "The Hundred Women's Competition 2022". espncricinfo.com.

[7] "The Hundred Women's Competition 2023". espncricinfo.com.

[9] "The Hundred Women's Competition 2024". espncricinfo.com.

[10] "The Hundred Men's Competition 2021". espncricinfo.com.

[12] "The Hundred Men's Competition 2022". espncricinfo.com.

[13] "The Hundred Men's Competition 2023". espncricinfo.com.

[14] "The Hundred Men's Competition 2024". espncricinfo.com.

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