Danielle Gibson

Mayank Kumar ∙ 17 July 2021

The Hundred | Team Preview: London Spirit face resource constraints in first shot at history

The much-ambitious pet project of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)—The Hundred is almost upon us. They had to wait for longer than they would have liked but a sustained period of hype and excitement would not have allowed them to complain a lot. However, they have suffered a wee bit by some international stars pulling their hands away in the year of an ICC World T20. The ECB should be elated to finally have a go at the idea and they would want their poster boy and most successful product manager—Eoin Morgan to show it to the world how it is done. Morgan has been tasked with the leadership of London Spirit and both the side and the ECB would want nothing less than what he has been able to achieve with the England team come to the tournament from July 21. The Hundred is an absolutely new concept and the teams might find it difficult to lock in tactics that can prove successful over a length of a tournament and here Morgan will have the luxury of having Shane Warne in the leadership group. Warne is one of those few men who has been there and done that in the first edition of the then very new concept called the Indian Premier League. London Spirit Men's squad Overseas players: Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Mohammad Amir (Pakistan) Local icon players: Eoin Morgan, Mark Wood Domestic players: Roelof van der Merwe, Joe Denly, Mason Crane, Kyle Abbott, Adam Rossington, Zak Crawley, Jade Dernbach, Luis Reece, Dan Lawrence, Rory Burns, Ravi Bopara Coach: Shane Warne English and batting heavy side The Spirit squad is full of English batting talents. From Rory Burns to Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence, the fortunes of the Spirit will by and large hinge heavily on these batsmen who have been touted as the stars of the future. Eoin Morgan, Joe Denly, Ravi Bopara and Josh Inglis will do the heavy-duty in the middle order but the format would demand a lot of contribution and heart from the players at the top. Morgan, Wood hold key Morgan has been the most important talisman for England cricket over the last five years and the role and expectations will be nothing dissimilar to what he has been for England. He will have to take the leadership role in batting as well to add impetus to the Spirit batting and his never play defensive attitude will come in handy for the side in The Hundred. Mark Wood has been one of the most improved bowlers in world cricket at this stage and Morgan would back him to come at the top of the batsmen in the shortest acceptable format of the game. Chances are that England Test players such as Crawley, Burns and Lawrence will be called up by the senior men's side for the Test series against India and Morgan will have to lift the side by extra effort and zeal. Experienced bowling The bowling attack will be spearheaded by Mohammed Amir and the Pakistani left-armer has a lot to prove after missing out on the selection in the national side. He was a force to be reckoned with before Pakistan gave up on him and the pacer will be eager to prove his worth in an even shorter format. Mark Wood will be the perfect partner for Amir and both can send serious tremors in the opposition camp with swing and pace. The spin department will be led by Mohammad Nabi, an Afghan who has been a frequent world traveller in the T20 competitions. Nabi has excelled in the T20 format and won’t find himself out of his comfort zone in the tournament. An enterprising Englishman in Mason Crane will look forward to supporting him with his uncanny leg spinners. However, he has been guilty of providing boundary balls and it would be interesting to see if Morgan shows faith in him like he had shown in Adil Rashid at the start of his England captaincy days. A never growing old Roelof Van Der Merwe will accompany him with an astute left-arm spin and Morgan would back the bowling unit to bowl their heart out irrespective of conditions and quality of batting they come up against. Chances of a shot at the title The London Spirit will bank on the Morgan-Warne duo to bring the killer instinct but the team might miss the X-factor of Glenn Maxwell. England's young players have not established themselves in the T20 and at the same time, their departure midway through the tournament can create chaos which could derail their growth. A majority of workload will come on Morgan’s shoulder if the Spirit have to go all the way to establish their name as the first champions of The Hundred and the journey looks ominous from the outset. Probable Playing XI Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence, Joe Denly, Josh Inglis (wk), Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Mohammad Nabi, Chris Wood, Mason Crane, Mark Wood, Mohammad Amir London Spirit Women Squad Tammy Beaumont (wk), Heather Knight (C), Deepti Sharma, Deandra Dottin, Susie Rowe, Chloe Tryon, Grace Scrivens, Charlie Dean, Danielle Gibson, Freya Davies, Sophie Munro Coach: Trevor Griffin Batting heavy, like the men Tammy Beaumont has been one of the best batters going around the world at the moment and she along with the skipper Heather Knight, West Indies’ Deandra Dottin and India’s Deepti Sharma will form a daunting quartet for the opposition attack. Middle order-batswomen like Amara Carr and Aylish Cranstone can also chip in with the bat but the above four will have to make life easier for other batters. The bowling department looks thin in resources with only Charlie Dean and Danielle Gibson being the prominent names and hence if the London Spirit Women have to go all the way, the batters will have to take the onus upon themselves. Chances of winning the title It appears tough for the London Spirit Women to go all the way in the inaugural edition of The Hundred but oppositions can’t be reckless against them especially with the presence of Beaumont, Knight and Dottin in the playing XI. Probable Playing XI Tammy Beaumont (wk), Heather Knight (C), Deepti Sharma, Deandra Dottin, Susie Rowe, Chloe Tryon, Grace Scrivens, Charlie Dean, Danielle Gibson, Freya Davies, Sophie Munro