| London Spirit | |
| Ground: | Lord's |
| Capacity: | 30,000 |
| Num Titles: | 1 |
| Title1: | Men's title |
| Title2: | Women's title |
| Title2wins: | 1 (2024) |
| 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.
See also: The Hundred (cricket). 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]
The Hundred
The Hundred
See main article: 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.