The Hundred, cricket’s exciting new competition featuring the world’s best mens and womens cricketers alongside live music from The Hundred’s BBC Music Introducing partnership, takes place this August including four games at our very own Trent Bridge – the home ground of the Nottingham based team, Trent Rockets. The Hundred is as much about entertainment as it is fast-paced, explosive cricket...
Tell us about how you first started your journey to becoming a professional cricketer…
I first started playing cricket when I was 10. I loved all sports and at the time I didn’t think I could even be a professional cricketer. When I really got into it my heroes were Freddie Flintoff and Kevin Pieterson, both male cricketers so to now be a professional cricketer without having to play for England and the opportunity to have domestic contracts is really inspiring and cool. Hopefully we can inspire young boys and girls to play cricket and for them to know it is a career option for them.
Tell us about the Trent Rockets squad this year?
I’m new to the squad this year but fortunately I've got some good friends in the squad from previous teams like Jo Gardener, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with them. I’m excited to play with Alana King and Harmanpreet Kaur. They are two world class players in their own right and I’ve played against them both a little bit but never with them so it will be pretty cool to have the opportunity to learn off two players like them.
This is the third year of The Hundred taking place. Do you feel it’s achieving its mission of broadening the appeal of the sport?
It’s definitely attracting families and kids to come and watch cricket. The marketing of it has been fantastic by putting the men and the women on the same platform has been a huge success. It’s showing people that women's cricket is really exciting and they should come and watch. The value if it as a day out for families has been an excellent addition to what we haven’t really had before.
What are the biggest differences for you as an athlete between playing in The Hundred and in other forms of cricket?
The biggest difference is the atmosphere and the whole theatre and event of it, that’s what makes it so exciting. It's really fun for us as players as well as for the crowd. All the music playing in the run up to the game and the DJ and presenter plus giveaways for the kids and all sorts going on – there's part of you as a player who wants to take in that moment and enjoy it, but obviously without forgetting we're there doing your job.
What does Trent Bridge mean to you as a venue?
I absolutely love Trent Bridge. I am really lucky to be able to call it my home in all my cricket especially with The Blaze having a base there now too. It's such an incredible ground with so much history and such a fantastic atmosphere. Whether it is test cricket, the hundred, regional cricket, the atmosphere is fantastic and an awesome place to come into work every day.
You obviously know Nottingham very well. What are your favourite places to relax here?
I think all my favourite places are probably all cafes. That sums me up pretty well, I love coffee and having brunch. I really like Yolk in the city centre and Okende at West Bridgford near Trent Bridge. Whether i’m in Nottingham for the day relaxing or if i’m just grabbing a coffee just outside of training and gym. No8 is another really good coffee shop with a deli and does really good sandwiches and lunch options as well.
What’s your favourite Notts park or open space?
I love the Market Square, it's got a good atmosphere and I love the Christmas markets in winter and then in summer there's loads of cafes around there as well. It’s a really nice place to be. Nottingham Castle is good too. Lots of history there and one of the best bits about the city is there is so much history and that links really nicely with Trent Bridge as well. Nottingham is just a really cool city to be around.
The Hundred takes place at Trent Bridge throughout August with matches on 1 August (Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave), 9 August (vs Northern Superchargers), 17 August (vs Manchester Originals) and 19 August (vs Birmingham Phoenix). Tickets for all matches are available from www.thehundred.com
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