The Hundred returns to Utilita Bowl subsequent week, with Southern Courageous as soon as once more among the many main contenders in each the lads’s and girls’s competitions.
Few groups can match the success Southern Courageous have loved because the competitors launched in 2021.
The boys’s aspect had been topped inaugural champions, lifting the title within the match’s first season, whereas the ladies adopted swimsuit by changing into champions in 2023.
Extra lately, Southern Courageous Girls continued to set the usual by changing into the primary group within the competitors’s historical past to finish an unbeaten league-stage marketing campaign in 2025 earlier than ultimately falling agonisingly brief within the last.
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Star energy throughout each squads
That observe document has established Utilita Bowl as one of many competitors’s nice venues, with packed crowds and a fame for producing a few of The Hundred’s most entertaining cricket.
As ever, Southern Courageous have assembled among the greatest names in world cricket.
The boys’s group options England stars Jofra Archer, Jamie Smith, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan, alongside Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, highly effective wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper and thrilling all-round expertise Nikhil Chaudhary.
Jemimah Rodrigues provides aptitude and celebrity high quality to the ladies’s squad, whereas South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt brings confirmed world-class expertise on the high of the order.
England internationals and Hampshire Cricket stars Lauren Bell and Maia Bouchier present additional power in a group that has persistently challenged for silverware all through the competitors’s historical past.
The mix of worldwide stars, England regulars and rising home expertise means Southern Courageous look effectively outfitted to problem on each fronts as soon as once more.
PICTURE: Southern Courageous
A quick begin the precedence
Setting the tone early will show essential in a contest the place each match carries important weight.
Southern Courageous start the season at dwelling in opposition to Welsh Fireplace on Wednesday 22 July, with Utilita Bowl anticipated to offer a full of life backdrop as each squads look to put down an early marker for the remainder of the match.
With simply eight group-stage matches earlier than the knockout rounds, momentum can rapidly outline a season. Southern Courageous’s latest historical past suggests they know higher than most tips on how to construct that momentum and switch it into title challenges.
House fixtures at Utilita Bowl
- 22 July: Southern Courageous v Welsh Fireplace
- 27 July: Southern Courageous v MI London
- 30 July: Southern Courageous v Birmingham Phoenix
- 8 August: Southern Courageous v Manchester Tremendous Giants
Away fixtures
- 25 July: Sunrisers Leeds v Southern Courageous – Headingley
- 1 August: London Spirit v Southern Courageous – Lord’s
- 3 August: Welsh Fireplace v Southern Courageous – Sophia Gardens
- 10 August: Trent Rockets v Southern Courageous – Trent Bridge
Knockout section
- Eliminator: Friday 14 August – Kia Oval
- Last: Sunday 16 August – Lord’s
Contemporary management for 2026
Southern Courageous enters the 2026 marketing campaign with new captains on the helm.
England white-ball star and Southern Courageous stalwart Chris Jordan takes cost of the lads’s aspect, having been a part of the franchise since their title-winning marketing campaign in 2021.
On the ladies’s aspect, Australian worldwide Sophie Molineux will lead a squad full of world-class expertise and expertise.
The management change is complemented by an advanced teaching construction throughout each groups.
For the lads, head coach Hemang Badani is supported by assistant coach Ian Bell, with Shane Burger becoming a member of as bowling coach, former India worldwide Mohit Sharma appointed to the teaching group and ex-Ireland worldwide John Mooney taking up fielding duties.
The ladies’s group is underneath the management of head coach Jonathan Batty and assistant coach Anya Shrubsole, with Tharindu Perera appointed batting coach and former England worldwide Jenny Gunn becoming a member of as fielding coach.
The result’s a training set-up boasting elite worldwide expertise throughout all areas of the sport.
READ MORE: Southern Brave name Sophie Molineux and Chris Jordan as captains
