Welsh Fire prepare for The Hundred season
The hundred has proved an incredibly popular new format of short form cricket, with its fast paced-high intensity style. City-based sides compete around England and Wales, with Cardiff’s Welsh fire look to push on after 2 poor performances in previous seasons. We speak to players and coaches about their hopes for the upcoming season.
Transcript
00:00 Yeah, really excited. It's obviously the first game is coming around pretty quick. We only
00:05 joined up yesterday and had our first training this morning. So yeah, there's a great vibe
00:10 around the group. I think everyone's buzzing to get started really and really excited about
00:15 that first game.
00:16 I think everybody's raring to go. It's just been really nice to be able to get the girls
00:21 in and hopefully get them settled and used to each other. And I think that's been the
00:25 main focus of our build-up so far. Well, obviously we had the draft, which was really good to
00:30 be a part of. And then since then, obviously having comes with the players, some of the
00:35 international players and stuff, we've managed to come in, had a little bit of practice games
00:40 and stuff like that. And I think the important thing, I think, over a three-week period and
00:44 franchise stuff is getting the players to be comfortable with each other. They've been
00:47 thrust into this so quickly. And the more you can get that social interaction and them
00:52 feeling comfortable with each other, then hopefully they're in a better place to perform.
00:57 Yeah, it's been great so far. We've obviously just been together less than a week so far,
01:02 but yeah, good vibes around the group. Good to have some new players join us and I feel
01:07 like everyone's settling in really well. Desperate for the weather to change a little bit, I
01:10 think. But yeah, really excited to be back. And I feel like we've got a really good team
01:15 this year. So hopefully we'll be kind of challenging in a few more games and get some wins on board.
01:19 I think anything that can generate the crowds and stuff like that and the interest in cricket
01:23 is going to be valuable. I think, especially for the women's game, to help professionalise
01:28 the women's game, help girls at domestic level get used to what it's like to play in front
01:33 of big crowds at big stadiums and stuff like that. I think that can only enhance us moving
01:37 forward.
01:38 Absolutely. I mean, we're quite optimistic. I think we've not made too much about winning,
01:43 losing, anything like that. I think most of our focus has been on how we prepare and establishing
01:48 roles within the group and trying to play accordingly. I think there's eight really
01:56 strong sides and we back ourselves 100%. I think we've got some world-class players,
02:00 we've got plenty of match winners. So it's all about coming together as a group and trying
02:05 to create a really good team environment. And hopefully that will put us in good stead.
02:09 Yeah, I think this year a lot of the women's teams look all quite equal and even on paper.
02:15 So I think it's going to be whichever team starts well, whichever team gets on a bit
02:18 of a roll and performs on the day. Anyone can really beat anyone. And I think certainly
02:22 our squad's been strengthened this year. So it's just going to be about getting those
02:26 performances in and who does best on the day.
02:28 We've got an exciting team. It's a fresh team compared to what it's been in the last two
02:33 years. A new coach, a lot of new faces. So yeah, exciting time of year if the weather
02:38 holds up for us. But yeah, looking forward to hitting the ground running on Wednesday.
02:42 That's something that comes to mind when I think about playing any sport in Cardiff.
02:46 Best fans anywhere, obviously I have to say that. But it's a special feeling playing here
02:50 in front of a packed stadium. They are a different level compared to wherever else I've been.
02:55 And yeah, I think we are long overdue some success in this format and the fans do deserve
02:59 that. So hopefully that's something we can give back to them this year.
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