Wednesday night would see a record-breaking start to The Hundred as women’s cricket took centre-stage for the opener, the Oval Invincibles succeeding in their run-chase against the Manchester Originals, now, as we head into the weekend, the Trent Rockets get their tournament underway, at home to Southern Brave.
So, here at the Nottingham Sport, we caught up with not one, not even two, but three members of the Trent Rockets Women in Katherine Brunt, Sarah Glenn, and Rachel Priest, an eclectic mix of youth and experience coming together as one on the hallowed turf of Trent Bridge.
The experience in which that of Brunt, and Priest, both 36-years-old, bring to the field is second-to-none, with Brunt alone being a two-time World Cup (2009, 2017), one-time T20 World Cup (2009), and an Ashes winner with England.
Speaking of the addition of The Hundred to the cricketing calendar, and what it means to the continuous rise of the women’s game, Brunt, a right-handed fast bowler for Yorkshire CCC said that: “We’ve done standalone tournaments where we’ve brought in plenty of people by ourselves, but, being alongside the men, it brings more of an atmosphere, a different set of crowd who’d never thought of being at a women’s game.
“So, just being there, it changes people’s minds and gets those involved, which is what we’re after, without forcing people to go, they’re kind of there by accident instead, and that helps us to further our game and reach more people.
“In terms of playing alongside the guys, everything running along with them, the media, all our requirements, is perfect for us because you’ve also got the men talking about us as we are about them so we can feed off the back of all that.”
New Zealander, Priest, a wicket-keeper and right-hander batter, who has enjoyed previous spells on British soil with that of Staffordshire, Bedfordshire, and Wales, certainly knows her way around the field, and the game as a whole.
Currently plying her trade with the Tasmanian Tigers in Australia’s Women’s National Cricket League, she is delighted that something like this is happening, more considering all she has accomplished herself throughout her career, adding: “When I think back over my career, the things I’ve done have been amazing.
“I’ve been so lucky in so many ways, but everyone in this tournament is super lucky because it’s special to play in the first one of anything.
“I think that’s really, really special, and I’m just really thankful to Sal (Salliann Briggs) for getting me to come over and giving me the opportunity to play in it because I kind of thought that the ship had sailed, so I’m really excited.
“It’ll certainly rank really highly in my career for sure, along with playing in the KSL (Kia Super League, with the Western Storm), which was amazing, the Big Bash (with both Sydney Thunder and the Hobart Hurricanes), everything like that.
“These tournaments, they’re getting so close to international cricket now that they’re really high up on the things that I like to do.
“In this country, particularly though, women’s cricket has, absolutely, gone ahead in leaps and bounds over the last five to ten years and really put a lot of effort, time, and money into it, and obviously reaping the rewards.
“I certainly didn’t think in my career I would be going round the world playing cricket; at the beginning of my career it was just a pipedream and didn’t look like it was ever going to happen, then it all started happening really quickly.
“I also think it’s amazing that they’re matched up with the men’s, it can only be good for women’s cricket to be seen on an even playing field in that way, and is good for both games.
“We certainly hope we can get more fans who haven’t seen women’s cricket before, who go there and think, ‘oh, there’s a game beforehand, we might pop down and watch it’ and hopefully they’ll enjoy it as well.”
At 21-years-old, Sarah Glenn is relatively new to the international scene; a right-arm leg break bowler, she’ll be doubling up in regards to her gaining new, and dishing out her recent experiences, to benefit both herself, and those around her.
Having made her international bow in late 2019, Glenn, who at present appears for that of the Central Sparks and Perth Scorchers, as well as Worcestershire CCC, added: “In making my international debut there was a lot of nerves around it, so, I kind of learned from that, how to cope with the pressure, and pressure at the World Cup, so I can feed it to the other girls, and so I can learn off the more experienced, like Nat (Sciver) and Katherine (Brunt).
“They’ve both been there plenty of times so I think, to keep speaking to them, and to get experience off them, and with the balance of the team, then communication is going to be really good so we can hopefully just learn from each other.
“When I was playing in the Big Bash, with the Perth Scorchers, it felt like I was playing for just that, the Perth Scorchers, and not just for the men and women, so when the fans get that feeling, they’re coming to watch both the men, and the women.
“Therefore, with the Rockets, and with other teams, that’s going to be really beneficial and there’s going to be more crowds in, more people supporting both teams as opposed to just the one, and, hopefully, they’ll see some good cricket and be inspired by it.”
The Trent Rockets begin with back-to-back home games at Trent Bridge on Saturday afternoon, with the following games lined up – Southern Brave (H, Sat 24 July), Northern Superchargers (H, Mon 26 July), London Spirit (A, Lords, Thurs 29 July), Birmingham Phoenix (A, Edgbaston, Sun 1 August), Welsh Fire (A, Sophia Gardens, Fri 6 August), Oval Invincibles (A, The Oval, Sun 8 August), Birmingham Phoenix (H, Fr 13 August), Manchester Originals (H, Sun 15 August).
The Trent Rockets women’s squad is as follows – Natalie Sciver (captain, all-rounder), Katherine Brunt (bowler), Kathryn Bryce (all-rounder), Ella Claridge (all-rounder), Abbey Freeborn (all-rounder), Sarah Glenn (all-rounder), Heather Graham (all-rounder), Teresa Graves (all-rounder), Nancy Harman (bowler), Lucy Higham (all-rounder), Sammy-Jo Johnson (bowler), Michaela Kirk (all-rounder), Alicia Presland (bowler), Rachel Priest (all-rounder), Emily Windsor (batter) – the Men’s squad can be found on our interview with Tom Moores HERE.
Hosting the Southern Brave, at Trent Bridge, on Saturday, Trent Rockets Women will start at 11:00, and the Men follow immediately after, at 14:30; information for all games available from www.thehundred.com
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @thehundred England International Katherine Brunt is part of the Rockets team.
