The Southern Brave squad is composed of 15 quality players, including one player each from Australia, India, and West Indies. The other 12 players are from England, with four internationals and eight domestic stars.
Squad: Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Sophia Dunkley, Smriti Mandhana, Ella McCaughan, Fritha Morris, Tara Norris, Sonia Odedra, Carla Rudd, Paige Scholfield, Anya Shrubsole, Charlotte Taylor, Stafanie Taylor, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Danielle Wyatt
Here’s a look at each of the 15 members of the squad:
Lauren Bell:
The young right-arm fast bowler from Wiltshire came into the limelight in 2019, when she troubled the batters of Loughborough Lightning with her swing and bounce in the semi-final of the Kia Super League. She plays for Southern Vipers and on the back of her good performances, she was named in the England squad that entered the bio-bubble. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, she scalped seven wickets in four matches. Apart from Vipers, she plays for Berkshire, having previously represented Middlesex in the Women’s Twenty20 Cup. She is also a member of the England women’s Academy. She is one of the 41 players to get a central contract from the ECB.
Maia Bouchier:
In 2020, this right-hand bat and right-arm seamer had shared her ambition to be “the next Nat Sciver” with Cricketer magazine. The Middlesex-born cricketer had a terrific outing with the Southern Vipers as she played an instrumental role in her team’s success in the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. She was the team’s second-highest run-scorer with 183 runs in 7 innings. She is a regular feature in England academy squads. She also plays for Hampshire. Prior to this, she has played for Middlesex, as well as spending one season in New Zealand with Auckland. She is one of the 41 players to get a central contract from the ECB.
Sophia Dunkley:
The dependable right-hand middle-order bat has been the find of the season, thanks to her prolific performance against India in the recently concluded series. She made her T20I debut in 2018 against Bangladesh has so far featured in 18 games and scored 83 runs in nine innings. Though these numbers might not suggest the kind of talent that this youngster has got, she gave the world a glimpse of her skill in the series against India during which she played a match-winning and match-saving knock. Apart from batting, she can contribute with the ball as she is a handy leg spinner.
Smriti Mandhana:
India’s T20I vice-captain and the opening bat have featured in 81 T20Is and have scored 1901 runs, including 13 half-centuries. She has a strike rate of 121.31 and an average of 26.04. The southpaw has the experience of playing in global T20 leagues like WBBL and Kia Super League. She is a treat to watch when on the song and has the ability to win matches for the team single-handedly. In the recently concluded India-England series, she was the leading run-getter for India and second overall with 119 runs at a strike rate of 141.67.
Ella McCaughan:
She impressed one and all with her batting in the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy that was played in 2020. The right-hand bat from Hampshire replaced Danielle Wyatt, who was on national duty and opened the batting for Southern Vipers. She scored 172 runs in 6 innings, including two half-centuries. She also represents Sussex in county cricket. Apart from opening the batting, she also bowls part-time leg-spin.
Fritha Morris:
She is a right-hand bat and right arm off-spinner. She plays for Western Storm. She was the leading wicket-taker for her side in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 2020. She scalped 11 wickets, including one five-wicket haul in 6 matches, and was overall ranked 6th. With the bat, she was handy as well as she compiled 115 runs in 6 innings. She also represents Hampshire and has previously been part of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Berkshire, as well as Southern Vipers in the Women’s Cricket Super League.
Tara Norris:
The left-arm seamer who played for Southern Vipers had a good outing in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 2020 as she ended the season as the 3rd highest wicket-taker and 2nd highest in her team. She picked up 12 wickets in 7 innings at an average of 17.91 and an economy of 4.79. Previously, she represented Loughborough Lightning. She also plays her domestic cricket for Sussex.
Sonia Odedra:
The Middlesex-born cricketer plays for Nottinghamshire and Lightning. She is a right-arm seamer and a right-hand bat. She played for England in a Test match against India in August 2014 at Wormsley. In that Test, the right arm quickly picked up one wicket. She has also been a part of the England Women’s Academy.
Carla Rudd:
The wicket-keeper bat started her domestic career playing for Sussex in 2009 but made the move to Berkshire in 2011 in search of better opportunities. She also represented Middlesex before moving to Berkshire. Rudd was a safe house behind the stumps as she was responsible for over 50 dismissals between 2011 and 2016. In 2016 she joined the Southern Vipers for the inaugural Kia Super League and featured for the side for the next four seasons. She was also a part of the winning squad that won the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in 2020.
Paige Scholfield:
She is a batting all-rounder who featured for Southern Vipers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 2020. She scalped 9 wickets in 7 matches, at an economy of 4.14 and average of 23.55. With the bat, she contributed 81 runs in 6 innings. Prior to Southern Vipers, she played for Loughborough Lightning. The right-hand bat and right-arm seamer also represent Sussex at the domestic level.
Anya Shrubsole:
The right-arm quick is a vital cog in England’s bowling attack. She is an experienced campaigner and has represented the national side in 79 T20Is. She has picked up 102 wickets, including two four wicket-hauls and one five wicket-haul. She has an economy of under 6 and an average of 15.55. She is the 5th highest wicket-taker in women’s T20Is and has the 4th best T20I career strike rate of 15.6. She has the ability to dismantle the stumps on a regular basis, which makes her the 3rd highest bowler to take wickets in the form of bowled in women’s T20Is. She has 30 wickets in the form of bowling.
Charlotte Taylor:
The right-arm off-spinner who was the leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 2020 was initially not a part of the winning team Southern Vipers. She was brought in as an injury replacement. Though she is an off-spinner, her main weapon is her arm ball which fetches her the maximum wickets. She ended the last season with 15 wickets in 5 matches and had the best figures of 6-34 in the finals. In the process, she also accounted for one four-wicket haul and one five-wicket haul.
Stafanie Taylor:
The legendary West Indian cricketer is one of the best all-rounders in the world of women’s cricket. She is the captain of the West Indies. The right-hand bat has played 111 T20Is and has scored 3121 runs, including 21 half-centuries. She is the 2nd highest run-getter in women’s T20Is and also ranks second in the list of women cricketers with a maximum of half-centuries in T20Is. She is also the fastest to 3000 T20I runs as she completed the feat in 103 innings. She also bowls right-arm off-spin and has picked up 98 wickets in 87 innings. She has many records to her name and the most unique one being the only player in history, male or female, to ever achieve the number one ODI ranking in both batting and bowling simultaneously for the year 2013.
Amanda-Jade Wellington:
The right arm leg spinner from Australia plays for the South Australian Scorpions in WNCL and the Adelaide Strikers in the WBBL. She made her WNCL debut in 2012 at the age of 15, to become the youngest person to ever represent the state of South Australia in senior cricket. Since 2016 she has represented Australia in all three forms of international cricket. She has featured in 1 Test, 8 T20Is, and 12 ODIs. She has picked up 27 international wickets, including one four-wicket haul in T20Is.
Danielle Wyatt:
The right-hand opening bat is one of the most prolific batters in the England team. She made her international debut in 2010 after grinding for five years at the domestic level playing for Staffordshire. She is a vastly experienced player having featured in 119 T20Is. She has scored 1798 runs, including 2 centuries and 8 half-centuries, and has a strike rate of 123.40. In the recently concluded India-England series, she top-scored with 123 runs at a strike rate of 138.90 in the three T20Is. She also bowls occasional off-spin and has 73 international wickets, including 46 in 45 T20I innings.
Note: All the stats are as of July 17, 2021
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