The Welsh Fire is another franchise from the 100-ball tournament called “The Hundred“. This team is based in the city of Cardiff in England. This franchise represents three country teams: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, and Somerset in the competition. The franchises are already in preparation for the second edition of the tournament, which is to start in August this year.
The Fire didn’t have a good season last year on both the men’s and women’s side. The inaugural draft for the tournament took place in 2019, when the franchise picked up the English wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow in the draft and made headlines. Bairstow is the skipper of the men’s team, while Tammy Beaumont leads the women’s side.
The former South African skipper, Gary Kirsten, is the coach of the men’s team. Mark O’Leary is the coach of the women’s team. The home ground of the Welse Fire is Sophia Gardens in Cardiff for their home games.
Welsh Fire: Complete Squad
Last season, both the men’s and women’s sides showed a poor performance. The side led by Jonny Bairstow ended the tournament in 7th place with three wins and five defeats. While the women’s side, led by Tammy Beaumont, ended at the bottom with two wins and six defeats.
The draft that happened this season saw the franchise pay huge money for Joe Clarke and Tom Banton. The Fire also picked up Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa and South African batter David Miller. Both of these two are likely to play for the whole next season. As per some speculation, one of them could also captain the team this season. The team also drafted the English U19 star, Jacob Bethell. The Pakistani speedster Naseem Shah also got his chance with the team.
Squad: Jake Ball, Jonny Bairstow, Josh Cobb, Matt Critchley, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Leus du Plooy, Adam Zampa, Ryan Higgins, David Payne, Ollie Pope, Tom Banton, Naseem Shah, Sam Hain, Jacob Bethell, Joe Clarke
Welsh Fire: Top Performers from the last season
The Welsh Fire will look to turn the tables this time around and come hard. Jonny Bairstow and his team hope to improve on their performance from last year. Ben Duckket was the star with the bat last season, and he ended up with the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament.
| Names | Runs | 6s | Innings | Balls |
| Ben Duckett | 232 | 3 | 8 | 169 |
| Glenn Phillips | 214 | 12 | 8 | 146 |
| Leus Du Plooy | 147 | 7 | 6 | 104 |
| Jonny Bairstow | 128 | 8 | 2 | 75 |
| Tom Banton | 96 | 5 | 8 | 76 |
Bowling performances from the last season
Qais Ahmed performed decently for them and was the highest wicket-taker. He took eight wickets in 155 balls. Check out the other top five wicket-takers for the Welsh Fire.
| Name | Balls | Wickets |
| Qais Ahmed | 8 | 155 |
| Jimmy Neesham | 7 | 80 |
| David Payne | 6 | 125 |
| Ryan Higgins | 4 | 35 |
| Mathew Critchley | 4 | 85 |
| Trent Rockets Squad | Oval Invincibles Squad |
| Northern Superchargers Squad | Manchester Originals Squad |
| London Spirit Squad | Welsh Fire Squad |
| Birmingham Phoenix Squad | Southern Brave Squad |