Southern Brave's Lauren Bell praises success of The Hundred after second-place finish
Lauren Bell feels that women’s cricket will benefit in the long run after The Hundred came to a conclusion last weekend.
The 20-year-old was part of the Southern Brave side which finished runners-up, losing by 48 runs to Oval Invincibles at Lord’s on Saturday.
Speaking about the impact the competition will have on the sport, the former Hungerford CC player praised how successful the last month has been.
“I think it was very successful for women’s cricket,” she said. “There were records all the time with how many people were at the ground and how many people watched the games on television too.
“It is just the start and I think it will get better and better each year and it’s exciting for women’s cricket at the moment.
“It was a shame about the end result, but once we got over it we appreciated how good the competition was and we were so proud to get to the final.
“We know we played good cricket throughout the tournament and it was a great experience to be able to play at Lord’s too.”
In the final, Bell bowled figures of 2-24 from 20 balls and she finished the competition with a total of 12 wickets.
She explained how the feeling was to take crucial wickets during a final, which was in front of a capacity crowd at Lord’s.
“It didn’t really sink in until the next day, but it was an unbelievable experience to get them.
“Anya [Shrubsole] and Lottie [Charlotte Edwards] said before the game that you don’t get to play in a final, in a full house, at Lord’s, so they wanted us to make the most out of the day and I think we did.
“It has given me confidence that even on stages like that I can still perform well and I have learnt so much working with Anya and it’s only going to put me in a good position for the domestic cricket.”
Bell only had a few days off as she returned to action with Southern Vipers when they played Central Sparks in the Charlotte Edwards cup on Wednesday.
She will also be competing in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with Vipers before the season comes to a close.
“It was nice to have some days off, but I am excited that I have cricket to play and that I have trophies that I can win this summer,” she added.
