England bowler Lauren Filer is excited to sample life with Manchester Originals and has backed more breakout stars to emerge during The Hundred.
The 100-ball competition started on Tuesday and Originals begin their campaign on Thursday with a home fixture against Welsh Fire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Somerset seamer Filer has limited experience of playing at Old Trafford after she represented Fire and Southern Brave during the first three editions of the tournament but is looking forward to calling Manchester home for the coming weeks.
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“I think we have a great group of girls,” Filer told the PA news agency at a KP Snacks event with Manchester City footballer Lauren Hemp at Cheetham Hill, the site of one of 100 all-weather community cricket pitches to be installed across England and Wales by 2025.
“Manchester as a city is great as well, so hopefully we’ll have plenty of people supporting us for the first game on Thursday.
“When I played at Old Trafford in The Hundred a couple of years ago it has definitely got some pace and bounce to it, which suits my bowling. I’m super excited.”
It has been a whirlwind 12 months for Filer, who earned an international debut during the 2023 Ashes and has followed it up with appearances in all formats for England.
The 23-year-old marked her Test bow with the scalp of Australia opener Beth Mooney, who will be her Originals team-mate during The Hundred.
Filer is happy to be on the same side as Mooney and South Africa batter Laura Wolvaardt, while England’s world number one spinner Sophie Ecclestone will captain Originals, which adds to the growing confidence they can qualify for a maiden final in this year’s tournament.
She added: “Super excited to be back with some of the players and also people I haven’t played with, like Laura Wolvaardt. It’s really exciting to see how we go as a group.
“They (Wolvaardt and Mooney) are both very, very good players and I definitely prefer not to be bowling at them so I’m happy.
“We’ve spoken quite a lot about having the belief that we can go on and get to the final. That is what we’ll look to do and put in some performances as good as we can. I’m really excited to get going and see where we’re at.”
A big feature of The Hundred has been the platform it has given to young players to flourish on the biggest stage.
Lauren Bell starred in the 2021 edition and has become an England regular, while Maia Boucher impressed in last year’s tournament and has nailed down her place at the top of the order for England.
“It’s a really good comp to get young players or players that have played a while the attention they deserve,” Filer said.
“Like with Belly, since the way she played a few years ago, she has obviously worked really hard, got into England and is now shining like an England superstar. There is nothing stopping anyone else doing that.
“It is a really great competition to bring people out of their shell and show what they can do.”
:: KP Snacks, the Official Team Partner of The Hundred, is continuing its initiative to build 100 new community cricket pitches across England and Wales, with 35 brand new pitches going down in 2024.
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