Northern Superchargers' captain Hollie Armitage says self-belief key to success in The Hundred

It is a mantra which Hollie Armitage, the Northern Superchargers captain, believes can carry her side a long way in The Hundred, the third edition of which starts on Thursday with a double-header against Birmingham Phoenix at Headingley.

The women take to the stage first, at 3pm, followed by the men’s match at 6.30pm.

For Armitage, the key to taking the vital extra steps this year is rooted in self-belief and good players backing themselves.

Asked if there is anything in particular that Superchargers must improve, after the women came sixth out of the eight teams in 2021 and fifth last year, mirroring the Superchargers’ men’s side in reverse, Armitage said: “I think in general you’ve just got to believe in your skills. It sounds simple, but it’s very important.

“We do all this practice, and then it gets to game-day and people potentially don’t back their skills as much as they should do.

“So I think it’s having real belief - like, as a captain, I’ve got belief in all my players - and it’s just for them as individuals to believe in themselves.”

Can Superchargers win the tournament?

“Every year you go into competitions looking to pick up a trophy,” said Armitage. “We’ve been unlucky the last couple of years, but I definitely think with the squad and the depth that we’ve got this year that we’ve got a good chance to compete.

“We’ve got a good squad together; we lost Heather Graham and Alyssa Healy due to injury, but we’ve replaced them with Jemimah Rodrigues and Phoebe Litchfield, and Jemimah has played for us before and been really successful for us, so we’re really happy to have her back.

“Myself and the coaching staff and the players are really happy with how we’re setting up so far, and we’re excited to get the ball rolling.”

Who are Superchargers’ biggest rivals?

“I think you look at all the squads and they’ve all got some very good players,” added Armitage. “Trent Rockets look like they could be a really competitive unit, but I think you look at most teams and they’ve got some match-winning players in them, so I think all teams are looking really competitive so it should be a good tournament.

“Birmingham are a really strong unit first up, but we’ve obviously got a little bit of an advantage being at home and with a home crowd. We’re really looking forward to it and hopefully we can put on a good show.”

The men’s Hundred has its critics, but the women’s Hundred is widely acknowledged as a great success.

“The women’s Hundred has definitely worked really well,” said Armitage. “The growth of the women’s game has been absolutely fantastic, and long may that continue.

“What the tournament wanted to do was bring in new crowds, get more boys and girls picking up cricket bats, and that’s the most important thing about it.

“It’s a really key time to be in the women’s game, and, in my opinion, it’s only going to get better.”