Northern Superchargers draftee Phoebe Franklin on strength of women's game and growth of the Hundred

The 25-year-old all-rounder from Greenwich in London began representing Kent’s girls team at 11. By age 16, Kent deemed her good enough to represent the women’s team.

By 2021, and with appearances for South East Stars under her belt, Franklin signed with Birmingham Phoenix for the inaugural Hundred tournament, staying in the Second City for the tournament’s second incarnation last summer.

For 2023, however, Franklin is a Northern Superchargers player having been taken in the first ever Hundred women’s draft in March.

“I had no inclination where I was going to play,” Franklin recalls of draft day. “That was part of the excitement with the draft being brought into the women’s game for the first time.

“A lot of people were looking to change teams so the draft process was really exciting, people being picked up from different teams.

“I was just hoping for more of an opportunity in different places so I made myself available for the draft to see where I landed.”

The month-long tournament doesn’t start until August, and she does not have to report to training camp until a week before the season, but already Franklin is buying in.

On Tuesday, she drove up to Headingley to join Superchargers men’s player Brydon Carse in giving cricket taster sessions to 500 pupils from across 12 local schools. “Days like this were really important for me, I started playing cricket at a similar event to this when a cricket coach came into my school,” Franklin tells The Yorkshire Post. “It was where my love of the sport came from.”

The opportunities young girls now have in cricket are a different world to what was on offer to Franklin. She only signed her first professional contract last autumn having worked as a primary school teacher.

Now she is dreaming of putting a good enough season together to catch the eye of the England selectors, as well as playing more franchise cricket around the world.

“I could never have envisaged that at this age,” she says, looking down at the Headingley pitch. “There was no pathway, it was either you’re playing for England or you’re playing for your county, whereas now we can use the regional set-up and the Hundred – which has brought new excitement to the women’s game – as a stepping stone.”

Early-bird tickets for the four Superchargers double-headers at Headingley are available until June 27. Ticket prices are: adults starting from £15, under-16s at just £5 and kids aged five and under free.

Superchargers fixtures are:Thursday 3 August, Northern Superchargers v Birmingham Phoenix, Headingley Stadium, double header, 15:00;

Friday 11 August, Northern Superchargers v Oval Invincibles, Headingley Stadium, double header, 15:00;

Sunday 13 August, Northern Superchargers v Manchester Originals, Headingley Stadium, double header, 11:00;

Tuesday 22 August, Northern Superchargers v Welsh Fire, Headingley Stadium, double header, 15:00;