Northern Superchargers women's coach Dani Hazell signals her 2024 intentions for The Hundred

AIMING HIGH: Dani Hazell, head coach of Northern Superchargers Women is looking to go one better than last year's runners-up finish. Picture: Harry Trump/Getty Images

After winning six of their eight group games and benefitting slightly from a storm interrupted semi-final, the Headingley-based franchise found itself stepping out at Lord’s for last year’s final of the 100-ball competition.

Ultimately, they were to be denied as rivals Southern Brave won by 34 runs to clinch the third edition of the competition following its inaugural outing in 2021.

Tuesday morning saw the fixtures for the 2024 edition revealed, all dates staged as double-headers with the men’s and women’s teams playing one after the other.

DOWN AND OUT: Southern Brave's Lauren Bell takes the last wicket to win The Hundred women's final at Lord's last August. Picture: Adam Davy/PA

The Superchargers will begin their campaign at Headingley against Trent Rockets on Friday, July 26 and be back there four days later to play host to their Lord’s conquerors, Southern Brave.

The other two Headingley dates are on Sunday, August 4 against Manchester Originals and Tuesday, August 13 when London Spirit visit.

If, as Hazell hopes, the Superchargers make it through to the knockout stages again, the Eliminator will be held at The Oval on Sunday, August 17, with the Lord’s final taking place the following day.

“Ideally, we want to go one better than last year,” said Hazell, ahead of her fourth year in charge of the women’s franchise. “We did really well last year, I was really proud of how the girls went about things.

GOT HER: Northern Superchargers' Kate Cross (second right) celebrates the wicket of Oval Invincibles' Suzie Bates with team-mate during The Hundred encounter at Headingley last August. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA

“It is a very short competition and we won a couple of close games but there is no point entering a competition and not trying to win it.”

With The Hundred now entering its fourth year, Hazell believes the competition is settling down, its impact on the women’s game in particular proving immense.

“From year one, where we were playing a foreign game to what anyone had played before, I think it has evolved really fast,” added Hazell, also coach of the Northern Diamonds.

“It’s now become pretty normal and it’s been really good to see how much the game has moved forward.

“The Hundred has had such an impact on women’s cricket domestically, it’s made people think more adventurously, maybe. It’s the little tactical things that you’ve developed over the last 2-3 years that are now trends, things that you are starting to pick up and how people are going about things.

“With T20 and 50-over cricket, you’ve got quite a lot of history to look back on and look at scores etc - but now this format is starting to build a bit of a database of its own on how the game is developing.”

Attracting growing crowds has been one of the competition's primary aims from day one - the hope being that interest will grow across every format of the game. Hazell believes it has had the desired effect, with the players feeling the benefit of a more youthful following.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “You see so many boys and girls walking around with Superchargers tops on, they all seemdd to have one of the bucket hats that were very popular last year.

“And Headingley is such a great place to play. A couple of times last year it was the crowd that maybe got us over the line.

"There were a few close games and to know that you’ve got the whole of the Western Terrace cheering on the girls is really exciting and that helps the players and helps them to understand what they are giving back to the crowd as well.”

Northern Superchargers fixtures (all games men’s and women’s double-headers) – Friday, July 26: v Trent Rockets (Headingley), women 15:00, men 18:35. Tuesday, July 30: Southern Brave (Headingley), women 15:00, men 18:35. Friday, August 2: Oval Invincibles (The Kia Oval), women 15:00, men 18:30. Sunday, August 4: Manchester Originals (Headingley), women 14:30, men 18:00. Tuesday, August 6: Birmingham Phoenix (Edgbaston), women 15:00, men 18:30. Thursday, August 8: Welsh Fire (Sophia Gardens), women 11:30, men 15:00. Sunday, August 11: Manchester Originals (Old Trafford), women 14:30, men 18:00. Tuesday, August 13: London Spirit (Headingley), women 15:00, men 18:30. Saturday, August 17: Eliminator (The Oval), women 14:15, men 18:00. Sunday, August 18: Final (Lord’s), women 14:15, men 18:00.