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Welsh Fire
Tân Cymreig
Personnel
Captain	Tammy Beaumont (women); Tom Abell (men);
Coach	Gareth Breese (women); Michael Hussey (men);
Overseas player(s)	Shabnim Ismail; Jess Jonassen; Hayley Matthews; (women); Haris Rauf; Matt Henry; Josh Little; Glenn Phillips; Shaheen Afridi; (men);
Team information
Colours
Founded	2019
Home ground	Sophia Gardens
Capacity	16,000
History
No. of titles	0
Official website	Welsh Fire
	The Hundred kit
	The Hundred kit

Welsh Fire (Welsh: Tân Cymreig) are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Cardiff. The team represents the historic counties of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset in the newly founded competition called The Hundred,^[1] which took place for the first time during the 2021 English and Welsh cricket season. Both the men's and women's teams play their home games at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

History

Welsh Fire was founded in June 2019 as one of eight teams to take part in the inaugural season of The Hundred. The team was jointly run by Glamorgan, Somerset and Gloucestershire County Cricket Clubs. It was reported that the side might be renamed as Western Fire, to allay concerns in Somerset and Gloucestershire that they were not sufficiently represented by the side, but this did not come to fruition.^[2]

In July 2019, the team announced that former South Africa and India coach, and current Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Gary Kirsten had been appointed as the men's team coach.^[3] The women's side was due to be managed by Matthew Mott, a former Glamorgan coach and the current Australia women's team coach, but he withdrew and was replaced by his assistant coach, Mark O'Leary.^[4]

The inaugural Hundred draft^{[clarification needed]} took place in October 2019 and saw the Fire claim Jonny Bairstow as their headline men's draftee, and Katie George as the women's headliner. They are joined by Somerset wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Banton, Glamorgan batsman Colin Ingram, and England batter Bryony Smith.^[5]

Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc were selected as the flagship £125,000 signings in the first round and are two of the side's three overseas players. With Ingram and Banton already occupying the £100,000 slots, Welsh Fire sat out the second round. Ravi Rampaul and Ben Duckett were selected in the third round for £75,000 and Simon Harmer, along with Afghanistan's Qais Ahmed (the team's third overseas player), were bought for £60,000 in the fourth. Liam Plunkett and Ryan ten Doeschate were the picks in the fifth round for £50,000 and Gloucestershire duo David Payne and Ryan Higgins were selected in the sixth round for £40,000. Danny Briggs and Leus du Plooy complete the squad, having both been bought for £30,000 in the final round. The final place in the squad will go to an outstanding performer in next season's Vitality Blast 20-over competition.

Australian Meg Lanning was the next pick for the ladies' team.

Honours

Men's honours

The Hundred

4th place: 2023 (highest finish)

Women's honours

The Hundred

Runners Up: 2024
Third place: 2023

Ground

Both the Fire men's and women's sides play at the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground, in the west of Cardiff city centre. The women's side had been due to play some matches at Gloucestershire's Bristol County Ground and Somerset's County Ground, Taunton but both teams were brought together at the same ground as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Current squads

Bold denotes players with international caps.
* denotes a player who is unavailable for rest of the season.

Women's side

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
4	Emily Windsor	England	(1997-09-14) 14 September 1997 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
10	Phoebe Franklin	England	(1998-02-18) 18 February 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
12	Tammy Beaumont	England	(1991-03-11) 11 March 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	—	Captain
18	Ella McCaughan	England	(2002-09-26) 26 September 2002 (age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
47	Sophia Dunkley	England	(1998-07-16) 16 July 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
All-rounders
25	Alex Griffiths	Wales	(2002-06-12) 12 June 2002 (age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
34	Georgia Elwiss	England	(1991-05-31) 31 May 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
50	Hayley Matthews	West Indies	(1998-03-19) 19 March 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player
Wicket-keepers
6	Sarah Bryce	Scotland	(2000-01-08) 8 January 2000 (age 24)	Right-handed	—
Pace bowlers
42	Beth Langston	England	(1992-09-06) 6 September 1992 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Replacement player
61	Freya Davies	England	(1995-10-27) 27 October 1995 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
89	Shabnim Ismail	South Africa	(1988-10-05) 5 October 1988 (age 36)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas player
—	Kate Coppack	England	(1994-08-30) 30 August 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Wildcard player
Spin bowlers
8	Claire Nicholas	Wales	(1986-09-08) 8 September 1986 (age 38)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Ruled out
21	Jess Jonassen	Australia	(1992-11-05) 5 November 1992 (age 32)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	Overseas player
64	Georgia Davis	England	(1999-06-03) 3 June 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Wildcard player

Men's side

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
6	Glenn Phillips	New Zealand	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player
23	Stephen Eskinazi	England	(1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	—
28	Tom Abell	England	(1994-03-05) 5 March 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Captain
32	Tom Kohler-Cadmore	England	(1994-08-19) 19 August 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
44	Ross Whiteley	England	(1988-09-13) 13 September 1988 (age 36)	Left-handed	Left-arm medium	Replacement player
All-rounders
3	Luke Wells	England	(1990-12-29) 29 December 1990 (age 34)	Left-handed	Right-arm leg break
15	David Willey	England	(1990-02-28) 28 February 1990 (age 34)	Left-handed	Left-arm fast-medium
52	Roelof van der Merwe	Netherlands^[a]	(1984-12-31) 31 December 1984 (age 40)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
54	Ben Green	England	(1997-09-28) 28 September 1997 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Wildcard player
Wicket-keepers
33	Joe Clarke	England	(1996-05-26) 26 May 1996 (age 28)	Right-handed	—
51	Jonny Bairstow	England	(1989-09-26) 26 September 1989 (age 35)	Right-handed	—	Centrally contracted player
—	Chris Cooke	South Africa	(1986-05-30) 30 May 1986 (age 38)	Right-handed	—	UK passport; Ruled out
Pace bowlers
7	David Payne	England	(1991-02-15) 15 February 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Left-arm fast-medium
10	Shaheen Afridi	Pakistan	(2000-04-06) 6 April 2000 (age 24)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast	Overseas player; Withdrawn
14	Jake Ball	England	(1991-03-14) 14 March 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
21	Matt Henry	New Zealand	(1991-12-14) 14 December 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas player; Replacement player
82	Josh Little	Ireland	(1999-11-01) 1 November 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Left-arm fast	Overseas player; Replacement player
97	Haris Rauf	Pakistan	(1993-11-07) 7 November 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Overseas player
Spin bowlers
5	Mason Crane	England	(1997-02-18) 18 February 1997 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	Wildcard player

^ Van der Merwe has also played international cricket for South Africa

Seasons

Women's team

Season	Group stage							Playoff stage		Ref.
Season	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	Pos	Pld	Pos	Ref.
2021	8	2	6	0	0	4	8th	Did not progress		^[6]
2022	6	1	5	0	0	2	8th	Did not progress		^[7]
2023	8	5	2	0	1	11	3rd	1^[a]	3rd	^[8]
2024	8	5	2	0	1	11	1st	1^[b]	2nd	^[9]

Men's team

Season	Group stage							Playoff stage		Ref.
Season	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	Pos	Pld	Pos	Ref.
2021	8	3	5	0	0	6	7th	Did not progress		^[10]
2022	8	0	8	0	0	0	8th	Did not progress		^[11]
2023	8	4	3	1	0	9	4th	Did not progress		^[12]
2024	8	2	4	0	2	6	6th	Did not progress		^[13]

Notes

^ Welsh Fire women qualified for the eliminator in 2023. They played one match, a playoff against Northern Superchargers. After the first innings, rain caused the game to be abandoned with the game ending in a "no result". As Welsh Fire finished the group in 3rd and the Northern Superchargers finished in 2nd, the Northern Superchargers progressed to the final due to a better finishing position in the group stage.
^ Welsh Fire women finished top of the group stage and qualified automatically for the final in 2024. They lost the final against London Spirit by 4 wickets.