Welsh Fire

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.

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) Chris Green Matt Henry Riley Meredith Steve Smith (men)
Owner	Glamorgan County Cricket Club (50%), Washington Freedom (50%)
Team information
Colours
Founded	2019; 6 years ago (2019)
Home ground	Sophia Gardens
Capacity	16,000
History
No. of titles	0
Official website
The Hundred kit

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.

As part of the 2025 Hundred sale, the ECB gave Glamorgan County Cricket Club a 51% stake in the franchise with the remaining 49% sold in an auction process. Glamorgan County Cricket Club opted to sell 1% of their stake with Washington Freedom acquiring 50% of the franchise. They took operational control on 1 October 2025.^[6][7]

Honours

Men's honours

The Hundred

• 4th place: 2023 (highest finish)

Women's honours

The Hundred

• Runners Up: 2024
• Third place: 2023

Ground

Sophia Gardens

Main article: Sophia Gardens Cricket 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 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
12	Tammy Beaumont	England	(1991-03-11) 11 March 1991 (age 34)	Right-handed	—	Captain
47	Sophia Dunkley	England	(1998-07-16) 16 July 1998 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
All-rounders
21	Jess Jonassen	Australia	(1992-11-05) 5 November 1992 (age 32)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	Overseas player
25	Alex Griffiths	Wales	(2002-06-12) 12 June 2002 (age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Wildcard player
34	Georgia Elwiss	England	(1991-05-31) 31 May 1991 (age 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
50	Hayley Matthews	West Indies	(1998-03-19) 19 March 1998 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player
99	Katie George	England	(1999-04-07) 7 April 1999 (age 26)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium
Wicket-keepers
6	Sarah Bryce	Scotland	(2000-01-08) 8 January 2000 (age 25)	Right-handed	—
Pace bowlers
42	Beth Langston	England	(1992-09-06) 6 September 1992 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
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 37)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas player
—	Charley Phillips	England	(2003-05-08) 8 May 2003 (age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Wildcard player
Spin bowlers
23	Katie Levick	England	(1991-07-18) 18 July 1991 (age 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
64	Georgia Davis	England	(1999-06-03) 3 June 1999 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break

Men's side

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
23	Stephen Eskinazi	England	(1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 31)	Right-handed	—
28	Tom Abell	England	(1994-03-05) 5 March 1994 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Captain
32	Tom Kohler-Cadmore	England	(1994-08-19) 19 August 1994 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
49	Steve Smith	Australia	(1989-06-02) 2 June 1989 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	Overseas player
All-rounders
3	Luke Wells	England	(1990-12-29) 29 December 1990 (age 34)	Left-handed	Right-arm leg break
8	Ben Kellaway	Wales	(2004-01-05) 5 January 2004 (age 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Wildcard player
18	Saif Zaib	England	(1998-05-22) 22 May 1998 (age 27)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
22	Paul Walter	England	(1994-05-28) 28 May 1994 (age 31)	Left-handed	Left-arm medium
93	Chris Green	Australia	(1993-10-01) 1 October 1993 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas player
Wicket-keepers
51	Jonny Bairstow	England	(1989-09-26) 26 September 1989 (age 36)	Right-handed	—
Pace bowlers
7	David Payne	England	(1991-02-15) 15 February 1991 (age 34)	Right-handed	Left-arm fast-medium
12	Riley Meredith	Australia	(1996-06-21) 21 June 1996 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Overseas player
20	Josh Hull	England	(2004-08-20) 20 August 2004 (age 21)	Left-handed	Left-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
39	Ajeet Singh Dale	England	(2000-07-03) 3 July 2000 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Wildcard player
—	Chris Woakes	England	(1989-03-02) 2 March 1989 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Centrally Contracted player; Ruled out through injury
Spin bowlers
5	Mason Crane	England	(1997-02-18) 18 February 1997 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break

Seasons

Women's team

Season	Group stage							Playoff stage		Ref.
	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	Pos	Pld	Pos
2021	8	2	6	0	0	4	8th	Did not progress		[8]
2022	6	1	5	0	0	2	8th	Did not progress		[9]
2023	8	5	2	0	1	11	3rd	1[a]	3rd	[10]
2024	8	5	2	0	1	11	1st	1[b]	2nd	[11]
2025	8	1	7	0	0	4	8th	Did not progress		[12]

Men's team

Season	Group stage							Playoff stage		Ref.
	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	Pos	Pld	Pos
2021	8	3	5	0	0	6	7th	Did not progress		[13]
2022	8	0	8	0	0	0	8th	Did not progress		[14]
2023	8	4	3	1	0	9	4th	Did not progress		[15]
2024	8	2	4	0	2	6	6th	Did not progress		[16]
2025	8	2	6	0	0	8	8th	Did not progress		[17]

Notes

1. 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.
2. 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.

See also

• Cricket portal
• Wales portal

• List of Welsh Fire cricketers
• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
• List of Test cricket grounds