Charlotte Edwards and Mahela Jayawardenasign up

Credit: ECB

Charlotte Edwards and Mahela Jayawardenasign up


Charlotte Edwards and Mahela Jayawardena have been appointed as the Head Coaches for the Southampton-based team in The Hundred.

Mahela will be joined by Shane Bond, the bowling coach at Mumbai Indians and current Head Coach at Sydney Thunder, alongside former Hampshire cricketer Jimmy Adams and former England and Bangladesh assistant coach Richard Halsall.

A true legend of women’s cricket, Charlotte Edwards made a record 309 appearances for her country and retired from the international game in 2016 having captained England to the World Cup and World T20 double in 2009 as well as three Ashes series victories, winning five in total. Edwards led Southern Vipers to the inaugural KSL title and took over as Director of Women’s Cricket at Hampshire Cricket in 2018 encompassing both the county side and Southern Vipers.

One of the all-time greats of world cricket, Jayawardena scored over 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs for Sri Lanka in an 18-year international career that saw him win the T20 World Cup as well as reach the finals of fifty-over World Cup in 2007 and 2011, the former as captain. His coaching career has seen him win two IPL titles in 2017 and 2019 as Head Coach of the Mumbai Indians. He returns to the South having represented Sussex in the T20 Blast in 2015.

Jayawardena said, “The Hundred is an innovative and exciting new tournament and it is a great privilege to be Head Coach of the Southampton-based team. I’ve played international and county cricket at Southampton, it’s a great place and I’m looking forward to going back.

“I am delighted to be working alongside Shane Bond and some of the talented coaches from both Sussex and Hampshire.

“I think The Hundred will interest the world’s best players because England is a great place to play cricket. The structure of the tournament is good and that means most of the guys will put their name in the hat because this is a tournament that excites them.”

Edwards said, “I am really excited to be part of The Hundred. It’s my first Head Coach role and I think it’s the right time. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from coaching overseas and working with the Southern Vipers. It’s my time to have a go and see what I can do, I’m really excited by the opportunity and by The Hundred more generally.

“I think The Hundred is going to have a positive impact on the game at a grassroots level. I’m really looking forward to being there from the start and watching it all unfold. It’s really exciting because I’ve been to Australia and seen the impact the Big Bash has had and you just feel like we can do exactly that and more.”

Sanjay Patel, Managing Director of the Hundred said, “It is very pleasing to welcome two genuine greats of the game to The Hundred. Both Charlotte and Mahela have won almost everything possible during their careers and show the quality of coaches the tournament is attracting.”

Mark Nicholas, the newly-appointed Chairman of the Southampton-based team said, “Having spent 15 years working with Chance to Shine to ensure that more children embrace cricket, I strongly believe that The Hundred will help to attract both new and existing audiences. I’m delighted to lead the joining forces of the two counties that have meant the most to me in my life: Sussex, the team I fanatically supported in my childhood, and Hampshire, the club I was with for 18 years.

“We are proud to be one of the chosen franchises in The Hundred. We mean business, as proven by the early recruitment of Mahela Jayawardena, Charlotte Edwards and Shane Bond and will look to their vast experience both on and off the field to guide us on a path to success.”