Franchise Cricket

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Peter Moores has stepped up to replace Andy Flower as head coach of Trent Rockets' men's side in The Hundred.

Moores, 62, was Flower's assistant during the 2025 edition of the tournament, where the Rockets were beaten in the final by Oval Invincibles.

Zimbabwean Flower, 57, left the Rockets to replace Justin Langer as head coach of London Spirit last month.

"It feels like a good time to be taking over the Rockets, and I'm really excited about the opportunity to lead the team," said Moores.

"I see this as a great opportunity to continue on from the strong and successful foundations built by Andy Flower."

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly's company Cain International has agreed to buy a 49% share of Trent Rockets, with Nottinghamshire Cricket Club retaining control of the other 51%. Confirmation of the deal is yet to be formally announced.

"The investment and energy that's coming into The Hundred, and the change of ownership at the Rockets in particular, make it a really exciting time," added Moores.

Moores led Nottinghamshire to the County Championship title this year, becoming the only man to win the competition with three different sides - having previously done so with Sussex and Lancashire.

He has been Nottinghamshire head coach since 2016 and signed a new three-year deal with the club in August.

Moores also spent two spells as England head coach - between 2007 and 2009, before returning to replace Flower in 2014 - but was sacked after a poor World Cup and drawn Test series in West Indies in 2015.

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Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur and West Indies batter Sherfane Rutherford have joined Mumbai Indians for the 2026 Indian Premier League after trades were agreed.

Shardul, 34, moves from Lucknow Super Giants, who he played for as an injury replacement this year.

He had a solid campaign with 13 wickets in 10 matches and joins for his current fee of two crore rupees (£171,000).

Left-hander Rutherford scored 291 runs in Gujarat Titans' run to the play-offs and moves for 2.6 crore (£222,000)

IPL franchises are currently able to make player trades, either by swapping players or in direct cash deals, prior to the auction which is expected to be held next month.

Chennai Super Kings are reportedly in talks, external to trade England all-rounder Sam Curran and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson.

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Danni Wyatt-Hodge's 45 and two wickets for England team-mate Linsey Smith helped Hobart Hurricanes continue their winning start to the Women's Big Bash with a comfortable six-wicket win over Sydney Sixers.

Wyatt-Hodge put on 95 with opening partner Lizelle Lee, hitting six fours and two sixes, to break the back of a chase of 153 and become the tournament's leading run-scorer after two matches.

Lee made 55, England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt eased 21 and Nicola Carey ended 26 not out as Hurricanes won with 3.1 overs to spare.

Earlier, spinner Smith took 2-15 in two overs as Sixers were restricted to 152-9.

Australia captain Alyssa Healy scored 37 and international team-mate Ellyse Perry 33 but England batter Sophia Dunkley was out for six, captain Ash Gardner nine and New Zealand international Melie Kerr a first-ball duck.

Uncapped 22-year-old Australian seamer Hayley Silver-Holmes took 3-18.

Hurricanes move to the top of the standings with two wins from two games, overtaking Melbourne Renegades courtesy of their early-season net run-rate.

Sixers are third, having beat Perth Scorchers in their opener.

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Australia opener Beth Mooney hit the first hundred of the 2025 Women's Big Bash to help Perth Scorchers beat Brisbane Heat by 23 runs and earn their first win of this year's competition.

Mooney scored 105 in 73 balls, dominating the scoring in Perth's 172-3.

Fellow opener Katie Mack was the next highest scorer with 31 while England batter Paige Scholfield made 22.

Left-hander Mooney hit 13 fours and three sixes as she batted through until the final over. The century was her fourth in the WBBL.

Brisbane, who have lost both of their opening games, struggled in their chase and were bowled out for 149 in 19.1 overs.

Grace Harris made 46 at the top of the order but South Africa international Nadine de Klerk fell for three and India batter Jemimah Rodrigues was caught for 11.

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England all-rounder Alice Capsey took a wicket and scored 30 as Melbourne Renegades made it two wins from two in this year's Women's Big Bash by beating Sydney Thunder by four wickets.

Capsey hit three fours and a six in her 27 balls to steady Renegades after they slipped to 23-3 in pursuit of 149, including English teenager Davina Perrin caught for 12.

Australia all-rounder and Renegades captain Georgia Wareham then struck 58 from just 32 balls - capping her fine all-round performance - as victory was secured with 11 balls to spare.

Wareham took 2-25 from four overs and Capsey 1-15 from two to help restrict Thunder to 148-7.

Wareham dismissed Australia team-mate Phoebe Litchfield for 12 and former England captain Heather Knight for 30. Capsey bowled the dangerous Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu for a four-ball duck.

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England spinner Sophie Ecclestone took a wicket on her Adelaide Strikers debut and ran out former Australia captain Meg Lanning before their Women's Big Bash match against Melbourne Stars was washed out.

Ecclestone, who joined the Strikers this year after two Big Bash seasons with Sydney Sixers, was relatively expensive, conceding 35 runs from her four overs, but bowled England team-mate Dani Gibson for 31 from 15 balls.

She was also credited with the run-out of Lanning when Australia all-rounder Annabel Sutherland drilled a drive down the pitch and the ball brushed Ecclestone's fingers before hitting the stumps at the non-striker's end with Lanning out of her ground.

Lanning was the Stars' highest scorer with 60 in their 184-5. Sutherland made 54 not out and England wicketkeeper Amy Jones 13.

England opener Tammy Beaumont miscued to extra cover for a two-ball duck at the start of the Strikers' chase but rained arrived after 4.2 overs with the score 32-1.

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England's Sophia Dunkley and Australia's Ash Gardner starred as Sydney Sixers thrashed Perth Scorchers by 10 wickets in their opening Women's Big Bash League game.

Chasing 110 to win, Dunkley smashed an unbeaten 61 from 40 balls, with four fours and five sixes.

Australia great Ellyse Perry was happy to play second fiddle at the other end, making 47 not out off 37 balls as Sixers won with 43 balls to spare.

Earlier, Gardner, who was announced as Sixers' new captain on Friday, took 5-15 as Scorchers were bowled out for 109 in 19.3 overs.

Gardner removed New Zealand's Sophie Devine (three) and England's Paige Scholfield in successive balls in the eighth over, before returning later in the innings to take three more wickets, including England's Freya Kemp.

Perry also took two wickets, including Mikayla Hinkley, who top-scored with 31.

• Women's Big Bash fixtures & table

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England's Danni Wyatt-Hodge crashed 90 off 52 balls as Hobart Hurricanes edged past Sydney Thunder in a high-scoring thriller in the Women's Big Bash League.

Chasing 182 in Brisbane, Wyatt-Hodge hit nine fours and three sixes before being dismissed in the 18th over to set up a tense finale.

She shared 143 with Nicola Carey (58 not out off 43 balls) for the third wicket after Hurricanes slipped to 27-2 with England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt out for four.

Wyatt-Hodge was caught by Heather Knight off Sam Bates to leave 12 needed from 16 balls and although Heather Graham hit two of the next four balls to the boundary, the game went to the final over.

South Africa's Shabnim Ismail conceded just one and dismissed Graham in the penultimate over to leave three required from the last and Carey and Elyse Villani secured a six-wicket win with three balls to spare.

Earlier, Thunder posted 181-8 with Knight top-scoring with 39 off 31 balls. There were also contributions from Chamari Athapaththu (32 off 22), Tahlia Wilson (22 off 23) and Laura Harris (20 off seven).

Hayley Silver-Holmes was the pick of the Hurricanes bowlers, taking 2-27 in three overs, but England's Linsey Smith endured a difficult day, claiming 1-46 in four overs.

• Women's Big Bash fixtures & table

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England's Davina Perrin was out for a first-ball duck on her Women's Big Bash debut but Melbourne Renegades beat Brisbane Heat by seven wickets in a rain-affected opening game of the new season.

Perrin, 19, was signed last week as an injury replacement for West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews but was caught behind from the first ball of Renegades DLS-adjusted chase of 66 from eight overs.

England's Alice Capsey and West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin were dismissed in the next over for five and eight respectively, but Courtney Webb (34 not out off 22 balls) and Georgia Wareham (16* off 13) got defending champions Renegades over the line with three balls to spare.

Earlier, Heat were bowled out for 133 from the final ball of their innings after being asked to bat first.

South Africa's Nadine de Klerk made 40 at the top of the order but seven batters were dismissed for single figures, including India's Jemimah Rodrigues (six) and Australia's Jess Jonassen (eight).

Wareham was the pick of the Renegades' bowlers, claiming 3-12, while Capsey impressed with 3-20, including the wickets of De Klerk and Rodrigues.

• Women's Big Bash fixtures & table

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The Women's Big Bash returns on Sunday and there will be commentary on selected matches throughout the tournament on BBC Sounds.

ABC in Australia will provide commentary across BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app.

Here's what on the schedule this week:

5unday, 9 November: Perth Scorchers v Sydney Sixers (09:30 GMT)

Wednesday, 12 November: Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers (08:10 GMT)

Thursday, 13 November: Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes (08:10 GMT)

Friday, 14 November: Adelaide Strikers v Melbourne Renegades (08:10 GMT)

Times listed are match start times.

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The Women's Big Bash returns for its 11th season with a triple-header on Sunday, 9 November.

The group stage, which has 40 matches, runs until 7 December, before three knockout games.

There are eight teams involved: Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder.

Renegades are the defending champions after beating Brisbane Heat in last year's final to win their inaugural title.

Four sides progress to the knockouts, with the top side automatically through to the final on 13 December.

Here's how the knockouts work:

• 9 December (08:10 GMT): Knockout - third v fourth

• 11 December (08:10 GMT): Challenger - second v winner of knockout

• 13 December (08:10 GMT): Final - first v winner of challenger

There will be ball-by-ball commentary on selected matches on BBC Sounds and regular updates on BBC Sport's Franchise Cricket page.

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A total of 15 England players are set to feature in the Women's Big Bash, including captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and star spinner Sophie Ecclestone.

Sciver-Brunt will be playing for Hobart Hurricanes for the first time, having previously represented Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers.

Ecclestone also has a new side in Adelaide Strikers. She played for Sydney Sixers in her two previous campaigns.

Four players - batters Davina Perrin (Renegades) and Paige Scholfield (Scorchers) and all-rounders Freya Kemp (Scorchers) and Mady Villiers (Sixers) - are set to play in the tournament for the first time.

England players in the 2025-26 Women's Big Bash League:

Adelaide Strikers: Tammy Beaumont and Sophie Ecclestone

Hobart Hurricanes: Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

Melbourne Renegades: Alice Capsey, Davina Perrin and Issy Wong

Melbourne Stars: Amy Jones and Dani Gibson

Perth Scorchers: Freya Kemp and Paige Scholfield

Sydney Sixers: Sophia Dunkley and Mady Villiers

Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight

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All of Australia's star-studded squad will be featuring in the 2025-26 Women's Big Bash alongside some big overseas stars.

Australia captain Alyssa Healy will again play for Sydney Sixers, although she has been ruled out of the first game through injury.

All-rounder Ash Gardner was announced as Sixers captain on Friday. They are coached by former England men's white-ball coach Matthew Mott and have New Zealand all-rounder Melie Kerr is their star overseas player.

Tahlia McGrath captains Adelaide Strikers and she is joined by South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt.

Wolvaardt's compatriot Marizanne Kapp is at Melbourne Stars, who have Australia's Annabel Sutherland as their captain and former skipper Meg Lanning in their ranks.

India's Jemimah Rodrigues, fresh from her epic century in the World Cup semi-final, is the star attraction at Brisbane Heat alongside South Africa's Nadine de Klerk and West Indies' Chinelle Henry.

West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin is back at Melbourne Renegades, while New Zealand's Sophie Devine will captain a Perth Scorchers side that includes leg-spinner Alana King.

Phoebe Litchfield will lead Sydney Thunder again, with Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu and South Africa's Shabnim Ismail part of their roster.

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Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt is the only England player to be retained by her franchise for the fourth season of the Women's Premier League.

Sciver-Brunt, 33, will stay at defending champions Mumbai Indians but spinners Sophie Ecclestone (Up Warriorz), Charlie Dean (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge (RCB) and all-rounders Alice Capsey (Delhi Capitals) and Danielle Gibson (Gujarat Giants) have all been released.

India stars Smriti Mandhana (RCB), Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians) and Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi Capitals) have been retained but Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz) has been released.

West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews will stay at Mumbai, South Africa's Marizanne Kapp remains with Delhi and Australia's Ash Gardner and Beth Mooney (both Gujarat), Annabel Sutherland (Delhi) and Ellyse Perry (RCB) have also been kept.

However Australia's Meg Lanning (Capitals), Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath (UP Warriorz), Phoebe Litchfield (Giants) have been released, while Mumbai have let New Zealand's T20 World Cup winner Melie Kerr go too.

The auction for teams to complete their squads will take place on 27 November in New Delhi. There are 73 slots to fill, including 23 overseas players.

The dates for the tournament are unknown.

WPL 2026 retentions

Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp and Niki Prasad

Gujarat Giants: Ash Gardner and Beth Mooney

Mumbai Indians: Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur and G Kamalini

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry and Shreyanka Patil

UP Warriorz: Shweta Sehrawat

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Ex-England and Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper Chris Read has been appointed head coach of Trent Rockets' women's team.

Lancashire coach Read, 47, steps up to take the reins from Jon Lewis, under whom he has worked as an assistant coach for the past three editions of The Hundred.

Read's former Notts team-mate Luke Fletcher also joins as an assistant coach.

"It's a deeply proud moment to take on a head coaching role based at the ground that I have a huge number of unbelievably special memories at," said Read.

"I've really enjoyed developing my coaching skillset with the Rockets over the last three summers, and the opportunity to continue that journey is really exciting.

"I felt the impact of a sold-out Trent Bridge crowd first-hand over many years, and I know how much their support can change the course of games.

"With all the fresh energy and investment into The Hundred, I'm really looking forward to starting the preparation for 2026 and beyond as we bid to deliver success."

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Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has been appointed head coach of Birmingham Phoenix in the men's Hundred.

Bond, 50, replaces former Black Caps team-mate Daniel Vettori, who left after four years in the role as the Hundred franchises continue to be shaped by their new investors.

Vettori is currently coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Sunrisers' owners bought a 100% stake in Leeds-based Northern Superchargers earlier this year.

Earlier this week Tom Moody left his position as Oval Invincibles coach to take up a role as the global director of cricket for the owners of Indian Premier League franchise Lucknow Super Giants.

LSG's owners, Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group, bought a 70% stake in Manchester Originals during the Hundred sales process.

Bond has experience in a number of global franchise leagues.

He has worked as a head coach at Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash and is currently bowling coach for IPL side Rajasthan Royals. He has also worked in the IPL with Mumbai Indians.

A fragile bowler capable of extreme pace, Bond played 18 Tests, 82 ODIs and 20 T20s in an international career blighted by injuries.

Phoenix's men were runners-up in the first Hundred season in 2021 but have not reached the final since and finished fifth last year.

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Head coach Daniel Vettori has left Birmingham Phoenix after four years at the club.

The ex-New Zealand spin bowler, 46, led Phoenix's men's team to a runners-up finish in 2021 and third place in 2024, though they finished fifth last summer.

James Thomas, Birmingham Phoenix performance director, said: "Dan's prior experience of working in franchise cricket has been invaluable during the formative years of the Birmingham Phoenix and he leaves us in a great position to grow and progress in the years to come."

Vettori added: "I have loved every minute of working with the Birmingham Phoenix and will look back on my time at Edgbaston with nothing but fondness."

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The new owners of the Northern Superchargers have changed The Hundred franchise's company name to Sunrisers Leeds.

A document which confirmed a change of name, which was long expected to incorporate the word 'Sunrisers', was submitted to Companies House, external on 31 October.

The Headingley-based franchise were brought by the Sun Group, owners of Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad during the sale of the Hundred franchises.

Sun Group paid just over £100m for a 100% stake stake in the franchise - one of only two sides alongside Southern Brave to sell up entirely.

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Tom Moody has left his position as Oval Invincibles coach to take up a role as the global director of cricket for the owners of Indian Premier League franchise Lucknow Super Giants.

The 60-year-old Australian has been with The Hundred franchise since the competition's inception and has guided them to the men's title in the last three years.

A statement from the Invincibles said Moody's "outstanding leadership" had been an "integral part" of their "unprecedented success".

"Together, we have achieved great success, winning three titles in a row and Tom played a crucial role in building this winning culture," the Invincibles said.

"Everyone at the franchise respects Tom's decision to pursue a new and exciting opportunity. We thank him for his invaluable contributions over the past five years and wish him the very best for the future."

Moody will oversee cricket strategy, player auction, player retention and global talent scouting across RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) franchises.

That includes in the IPL with LSG, Manchester Originals in The Hundred and Durban's Super Giants in the SA20.

Moody, who played eight Tests and 76 one-day internationals for Australia, said it was a "privilege to accept the role" with RPSG and it represented "an exciting opportunity".

"I look forward to helping build a unified cricketing philosophy across the franchises," Moody said.

"I'm excited to work alongside all the players, coaches and management to achieve our goals."