With the second pick in the draft, Spirit opted to choose hard-hitting Australia all-rounder Grace Harris for her first taste of Hundred cricket.
Harris’ boundary percentage is 18.66 in T20s and she will add some devastating ability to the engine room of Heather Knight, Amelia Kerr and Richa Ghosh, making Spirit’s batting – on paper – one of the more formidable line-ups.
Spirit are boosted by the acquisition of breakout Ashes star Lauren Filer, who will bring some much-needed speed to the bowling. Along with the left-arm threat of American Tara Norris and all-round talent of Danielle Gibson, Filer, who took four wickets in the Ashes Test, will provide good variety to the seam attack.
Arguably, however, Spirit’s strongest aspect of their squad composition is their spin attack, led by England duo Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean and bolstered by the all-round talents of Kerr.
They have every base covered in this sense with a mixture of wrist and finger spin, and both attacking and defensively minded bowlers. Although not traditionally a happy hunting ground for spinners, should any pitches at Lord’s offer turn, expect Spirit to be very difficult to beat at home.