Birmingham Phoenix are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. The team represents the historic counties of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which began its inaugural season on 21 July 2021, during the English and Welsh cricket season. Both the men's and women's sides play at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

History

The announcement of the new eight-team men's and women's tournament series in 2019 was not without controversy, with the likes of

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (; born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the India national cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Kohli plays as a right-handed batter for Royal Challe ...

criticising the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

for pursuing a shift away from Test cricket, while others argued the format should have followed the established and successful

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

format. The ECB however decided it needed a more unique format to draw crowds. In July 2019 the side announced that former Australian batsman Andrew McDonald would be the men's team's first coach. McDonald will be assisted by Daniel Vettori,

Jim Troughton Jamie Oliver Troughton (born 2 March 1979) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He is currently Assistant Coach at Surrey, and as a player was mainly an attack-minded left-handed batsman and an occasional slow left-arm orthodox bow ...

and

Alex Gidman Alexander Peter Richard Gidman (born 22 June 1981) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and Worceste ...

. In September Ben Sawyer was appointed the first coach of the women's side. The inaugural Hundred draft took place in October 2019 and saw the Phoenix claim

Chris Woakes Christopher Roger Woakes (born 2 March 1989) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Warwickshire, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Kolkata Knigh ...

as their headline men's draftee, and Amy Jones as the women's headliner. They are joined by England international

Moeen Ali Moeen or Moein or Moien is a given name and surname. It is a Quranic name which means: helper, supporter, or provider of refuge. Notable persons with the name include: Persons with the given name * Moein (singer) (born 1951), Iranian singer * ...

and

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he w ...

for the men's team, while

Kirstie Gordon Kirstie Louise Gordon (born 20 October 1997) is a Scottish cricketer who currently plays for Kent, The Blaze and Trent Rockets as a slow-left arm orthodox bowler. She played for Scotland from 2012 to 2017, before switching nationality to Eng ...

joins Jones in the women's side.

Honours

Edgbaston - view of new stand from the north

Men's honours

The Hundred * Runners-up: 2021

Women's honours

The Hundred * Third place: 2021

Ground

New Road Worcester - 2 - aerial - geograph-1609995

Both the Birmingham Phoenix men's side and women's sides play at the home of

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Warwickshire. Its T20 team is called the Birmingham Bears. Founde ...

, Edgbaston Cricket Ground, in the

area of Birmingham. The women's side had been due to play at the home of

Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team has been rebrande ...

, New Road, Worcester but both teams were brought together at the same ground as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Players

Current squad

Men's side

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

Men's captains

Women's side

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

Seasons

Group stages

Knockout rounds

References

External links

Official web page
{{Cricket in England Warwickshire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club Cricket in Warwickshire Cricket in Worcestershire Sport in Warwickshire Sport in Worcester, England The Hundred (cricket) teams 2019 establishments in England Birmingham Phoenix