Australia cricket captain Meg Lanning and her national teammates Alyssa Healy and Sophie Molineaux are among eight marquee players in the inaugural women's Hundred.
Lanning has signed with Welsh Fire, who will be coached by Australian national team mentor Matthew Mott, while wicketkeeper/batter Healy will link up with the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers and spinner Molineaux joins the Trent Rockets for next year's opening season.
"I'm absolutely delighted to be joining up with Matthew Mott at Welsh Fire. We obviously know each other really well from working together for Australia and hopefully that can give us an edge," Lanning said.
"It's really exciting to see the women's squads begin to take shape, and hopefully alongside the men's players who joined up in tonight's draft we can give Welsh Fire a strong chance in the first season of The Hundred."
The new five-week 100-ball cricket competition will be played in England and Wales starting next July.
Other marquee singings are England opener Tammy Beaumont (London Spirit), New Zealand batter Sophie Devine (Birmingham Phoenix), and fellow Kiwi Suzie Bates (Southern Brave), South Africa batter Lizelle Lee (Manchester Originals) and South Africa all-rounder Dane van Niekerk (Oval Invincibles).
"The competition is obviously getting closer and now we know the names, the kit and the players it's all starting to feel real," Beaumont said.
"There's so much world-class talent across both competitions and we are keen to get started."
Australian Associated Press
