attendances having dipped<\/a> significantly this season.<\/p>\nLondon Spirit, however, chose to stay with the identity created when The Hundred began.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen something is working and isn\u2019t broken, you shouldn\u2019t fix it,\u201d Arora says. \u201cPeople already identify with London Spirit and the team has built five years of history. We didn\u2019t want to call it something like Tech Titans, and we don\u2019t have an IPL team whose name we wanted to impose on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JL201851.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Nikesh Arora (Alex Davidson\/London Spirit)<\/p>\n
The consortium arrived from the American technology industry with ideas around data, digital content and attracting younger audiences. On the surface it doesn\u2019t seem an obvious fit with a private members\u2019 club founded in 1787, which allowed women to join only as recently as 1998.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were initially concerned that those cultures might not match, but it has been the opposite,\u201d Gajwani says.<\/p>\n
The first matchday under the partnership provided an early demonstration of its reach. Tinie Tempah performed between the women\u2019s and men\u2019s fixtures, the guests watched from upstairs and around 100 of Arora\u2019s employees occupied the seats he had bought for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe objective is to make sure people come here and enjoy themselves. If we win as well, then we make money,\u201d Arora says.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AD_LS_MSG-000000000130-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Tinie Tempah performing at London Spirit\u2019s opening fixture at Lord\u2019s (Alex Davidson\/London Spirit)<\/p>\n
Winning, of course, is harder to guarantee.<\/p>\n
The Athletic visits for the matchday against Manchester Super Giants, when London Spirit\u2019s women\u2019s side are skittled for 80 and lose by seven wickets with 41 balls remaining. A few hours later, the men fare slightly better, but are still defeated by seven runs, despite Liam Livingstone making 69 from 40 deliveries.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery team has upped the calibre in The Hundred this year,\u201d Gajwani says. \u201cThe squads are substantially better than they were last year. Competition is good. Challenge is good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe women\u2019s team has actually been quite successful in the past few years. I think it is just a higher-calibre game for everyone, and that is a great thing. We know it is a long haul, and the most important thing is that we learn from this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six days later,\u00a0The Athletic returns for the double-header against MI London at the Kia Oval for the first \u2018derby\u2019 since the rebranding. Beforehand, a meeting room at the team hotel has been covered in London Spirit branding to create a shared base for the squads. The most obvious evidence of the men\u2019s presence is the collection of golf clubs and bags scattered across the floor.<\/p>\n
Creating a sense of shared purpose in cricketers plucked from different county teams and other global franchises for a competition that lasts less than four weeks is not easy. This was obvious on the first day of The Athletic\u2019s access, which was the first time many of the women had gathered as London Spirit players, with county commitments meaning several were still absent.<\/p>\n
They were asked to pose together, complete interviews and film promotional material as if they were a settled team before they had properly trained as one. Their first cricket session followed at Lord\u2019s, before a meeting in the pavilion overlooking the ground.<\/p>\n
Heather\u00a0Knight was London Spirit\u2019s original captain and led England on 199 occasions during a 16-year international career that included winning the 2017 World Cup at Lord\u2019s. The 35-year-old retired from international cricket in July as England Women\u2019s record appearance holder, with 320 caps.<\/p>\n
She is now London Spirit Women\u2019s first general manager, with a role spanning recruitment, staffing, operations and cricket discussions with head coach Jon Lewis and 25-year-old captain Charlie Dean.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2154267682-scaled-e1785701379559.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Heather Knight and Jon Lewis also worked together with England (Matthew Lewis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been moments when I\u2019ve wanted to put the pads on and get out there,\u201d Knight says. \u201cAs a player, you are focused on your role, which is (performing on) matchday and trying to do your job on the pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew there was so much that went into it, but you are shielded from all the little jobs everyone else does. It has been quite cool to see how everyone involved contributes to what the players do on that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knight was involved in appointing Lewis and assembling a staff drawn from England, India, New Zealand and Australia. She contributes to selection and tactics, but also oversees the arrangements that ensure accommodation, training facilities and support services operate properly.<\/p>\n
The Tech Titans attend leadership dinners and ask questions about the cricket operation, but Knight says they have resisted attempting to run it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are an impressive group of individuals, chief executives of massive companies in America, but I get the sense that they just love cricket,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is a passion project for them. They want us to be successful and win, but they have left the cricket side to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are interested and want to know what our plans are, but I\u2019ve been really impressed with how they have gone about things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knight made equal treatment of the two squads a condition of her involvement rather than an ambition to be considered later.<\/p>\n
\u201cEquality is hugely important to me,\u201d she says. \u201cI would not have taken this role if I did not think the women\u2019s game was going to be given as much resource and importance as the men\u2019s. I have definitely felt that so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
London Spirit Women had already shown the franchise\u2019s potential by winning The Hundred in 2024. That success gives the new owners a stronger foundation than with the men\u2019s team \u2014 who have yet to even reach a final \u2014 but Gajwani believes the wider women\u2019s game remains one of the largest areas of potential growth.<\/p>\n
He points to the development of the WNBA in the U.S. and believes The Hundred benefited from launching the men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions together rather than asking the women to join a product already built around the men.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I love about The Hundred is that, from the outset, it was very clear the women\u2019s game was not going to be treated as secondary,\u201d he says. \u201cMy 12-year-old daughter is more excited about watching the women\u2019s game than the men\u2019s. She is not even particularly into cricket, but seeing professional women cricketers succeeding has had a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the players capable of turning that interest into a lasting attachment is Grace Harris. Carrying a coffee as she walks through Regent\u2019s Park towards training at Lord\u2019s, the 32-year-old Australian all-rounder briefly pauses to direct a grandmother pushing her granddaughter in a pram towards a nearby coffee shop, then rejoins the route through the park often used by the team.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-01-at-15.41.47.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n Grace Harris walking to training near Lord\u2019s (Amelie Claydon\/The Athletic)<\/p>\n
Harris has competed in franchise tournaments around the world and says London Spirit now feels closer to a Women\u2019s Premier League operation in India than The Hundred had in previous seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a kit person who takes our bags to and from the grounds,\u201d Harris says. \u201cUnless you need something, you leave your bag after training and it is waiting for you when you arrive at the ground. It is a small thing, but it makes the team feel very well resourced.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s operations are overseen across both squads by director of cricket Mo Bobat. The former England men\u2019s performance director spent 12 years at the ECB working in talent identification and the international pathway, and remains director of cricket at IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn franchise cricket, you are thrown into a melting pot with lots of different characters and cricketers,\u201d Knight says. \u201cYou have to find your way as a team and establish people\u2019s roles very quickly. From my experience of playing in franchise competitions around the world, that feeling of belonging is incredibly important.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughs when she is described as the glue of the group, before conceding that the assessment is probably fair, given her laughter is rarely absent at training.<\/p>\n
Harris has helped foster team spirit with little bonding exercises, such as a shopping trip around Battersea Power Station and an outing to see\u00a0The Odyssey at the cinema in Leeds. It is a welcome break in a relentless schedule of training, playing, recovery and travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives you something different to talk about when everyone comes back together. Otherwise, somebody asks what you did that day and the answer is that you played PlayStation for eight hours, had a nap and ate,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Harris was also placed in charge of writing the song which would be sung after London Spirit\u2019s victories. She gathered players in the team room to discuss ideas for lyrics, while wicketkeeper Seren Smale used ChatGPT to search for tunes that might work as an anthem.<\/p>\n
The group chose Hey! Baby, released by DJ Otzi in 2000, and rewrote it around London Spirit. Rather than fixing individual players\u2019 names into the song, she left spaces that can be filled with references to performances and grounds after each win. \u201cI expected our first rendition to go considerably worse than it did because we have a wide range of ages and musical tastes across the players and staff,\u201d Harris laughs. \u201cSome people might not even have been born when the song was released, but everybody got around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Its first outing came in a victory over Trent Rockets last week, which also offered an early indication of the team Lewis is trying to build after a difficult end to his previous two positions.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Fireworks are let off in front of the Lord\u2019s pavilion (Adam Davy\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Lewis, 51, left his role as England Women\u2019s head coach in March 2025 after the side suffered a crushing Ashes series defeat in Australia and failed to progress beyond the group stage of the previous year\u2019s T20 World Cup.<\/p>\n
England had nevertheless won 52 of their 73 matches under him, including eight consecutive one-day international series. His three-season spell with UP Warriorz in the WPL ended three months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had two jobs and lost both of them at around the same time,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cYou spend a lot of time thinking and reflecting on how you went about those jobs, and whether you would do things differently the next time you got an opportunity. Your confidence gets knocked, for sure, as a coach when you lose roles \u2014 it was tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in connecting people to a vision and taking them on a journey. The exciting thing about this project was that we were starting from scratch and could put our own stamp on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The owners describe their sporting ambition as \u201cwinning with style\u201d. Lewis has reduced the phrase to three characteristics he wants his players to demonstrate: skill, competitiveness and bravery.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JL204391-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Satyan Gajwani (right) with MCC Chair Mark Nicholas (Alex Davidson\/London Spirit)<\/p>\n
South African all-rounder Nadine De Klerk was recruited for decisive passages of matches, as she demonstrated by masterminding the closing stages of the run chase at Trent Bridge, after Spirit had started to wobble by losing four wickets for 12 runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what you pay the money for,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cSomebody who can deliver in the most important moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tech Titans have remained visible without attempting to influence selection or tactics, but Lewis says the demand to win remains clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do not just talk about style,\u201d he says. \u201cWinning is still in there. I have worked in sport for 30 years. Sport is about winning and working out how to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day before London Spirit\u2019s second home fixture on Saturday, Harris smiles when the conversation turns to their opponents.<\/p>\n
Southern Brave are coming into the match with a perfect record of four wins from four games. \u201cThey\u2019re due a loss,\u201d Harris says.<\/p>\n
The optimism was admirable, but reality bit hard. London Spirit\u2019s batting failed again, and Southern Brave were able to cruise to their victory target with seven balls remaining. It left London Spirit with one victory from their first four women\u2019s matches under the new ownership, alongside two losses and a tie. The men are faring even worse, with one win and three losses from their four outings.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, at least. Young supporters still swarm around the exit, waiting for the players to leave the field and sign shirts, caps and programmes.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1331809279-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Fans take part in a Mexican wave in the game between London Spirit Women and Southern Brave Women (Mike Hewitt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It was a quieter expression of the franchise\u2019s potential than the famous guests upstairs \u2013 and the live music that had launched the season.<\/p>\n
The Tech Titans have provided investment, additional staff and a new structure, but none offers a shortcut to building a successful team from players who had barely met when they first posed together in London Spirit colours.<\/p>\n
Gajwani\u2019s words after the opening defeat felt relevant again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know it is a long haul,\u201d he said. \u201cThe most important thing is that we learn.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cA friend once told me you should invest in the things you like, in the cities where you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,11880,85,3276],"class_list":["post-841968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-global-sports","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}