Moeen Ali, Sophie Devine to captain Birmingham Phoenix

Edgbaston [UK], October 22 (ANI): England all-rounder Moeen Ali and New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine have been retained as Birmingham Phoenix captains ahead of the Hundred's launch in 2021.
Both players were originally announced as captains prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now as the teams ready themselves again for the launch of The Hundred next summer, Birmingham Phoenix will keep their leadership plans the same.
A World Cup winner, Moeen grew up a short distance from Edgbaston, where the team is based. He remains a much-loved member of the community. Devine has plenty of experience with the city too, having played domestic cricket for Warwickshire, and is the current New Zealand captain.
Moeen and Devine join the three players already announced, with Chris Woakes and Dominic Sibley in the Men's team and Amy Jones in the Women's team.
"Birmingham is my city and captaining my home team in The Hundred is right up there in terms of my career. I was born, raised and my life is still based in Birmingham, so to be the first-ever men's captain of Birmingham Phoenix is very special for me," Ali said in a statement.
"I had a chat with head coach Andrew McDonald a couple of days ago about what we're trying to do moving forward and how we start to put some plans in place. There's a lot of work to do before the season starts and we keep in touch regularly," he added.
Devine is excited and looking forward to leading the team in The Hundred.
"We are putting together an exciting line-up and the international players we are looking to bring in are of the highest quality. I'm really looking forward to playing alongside them and I'm really excited to be leading this side. Exposing more players to the highest quality cricket is only going to benefit the women's game globally and The Hundred is going to be a huge moment in women's sport," Devine said.
"If I can inspire my teammates to play a certain way or follow my lead, that will be more powerful than words spoken from the sidelines. I'll try to lead from the front with bat and ball and encourage others to play to their potential and believe in themselves because I'll be backing them 100 per cent. It's only a hundred balls so you've got nothing to lose. That's what makes it such an exciting competition," she added. (ANI)