In a bold move to reverse years of underperformance, the London Spirit cricket franchise is embarking on a major off-field recruitment drive, backed by a significant financial windfall. The men's team, which has finished last or second-last in four of The Hundred's five seasons, is aiming to build a support staff capable of transforming its fortunes.
From 'Embarrassing' Wages to a Trebled Budget
The catalyst for this strategic shift is a massive injection of capital. Last year, a consortium of entrepreneurs, unofficially dubbed the 'Tech Titans', purchased a 49% stake in the franchise for £145 million. This sale has provided the Spirit with the resources to radically increase their investment in the non-playing side of the operation.
It is understood that spending on support staff – including coaches, analysts, and science and medicine personnel – will be trebled. A source described the salaries offered during the competition's first five years, when the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) funded them, as "embarrassing." Now, with teams responsible for setting their own pay scales, the Spirit are leveraging their new funds and the appeal of London to attract top-tier talent.
Building a Winning Infrastructure
Mo Bobat, the Spirit's director of cricket, outlined the new ambition. "We’ll be resourcing our support staff in a way that far exceeds previous years," he said. "We’ve had a good level of backing from the board and we’ve been able to recruit and attract really good people because of that."
Bobat, who also holds the same role at IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has already begun importing a winning pedigree. He has recruited several key figures from the Indian franchise, including head coach Andy Flower, team analyst Freddie Wilde, and physio James Pipe. The women's team, which won the tournament in 2024, will be coached by Jon Lewis, with Heather Knight as general manager.
"Our job is to get high-quality people in," Bobat added. "We want to try and make sure that our systems and processes allow success to become inevitable. That doesn’t just happen overnight, but we’re trying to do that as quickly as we can."
New Players and a Fresh Identity
The off-field revolution is being matched by on-field changes. The franchise recently announced eight directly signed players for the upcoming season, which begins in August. The signings include high-profile names such as South African stars Marizanne Kapp and Dewald Brevis, Australian spinner Adam Zampa, and Englishmen Jamie Overton and Liam Livingstone. Promising 19-year-old seamer Mahika Gaur also joins the squad.
Accompanying this new-look team is a refreshed visual identity. The Spirit unveiled a new, more austere logo composed of the letters 'L' and 'S', with the 'L' slanted to reference the famous slope at their Lord's home ground. Their official colour palette focuses on blue but incorporates traditional MCC shades humorously named "bacon" (red) and "egg" (yellow).
This rebrand means both London franchises in The Hundred – Spirit and the newly rebranded MI London (formerly Oval Invincibles) – will wear blue. Bobat was philosophical about the colour clash: "There’s plenty of teams that wear blue in the IPL and there’s no shortage of rivalry there."
The substantial investment marks a clear statement of intent from the London Spirit. After enduring a difficult history in the men's competition, contrasted with the success of their women's side, the franchise is betting that elite backroom expertise, funded by their Tech Titans windfall, will finally translate into consistent on-pitch success.
