The Analysis: A familiar women's Hundred eventually needs a draft - but caution is required

NICK HOWSON AT LORD'S: Oval Invincibles beat Southern Brave in the final in front of a record-breaking audience. Marizanne Kapp was player of the match. Welsh Fire propped up the table. It has been a similar competition in good ways and bad

You'll do well to find negatives from the women's Hundred. Indeed, it is reminding people of the obvious positives that is sometimes the problem, amid the noise made by the men's game.

But if there is one drawback, it is that just over 12 months on from the inaugural final, at the same venue, we have the same two sides. And another fairly one-sided contest.

If the increased visibility of replica shirts on Finals Day is any indication, the relationship between these new teams and supporters old and new is strengthening. Spectators aren't just attending for a nice day out, they care about the outcome too. Even if they have to put up inflatable Bastille cricket balls.

So there is value in asking legitimate questions about the competitiveness of the tournament, given there appears to be significant buy-in and a degree of emotional investment.

Much of the focus has been on how players are being exposed to high-pressure situations and world-class players like never before. And scenarios are never more high octane than in a major final at the self-styled home of cricket.

There were a dozen survivors across both teams from the 2021 showcase, a figure helped by a turnover of overseas players and Invincibles' inability to accommodate Dane van Niekerk. It was meanwhile a new experience for the likes of Freya Kemp, Sophia Smale, Kira Chathli, Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Emily Windsor.

Improved availability after Covid denied the competition of a flurry of high-profile stars, largely from Australia, has helped freshen up the competition. But it still has a familiar feel. Alongside an identical final, Welsh Fire are bottom again while Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers are slumped in mid-table.

^{Shabnim Ismail had Brave rocking (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

Trent Rockets did come within a boundary of breaking the Invincibles-Brave stronghold, but not before Nat Sciver had smashed three consecutive sixes to give them a chance. In losing their last three games, Birmingham Phoenix butchered the opportunity to make it the same top three from last year.

The men's edition is by no means perfect, but there was some new vigour provided by the player draft, as well as overseas and domestic wildcards. Fifty-eight players were added to the squads - nearly half of the entire roster.

There is obviously a balance to be struck between ensuring the tournament remains competitive and teams retain a core of players to engage their supporters. Though the men's teams were reinvigorated, the constant changes due to injury, international call-ups and a rival franchise competition meant the tournament has been a constant carousel.

Men's sides are limited to keeping just 10 of their squad from the previous campaign, but there are no so such limits on the women, bar competition-wide rules on England contracted and overseas stars. All unattached players then enter an open market that doesn't benefit the poorer sides any more than the reigning champions.

One of the obvious areas of development for the women's game is the introduction of a draft, which would inject struggling sides (I'm looking at you Welsh Fire) with the best available talent and address some imbalances. Tournament chief Beth Barrett-Wild is definitely keen.

"I am in the process of collating feedback from all of the general managers based on the selection process that we've had going into 2022," she said before the 2022 edition.

"I am very ambitious and I want to align the women's selection mechanism with the men's in the future. Whether it will be next year I don't know."

Sophia Smale has been one of 2022's breakout stars (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

But it isn't as simple as signing off on a new selection process and sitting back, arms folded. The most established women's franchise competition, the Big Bash League, has only tentatively flirted with the idea of a draft and this winter sees its eighth edition.

And there is rightly some caution over whether the wider game, growing though it is, would actually benefit. There are currently 16 England centrally contracted players and 51 more who are full-time in the regional structure.

"The key reason we don't have a women's draft is around the maturity of the professional women's game," Barrett-Wild added.

"Those beneath are not full-time professional cricketers so there is an element that they still need to have a say in where they play.

"I would love to get to a stage relatively quickly where we have a women's draft alongside a men's draft. 

"We have to go step by step and it might be a case of not going all at once. We'll do what is right for the women's game. I wouldn't like to put a timeline on that."

The Hundred ultimately has to serve the development of the domestic and international players and for all the excitement building around the women's sport, progress for the sake of progress isn't healthy. Salaries, which range between £31,250 and £2,500 while the men's top-out at £135,000, require attention first.

All that said, if it means Oval Invincibles' name is inscribed on the trophy for a second consecutive year there will naturally be a degree of satisfaction that another side based at The Ageas Bowl isn't dominating a domestic competition.

The core of this Brave side - Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Georgia Adams, Kemp, Carla Rudd, Anya Shrubsole, Danni Wyatt and head coach Charlotte Edwards - are drawn from a Vipers team that has lifted three trophies and lost four times since the new regional structure was introduced in 2020.

Emily Windsor celebrates after hitting the winning runs (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Having seen off Rockets in the Eliminator on Friday, there was an ominous feel around this game. But once again, this was a women's Hundred final dominated by a South African.

Van Niekerk was the 2021 MVP and the inspiring figure behind Invincibles' victory last summer. But a broken ankle which kept her out of the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, and Suzie Bates' stunning form created a selection dilemma. After being rotated with partner Marizanne Kapp, she was given a watching brief this time around.

Kapp had her own injury problems last season but made it back-to-back player of the match awards in a Lord's final with another dominating display. After dismissing Amanda-Jade Wellington as Brave lost five wickets for 11 in 16 balls, she took charge of a faltering chase.

As Lauren Winfield-Hill, Bates and Alice Capsey all went, Kapp kept her cool with a calm, considered knock - think her unbeaten 34 in the WBBL final in 2016-17 - with 37 not out. 

It was fitting that Windsor hit the winning runs, carving the ball through backward point to secure victory with six balls to spare. In 2019, just days after turning 22, she guided Hursley Park to Kia Summer Smash glory at the Kia Oval and stated her intention to play in The Hundred.

Dreams can come true.

A record 20,840 fans at the final and a total attendance in excess of 270,000 (with eight fewer matches) is further confirmation the market is embracing the women's game. The next challenge is building on it.

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• Oval Invincibles v Southern Brave AS IT HAPPENED