One of Southern Brave’s newest recruits, Jo Gardner, is hoping to bring the winning feeling to Southampton, as well as taking part in an unofficial university reunion. 

The batting all-rounder joined last year’s runners-up, the Braves, from the team that beat them in the final, the Oval Invincibles, in a search for more game time. 

Gardner, who hails from the Isle of Wight, will now be alongside the likes of England star Sophia Dunkley, as well as Georgia Adams, Tara Norris, and Paige Schofield, who all attended Loughborough University with the 25-year-old. 

“To be honest, I'm really excited by it. Obviously, it's a bit of a weird one in that I've moved from the team that had success last year,” Gardner said, who was speaking at the launch of KP Snacks’ summer cricket roadshow at The Black Prince Trust in Oval. KP Snacks are the Official Team Partner of The Hundred and are on a mission to inspire more families to get active through cricket by bringing a pop-up experience on a nationwide tour of the country. 

“But I moved to Southern Brave in the hope that I should get a little bit more opportunity, which is obviously exciting.

“And it's going to be funny because I went to uni with probably four or five girls down at the Braves, so it will be like a little Loughborough reunion, which is nice with Gads, Tara, Paige, and Dunks. 

“And the squad is absolutely stacked. All the teams are obviously looking strong and as domestic players, you're just looking to see how much you can learn in that environment and get yourself better. 

“But it's looking to be another promising tournament again, like last year.” 

Gardner was speaking at the launch of KP Snacks’ summer cricket roadshow at The Black Prince Trust in Oval, with the roadshow visiting Southampton on 4 August.

Football fan Gardner saw her club team, Liverpool, win the Community Shield on Saturday, before cheering the Lionesses to Euros victory at Wembley – a triumph that she believes could also impact cricket. 

She added: “Obviously, we're seeing in football at the minute a real increase in visibility, we see the Lionesses having that record crowd of 87,000.

“Women’s sport is at the forefront of everyone's minds in this country and you'd like to think that building on the back of last year's Hundred success that it's only going to catapult even more this year. 

“It is so much fun to be a part of and the crowds really do add extra entertainment, as well as putting your skills under more pressure in front of those big crowds, it just makes it way more exciting for us as players.” 

While Gardner may be a new face in the Brave squad, she is already looking the part, boasting matching nails to the bright green kit and expects others to want to get involved too. 

“I hate to say was planned!” Gardner jokes. “My cousin does my nails for me, she's an absolute gem.  

“And once we knew that I was playing for Southern Brave this summer she found the exact right green Pantone colour and got the colours in straightaway.  

“She's coming to our third match, and she said she'll be available for any top ups, so I am sure when I get down there and join up with the squad, they'll want to be on the nail hype too.” 

KP Snacks, Official Team Partner of The Hundred, are touring the country this summer to offer more opportunities for people to play cricket as part of their ‘Everyone In’ campaign. Visit everyonein.co.uk/about