London, 1 July 2025: London Spirit will begin their title defence in The Hundred 2025 under a fresh leadership structure, with Charlie Dean named as captain and Chris Liddle stepping up as Head Coach.
England all-rounder Dean, who previously captained London Spirit in 2022, replaces Heather Knight, who is sidelined due to injury. Despite not playing, Knight will remain with the squad in a coaching and mentoring role. Kira Chathli, a former Oval Invincibles player and part of their 2022 championship-winning side, replaces Knight in the playing squad.
New coaching era for Spirit as Liddle replaces Noffke
London Spirit also confirmed that Ashley Noffke, who guided the team to their first title last season, has departed to take up a role with Pakistan Men’s cricket team. Chris Liddle, who served as Spirit’s bowling coach and is currently England Women’s Performance Pace Bowling Coach, has been promoted to Head Coach.
Liddle began his coaching journey at Northamptonshire in 2020 and has been a core part of the Spirit setup for three seasons. This will be his first major head coaching role.
Fraser Stewart, General Manager of London Spirit, praised both outgoing and incoming leaders:
“Ashley was a highly respected coach, who will be much missed at Lord’s. I would like to place on record our thanks for the hard work, dedication and excellence he brought to the role. His departure gives an opportunity for Chris Liddle to step up to the Head Coach role, which he thoroughly deserves.”
Dean eager to lead title defence at Lord’s
Charlie Dean expressed her excitement about captaining Spirit again: “I am so excited to be leading London Spirit again this summer. We have a great squad and I know the expectation will be high after winning the competition last year. I am gutted that Heather won’t be playing with us, but it’s brilliant that she’ll still be around to help us out.”
New head coach Chris Liddle added: “I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead this team. We’ve worked hard over the years to build the culture and environment around the team. We all have a great opportunity to keep the franchise moving forward and I cannot wait to get going.”
