Southern Brave's head coach, Charlotte Edwards, acknowledged that her team never truly gained control of their Women's Hundred title defence and focused on the need to come back stronger next year.
The Brave's season started with narrow losses to London Spirit and Manchester Originals, along with a tie against Northern Superchargers. Despite a rain-affected victory over Oval Invincibles, the team struggled significantly thereafter.
Their final record of six defeats in eight matches highlighted their challenges, particularly a nine-wicket loss to Welsh Fire in their last home game on Wednesday. In that match, Brave were bowled out for 103, with Hayley Matthews taking 4 for 14 and Jess Jonassen 3 for 21. Welsh Fire chased down the target with 26 balls to spare, as Matthews and Tammy Beaumont, who scored 59 off 40 balls, shared an unbroken 72-run partnership. Fire's direct qualification for Sunday's final at Lord's was confirmed after Oval Invincibles failed to surpass their net run-rate despite defeating Trent Rockets by five wickets. As a result, Southern Brave were left to reflect on an underwhelming campaign.
"The start was tough because we played well but didn't get the wins," Edwards told. "In the last four games, we didn't perform well. When you struggle at the beginning and end of the competition, you're likely to end up where we are."
Edwards noted that while there were moments when the team bowled or batted well, they never managed to put together a complete performance. She pointed out that the competition is becoming more challenging, with teams growing stronger, and that being off-form can result in losses, which they experienced regularly this season.
Although the disappointment of their failed title defence is still fresh, Edwards mentioned that a thorough analysis of what went wrong and how to improve will take place later this year. By then, she hopes to have more clarity about the 2025 edition of the tournament, with the ECB seeking private investment ahead of the new season. "We'll review what we've done, where we need to improve, and recognise the areas we did well," she said. "It's important not to overlook the positives, but the bottom line is we need to be better than we were this year."
Edwards, who will coach Hampshire's Tier 1 team in the restructured women's domestic competition next year, has also extended her contract with the Sydney Sixers for another two WBBL seasons. She remains committed to continuing as coach for Southern Brave and Mumbai Indians, despite their unsuccessful WPL title defence this year, where they were eliminated by the eventual champions, Royal Challengers Bangalore.