London, Nov 13 (IANS): Eoin Morgan and Heather Knight, England's World Cup winning captains, have been retained by London Spirit for the 2021 season of The Hundred. Both will lead the men's and women's teams based out of London for the inaugural season of the competition, which was postponed to next summer due to Covid-19 pandemic.

"I am delighted to be retained as captain of London Spirit. We have the makings of a great squad and I'm looking forward to playing at the Home of Cricket in this exciting new format. I believe we will have a great blend of skills both in the squad and our coaching staff and I can't wait to get going," said Morgan.

"It is a real honour to be retained as skipper for next year. We are beginning to build an exciting side and hopefully we can make a real impact on the pitch.While it was obviously disappointing that the competition wasn't able to take place this year, The Hundred promises to be a real leap forward for our sport and I can't wait to lead the side in 2021," added Knight.

Dan Lawrence and Naomi Dattani are the other retentions announced by London Spirit.

The eight men's teams in the competition have time till January to announce the retentions. A men's draft will be held in early 2021 to select the remaining players.

The Hundred is a new 100-balls-per-side format to be played by eight teams in separate men's and women's tournaments.