News & Insight
Amitra Dhindsa was one of 16 ‘Content Creators’ embedded by Two Circles into the eight teams competing in The Hundred as part of The Hundred Rising programme.
The brief? To tell stories that brought fans even closer to The Hundred by showcasing the personalities of the players and capturing behind-the-scenes moments.
I have played cricket since I was around 10, including at various competitive levels. After watching The Hundred in 2021, I experienced a different side to cricket that I hadn’t been exposed to before.
I have always tried to get involved with the development of cricket and saw ‘The Hundred Rising’ opportunity put on by the ECB and Two Circles. I had experience in content creation within the charity sector, but this was an opportunity in the sport I love, and given I’m looking to pursue a career in the sports industry, I knew that it was the perfect opportunity.
Working as a Content Creator for Southern Brave can only be described as a surreal, exhilarating and, at times, daunting experience.
The first task was to familiarise myself with where offices, gyms and training grounds were located, and to offer support that wasn’t content related where I could. This made it easier to assimilate into the team, to see where I could film, and work out how best to do it.
I also felt it was extremely important to build a good rapport with staff and players. Speaking to them about what works best from a media and content perspective, and learning about their personalities before having my phone out and filming content, was invaluable and allowed them to understand my role in the team.
Coming from a sporting background was definitely an added benefit here; as well as cricket I have also been part of many football and netball teams, and I am currently coaching and managing at my local cricket club, with the aim of developing cricket for women and girls. This experience I believe enabled me to decipher moods, attitudes, and appropriate times for player-related content. After all, just because I needed to capture content, it didn’t mean players would always appreciate being filmed, especially on matchday or right after a training session.
The Content
The Content Creator brief was to think outside the box and let creativity flourish. Knowing the players and the different days for the Brave over the course of the competition meant I had a lot of creative flexibility. I felt that my creativity was appreciated, and was given space to conduct my work in an efficient manner.
The favourite piece of content I worked on was the Paultons Park ‘Ride Challenge’ with Danni Wyatt, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Kenzie Benali. It really showed off their personalities and emphasised the fun and entertaining environment at Southern Brave.
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Having Kenzie there was also special as it enabled the challenge to be presented in a more fun and enjoyable way and enabled a more cohesive feel with The Hundred and the players themselves.
I also loved the still photos we produced after the final at Lord’s – these showed the positivity and support the players gave each other, demonstrating how close the team were.
Like in any role there were challenges. Often, I would find players were not keen on a specific idea, or wanted to film it on a day that wouldn’t work with playing and travel schedules. I found the best way to overcome this was not to stress the importance of getting the content, but to change the idea, ask another player to join, or plan well in advance with specific players.
Communicating this to my team at London office was important to ensure that everyone was in the loop of changes to the content schedule, ensuring time could be spent elsewhere and on different briefs.
I also don’t think anyone can know what a matchday is like without experiencing it. On matchday, everyone involved will often have their own routines, and as someone whose job it is to capture content you have to respect that, in particular the players’ own pre-match preparations. The logistics of the ground were also challenging when trying to film reactions or match day highlights.
This became easier over time and the brief we were given about matchday timings, protocols and media guidelines allowed me to ensure I was producing good pieces of content rather than loads of different clips/videos that did not show the team/players.
The Results
My advice to Content Creators of the future is take each day as it comes. Planning helps, but being present in the moment is equally as important, as both players and staff and yourself will find the process a lot easier and exciting rather than overwhelming.
It was an amazing summer at Southern Brave. And seeing how well our content and channels performed was an incredible bonus, especially our in-competition follower growth of 98%, which was the highest of all The Hundred teams. As was our 1.5m in-competition video views.
Go Brave!
