Alice Capsey hailed the Hundred for preparing her for the international scene and believes the second edition of the tournament eclipsed the first, as the Oval Invincibles retained their women’s title.

The 18-year-old struck 25 from 17 balls as South Africa international Marizanne Kapp steered the Invincibles to a five-wicket win against Southern Brave in a repeat of last year’s final.

Lord’s was filled with 20,840 fans and though the game itself was low-scoring, Capsey insisted the tournament has been a boost to the women’s game when compared to last year.

“I think it’s got similarities in the sense that I think it’s been amazing for the women’s game,” she told the PA news agency.

“I think from last year it exceeded all our expectations. Going to this year it’s almost had to one-up it and I think it’s absolutely done that.

“We’ve seen some amazing games of cricket, we’ve seen some new records. We’ve seen new records for crowd attendance and I think the general standard of the game has gone up and it’s been incredible to play in, to be a part of that and to see it.

“I’ve really enjoyed it – obviously I loved it last year but I think each year brings a new challenge and it’s a new squad so you get to know new people and it’s been amazing.”

When the inaugural Hundred kicked off in 2021, Capsey was an unknown 16-year-old before she went on to become arguably the breakout star of the tournament, hitting 150 runs during the 10 matches.

Since then, she has received an international call-up and heavily featured for England at the Commonwealth Games after the injury sustained by captain Heather Knight.

“It’s been another whirlwind year of different opportunities which has been amazing,” Capsey said.

“But I could not have imagined even being here now at the start of the season.”

The Hundred has consistently broken records for domestic attendances and that has been one of the major successes of the format, and Capsey believed it has prepared her for the next level.

“It gives players a platform to show what they’re about,” she said. “I think looking back, for me The Hundred was amazing because it did set me up for playing international cricket.

“Obviously when you make your debut you’ve got the nerves of making your debut. If I hadn’t have played in The Hundred I would have been so nervous to play in front of that crowd as well whereas coming into the Hundred last year it wasn’t daunting, I loved it.

“I love playing in front of crowds, I love the energy that it gives me so for me, the Hundred really set me up for being able to play international cricket.”