A total of 252 overseas and 254 domestic players have registered for The Hundred’s upcoming men’s draft on February 23, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) stated in a release. 35 spots will be up for grabs in total, of which only seven are available to overseas players.
Babar Azam, David Warner and Nicholas Pooran are among the players in the highest reserve price bracket. The other players in the same GBP 100,000 bracket are Shakib Al Hasan, Quinton De Kock, Lockie Ferguson, Jason Holder, Tamim Iqbal Khan, Kieron Pollard, Kagiso Rabada.
ECB’s inaugural season of the 100-ball competition couldn’t go ahead in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The board now plans to launch the season in July 2021 but the salary bands for players now stand reduced by 20 percent. After the men’s draft, all the eight teams will have 14 players each which will include three overseas players.
Among the eight players in the second-highest GBP 80,000 bracket for the upcoming draft are Shahid Afridi, Faf du Plessis, Moises Henriques, Shimron Hetmyer, Mitchell Marsh, Joshua Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Imran Tahir.
Martin Guptill, Shadab Khan, Marnus Labuschagne, Chris Morris, Colin Munro, Anrich Nortje and Dale Steyn have registered for the GBP 60,000 bracket.
Tim Bresnan (GBP 48,000), Ryan Ten Doeschate (GBP 48,000) and Richard Levi (GBP 32,000) are the only three domestic players with a reserve price.
“We are delighted with the level of interest we’ve had from both overseas and domestic players. There is a huge appetite to play in The Hundred which is designed to open up cricket to more families and young people with fast world-class action on the pitch and blockbuster entertainment off it. The calibre of the players involved means that it’s going to be an exciting men’s draft – with a lot of competition for spaces amongst really top-drawer names,” Rob Hillman, Director of Event Operations, said.
The retention window, which closed in the first week of February, allowed the franchises to negotiate fresh contracts with their players. Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Williamson, Andre Russell and Mark Wood were among the big names who re-signed with their respective franchises whereas Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc were released by Welse Fire.
The women’s teams in The Hundred can continue to sign players until June.
