The Hundred: ECB reveal details of men’s player draft

The England Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday announced details of a historic player draft for The Hundred competition. Each of the eight city-based franchises to have at least one England Test player in their squad.

The city-based teams – in Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Southampton and two in London (Lord’s and The Oval) – can sign three overseas players, while England’s Test cricketers, England’s white-ball World Cup heroes, and county cricketers, will also be up for grabs.

The first stage of the draft will be in October 2019. Teams will get to pick up to three players, including at least one England Test-contracted player. Teams having more than one Test cricketer may pick their preferred player. Accordingly, the Leeds-based franchise will have to choose either between Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes (Durham is represented by the Leeds-based side) when making their first pick.

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Franchises without a player in their catchment area will then choose an England Test-contracted cricketer until every side has one. The other players will then be sent to their local team, while some teams can negotiate with and select two local ‘icon’ players from their catchment.

Before the draft, on Sunday, October 20, there will be a draw which will determine the order in which each team will pick their players. The first team drawn will select first in the opening round and last in the second round. Each team will have 100 seconds to pick each player.

While overseas picks are limited to three, there are no restrictions on the number of players from a county or country.

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Following the draft, each team will have the opportunity to select one final ‘wildcard’ pick, to be done during next year’s T20 Blast.

“The men’s player draft will be a historic moment for the game, with fans able to find out which world-class players will be representing their team in The Hundred,” says Sanjay Patel, managing director of The Hundred.

“We are set to have eight brilliant, evenly matched new cricket teams that will inspire existing and new fans.”