On Thursday, the identities of the eight Hundred teams will be unveiled, while England's players on red-ball contracts will find out which teams they will be representing in the new competition
Prior to The Hundred’s main draft on October 20, what can best be described as a mini-draft will take place on October 3.
Yet, it is a mini-draft with a difference; while the later of the two dates has been billed as the new competition’s big day, the former is arguably more significant.
On Thursday, the identities of the eight teams will be officially confirmed. Most of these have been widely known for some time, though we know little of the colours or apparel that each side will wear.
New Balance, however, who are already the official kit suppliers of the England team, have now extended that partnership to The Hundred and will provide the kit for each franchise.
Liam Burns, head of cricket for the sportswear company, said: “It is great to produce designs that are a true representation of each team – the result is eight brand new kits unlike anything seen before in cricket in England and Wales.”
The Cricketer understands that the Wales-based team, which also incorporates Somerset and Gloucestershire, is set to be known as Welsh Fire rather than the one-time mooted Western Fire. However, Thursday’s announcements will give official confirmation to those names.
They are expected to confirm what many have believed for some time: London Spirit (based at Lord's), London Invincibles (The Oval), Birmingham Phoenix (Edgbaston), Northern Superchargers (Headingley), Manchester Originals (Manchester), Trent Rockets (Trent Bridge), Southern Brave (Ageas Bowl), Welsh Fire (Cardiff).
Following the team reveal, as this week’s event has been christened, the first part of the draft will be conducted. Those in possession of the latest set of England red-ball contracts will be placed into eight teams, before teams are invited to pick up to two players from their franchises' catchment areas.
England handed red-ball contracts to 10 players in the new batch of deals revealed in September: Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns and Sam Curran were the recipients.
The group are set to be available only for a limited amount of time once the competition gets underway, with The Hundred taking place alongside England’s 2020 Test schedule. England face Pakistan in a three-match series beginning on July 30, while The Hundred begins on July 17.
As a result, those involved in England’s five-day cricket will be available for only the first three league matches and the tournament’s Finals Day, which falls between the second and third Tests, hence the Test players' placement in a separate draft.
On Thursday, then, each franchise whose management board counties (Surrey and Kent at London Invincibles, for example) have an England player on their books will be able to sign up that player.
If that catchment zone has more than one red-ball contract player in it, the franchise will pick its preferred player initially. In the case of teams without such a player, they will choose from those left over.
By way of precedent, Northern Superchargers – based at Headingley but also incorporating Durham – will have to choose between Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes as their primary pick.
Thus, if one assumes that Stokes is to be taken by Superchargers coach Darren Lehmann, then it is almost certain that at least one of Root or Bairstow will end up playing elsewhere.
Neither London Spirit nor Welsh Fire have any England player with a red-ball contract in their catchment area and, thus, are potential destinations for the Yorkshire pair, should they go unselected as Superchargers’ preferred pick.
Rory Burns could also end up in a similar position to Root and Bairstow, given the likelihood that Oval Invincibles would choose Sam Curran as their Test player, with his more noted T20 prowess.
Northern Superchargers will have to choose between Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow
Once each team has chosen an England-contracted red-ball player, any remaining player will be automatically allocated to their ‘home’ franchise – in other words, the franchise under which their home county operates.
Test players may also be selected as ‘non-playing players’, whose names and images are associated with a team for promotional reasons, but neither train nor play with them. James Anderson, given his recent injury problems and his lack of recent white-ball cricket, seems a likely candidate in this category.
Stuart Broad, should England choose to manage his workload, could also be left in the same position. Should Broad be designated as such, Trent Rockets would join Welsh Fire and London Spirit in not possessing a Test player in their catchment area, potentially leaving those three teams to fight it out for Bairstow, Root and Burns.
This, of course, works on the assumption that the other sides will pick their catchment players as their red-ball players. That would mean Southern Brave picking up Jofra Archer, Northern Superchargers choosing Stokes, Manchester Originals taking Jos Buttler, Birmingham Phoenix signing Chris Woakes and Oval Invincibles opting for Curran.
That said, teams are not necessarily obliged to select the player from their catchment area.
If that were to be the case, teams that do not select their red-ball contract player from their franchise’s associated counties will instead select a Test player, with the order of player selection to be decided by drawing lots. Assuming that does not occur, it seems likely that Trent Rockets, London Spirit and Welsh Fire will draw lots for Root, Bairstow and Burns.
As well as signing up an England Test player on Thursday, the franchises will be able to bring in two players who are contracted to one of their paired management counties – ‘local icons’, as they have been coined.
Therefore, having not received a red-ball contract for the forthcoming year, Moeen Ali could be selected by Birmingham Phoenix on Thursday in this category, with Worcestershire and Warwickshire making up the team’s management board counties.
In this case, the franchise can agree a salary band with the player concerned, but that fee category would then be removed from the team’s options in the main draft. In essence, if Moeen was to sign for Phoenix for £60,000, the franchise would lose its seventh-round draft selection.
The remainder of the draft – and its vast majority, in truth – will then take place on October 20 in a two-hour televised slot. Thursday’s curtain-raiser is set to take place behind closed doors.
The following 20 players have already been announced as having entered the main draft on October 20: Steve Smith, David Warner, Eoin Morgan, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Babar Azam, Tom Curran, Quinton De Kock, Faf du Plessis, Aaron Finch, Rashid Khan, Lasith Malinga, Liam Plunkett, Kieron Pollard, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Roy, Mitchell Starc and Kane Williamson.
Moeen Ali missed out on a red-ball deal this year
In the women’s competition, meanwhile, the process is quite different.
Through September in the first of two separate windows, franchises had to sign up two players each from the current list of centrally contracted England Women’s players.
With eight teams making two initial signings each, it is expected, therefore, that 16 signings will be announced on Thursday.
Between now and the end of May, when the second stage of the window then closes, the women’s teams will then complete their 15-player squads. Those will be filled by the remaining centrally contracted players not signed up in the September window, as well as local and overseas players.
England gave out its central contracts in February 2019, four of which were rookie deals - to Alice Davidson-Richards, Katie George, Bryony Smith and Linsey Smith.
The other England players currently with contracts are Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Laura Marsh, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield and Danni Wyatt.
Posted by Michael Perkins on 03/10/2019 at 10:55
A ghastly and unwanted initiative! The 50-over competition which had a lot of support is relegated to 2nd team level. I am a Member of my County Club and did NOT mandate my Chairman to support this. Proper 4-day cricket should be restored to the midsummer months snd not dumped in chilly April and September. ECB have it WRONG!
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