Quantcast

The Hundred - Draft Night


By Michael Norwood
October 20 2019

Some will say that the tittle of this article, needs to remove a 'R' from it's heading, and it is true that the new ECB 'Hundred' competition has had some push back from followers of the game in this country. However, with the 'draft' as it calls itself underway, just what is this new competition.

What is it?

Say goodbye to the traditional six-ball over. 

The Hundred is a new quickfire 100-ball innings competition. It will involve a 10-ball 'over'. 

What are the competition rules?

A match will last two-and-a-half hours. It's 100 balls per innings. Whoever scores the most runs wins.

The fielding side changes ends after 10 balls. Bowlers will deliver either five or 10 consecutive balls - the captain gets to decide. Each bowler will be able to deliver a maximum of 20 balls per game.

Each bowling side will get a strategic timeout of up to two-and-a-half minutes. The coach will be able to walk out to the middle of the ground and discuss tactics with their players mid-game.

There will be a 25-ball powerplay for each team. Two fielders will be allowed outside of the initial 30-yard circle during the powerplay. 

Which teams will compete?

There will be eight teams:

Birmingham Phoenix

London Spirit

Manchester Originals

Northern Superchargers

Oval Invincibles

Southern Brave

Trent Rockets Welsh Fire

Where will the matches be played?

The tournament will take place in cities across the country at the following venues: Edgbaston (Birmingham) Lord's (London) Emirates Old Trafford (Manchester) Emerald Headingley (Leeds) The Kia Oval (London) The Ageas Bowl (Southampton) Trent Bridge (Nottingham) Sophia Gardens (Cardiff) 

How many players are there in each squad?

Each squad will have 15 players.

Three players - England red-ball contracted players and 'local icons' - have already been assigned to each team.

Teams will select 12 players - including a maximum of three overseas picks - during a draft. The Hundred men's draft takes place tonight with 239 stars from across the world outside of the UK having put themselves forward for selection.

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, former Australian captain Steve Smith and Australian fast-bowler Mitchell Starc are among the overseas superstars available for selection. Afghan spinner Rashid Khan is tipped to be one of the top picks on the night, with the likes of Australia's opening batsman David Warner, Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and the West Indies' Andre Russell also expected to be snapped up in the opening rounds.

How will the draft work?

In total, 570 players have put themselves forward for selection for the tournament. This includes 331 domestic and 239 overseas players. The full draft is essentially an auction.

There are seven salary bands: £125,000, £100,000, £75,000, £60,000, £50,000, £40,000 and £30,000 - with captains receiving a £10,000 bonus.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with: