The Hundred Draft: All you need to know with Andrew Flintoff picking first – Jason Roy, Meg Lanning and more up for grabs

The Hundred Draft returns on Wednesday as teams finalise their squads ahead of the 2024 edition of the 100-ball competition.

Sides will make their selections from The Shard in London, ahead of the season opener on Tuesday July 23, and it will be available to stream live on the Sky Sports App and on skysports.com.

Here is all you need to know about the Draft process and the competition as a whole…

Firstly, what is The Hundred?

The Hundred is the ECB’s 100-ball-a-side competition in which eight teams across seven cities compete in respective men’s and women’s competitions, with daily double-headers shown live on Sky Sports throughout the summer.

The tournament is entering its fourth edition following its successful launch in 2021, with the action beginning on Tuesday July 23 when Oval Invincibles men and women take on their Birmingham Phoenix counterparts.

How does the Draft work?

The first stage of The Hundred selection process saw teams have up until Thursday February 29 to retain players from their 2023 squads, with women’s teams able to keep a maximum of eight players and men permitted to keep up to 10 alongside one centrally contracted England player.

The second stage of the player selection process will now see both men’s and women’s teams have the chance to Draft additional players in order to complete their squads.

Teams will pick players one by one, with the order of selections based on the worst-to-first records from the previous season’s standings, mirroring that of US sports as a means of preserving competitive balance.

Each team will be allowed a maximum of three overseas players, as well as having one ‘Right to Match’ option that allows them to re-sign one of their unretained players from 2023 if a rival attempts to buy them on Draft day.

Who will pick first?

As holders of the worst records in 2023, Birmingham Phoenix have the No 1 pick in the women’s Draft, while Northern Superchargers, led by new head coach Andrew Flintoff, will make the first selection in the men’s process.

When is the Draft?

The Draft will take place on Wednesday March 20 which you can follow it live on the Sky Sports App and skysports.com from 5.30pm, with 75 spots still to be filled after 137 players were retained across the 16 sides.

Who are the big names?

Ollie Pope, Jason Roy, Meg Lanning, Smriti Mandhana and David Warner are among the marquee names to have entered the 2024 Draft.

The world’s number one ranked men’s ODI batter Babar Azam, plus his international teammates Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, are also amongst the late additions to the draft list for this year’s Hundred, plus India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

There are 890 players from 22 countries in the Draft, also including England’s Dawid Malan, Australia’s Beth Mooney, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and India’s Jemimah Rodrigues.

Players are available in the men’s Draft for reserve prices of either £125,000, £100,000, £75,000, £60,000, £50,000, £40,000 or no reserve price.

Among the overseas players in the top bracket of £125,000 are Josh Inglis (Australia), Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka), Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand), Sunil Narine (West Indies), Nicholas Pooran (West Indies) and Mitchell Santner (New Zealand).

Players in the women’s Draft are available for reserve prices of £50,000, £40,000, £30,000, £17,500, £14,000, £11,000 or no reserve price.

The top bracket of £50,000 includes overseas stars in Ashleigh Gardner (Australia), Smriti Mandhana (India), Rodrigues (India) and Deepti Sharma (India).

Roy enters with a reserve price of £100,000 and is primed to head to a new franchise after being released by Invincibles, who already have their £100,000 and £125,000 slots filled

Malan, formerly of Trent Rockets, has a reserve price of £50,000, while Pope is available at £40,000 following his release by Welsh Fire.

How does The Hundred format work?

Each team will play eight group games in total, including two against their most local rivals.

Those meeting twice will be the London Spirit and Oval Invincibles, Northern Superchargers and Manchester Originals, Southern Brave, and Welsh Fire and Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix.

Those that top the table will advance straight to the final at Lord’s on Sunday August 18, before which those that finish second and third in the group stage of the competition will meet in the Eliminator on Saturday August 17 at The Kia Oval.

Who are the defending champions?

Oval Invincibles return as defending men’s champions after producing an incredible fightback to beat Manchester Originals by 14 runs last summer.

The victory saw Invincibles recover from 34-5 to post 161 after an unbeaten partnership of 127 courtesy of Tom Curran and Jimmy Neesham, before dismissing Jos Buttler and Phil Salt cheaply on their way to victory.

Southern Brave, meanwhile, arrive as reigning women’s champions following their 34-run victory over Northern Superchargers in last year’s climax.

Danni Wyatt’s knock of 59 was accompanied by Freya Kemp’s 31 in lifting Brave to 139-6, before Lauren Bell and Kalea Moore took three wickets apiece as Superchargers were bowled out for 105 in reply.

Who will play for whom?

Check out the full squad listings as they stand here.

Among those involved in the women’s competition will be Ellyse Perry (Birmingham Phoenix), Sophie Ecclestone (Manchester Originals), Marizanne Kapp (Oval Invincibles), Nat Sciver-Brunt (Trent Rockets) and Sophia Dunkley (Welsh Fire).

The men’s tournament will meanwhile include the likes of Liam Livingstone (Birmingham Phoenix), Jos Buttler (Manchester Originals), Ben Stokes (Northern Superchargers), Sam Curran (Oval Invincibles), Jofra Archer (Southern Brave), Joe Root (Trent Rockets) and Jonny Bairstow (Welsh Fire).

How and where can I watch the action?

Each of the 68 games – 34 men and 34 women – will be live on Sky Sports, while all women’s matches and a number of men’s fixtures will be streamed live on the Sky Cricket YouTube channel.

What are the fixtures?

• Tuesday July 23: Oval Invincibles v Birmingham Phoenix, The Kia Oval. Women’s 2.45pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Wednesday July 24: Southern Brave v London Spirit, Utilita Bowl. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Thursday July 25: Manchester Originals v Welsh Fire, Emirates Old Trafford. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Friday July 26: Northern Superchargers v Trent Rockets, Headingley. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.35pm
• Saturday July 27: London Spirit v Birmingham Phoenix, Lord’s. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.35pm
• Sunday July 28: Welsh Fire v Oval Invincibles, Sophia Gardens. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.35pm
• Monday July 29: Manchester Originals v Trent Rockets, Emirates Old Trafford. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.35pm
• Tuesday July 30: Northern Superchargers v Southern Brave, Headingley. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.35pm
• Wednesday July 31: Trent Rockets v Birmingham Phoenix, Trent Bridge. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Thursday August 1: London Spirit v Welsh Fire, Lord’s. Women’s 11.30am, Men’s 3pm
• Thursday August 1: Southern Brave v Manchester Originals, Utilita Bowl. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Friday August 2: Oval Invincibles v Northern Superchargers, The Kia Oval. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Saturday August 3: Birmingham Phoenix v Southern Brave, Edgbaston. Women’s 11am, Men’s 2.30pm
• Saturday August 3: Trent Rockets v Welsh Fire, Trent Bridge. Women’s 2.30pm, Men’s 6pm
• Sunday August 4: London Spirit v Oval Invincibles, Lord’s. Women’s 11am, Men’s 2.30pm
• Sunday August 4: Northern Superchargers v Manchester Originals, Headingley. Women’s 2.30pm, Men’s 6pm
• Monday August 5: Welsh Fire v Southern Brave, Sophia Gardens. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Tuesday August 6: Manchester Originals v Oval Invincibles, Emirates Old Trafford. Women’s 11.30am, Men’s 3pm
• Tuesday August 6: Birmingham Phoenix v Northern Superchargers, Edgbaston. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Wednesday August 7: Trent Rockets v London Spirit, Trent Bridge. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Thursday August 8: Welsh Fire v Northern Superchargers, Sophia Gardens. Women’s 11.30am, Men’s 3pm
• Thursday August 8: Oval Invincibles v Southern Brave, The Kia Oval. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Friday August 9: London Spirit v Manchester Originals, Lord’s. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Saturday August 10: Southern Brave v Trent Rockets, Utilita Bowl. Women’s 11am, Men’s 2.30pm
• Saturday August 10: Welsh Fire v Birmingham Phoenix, Sophia Gardens. Women’s 2.30pm, Men’s 6pm
• Sunday August 11: Oval Invincibles v London Spirit, The Kia Oval. Women’s 11am, Men’s 2.30pm
• Sunday August 11: Manchester Originals v Northern Superchargers, Emirates Old Trafford. Women’s 2.30pm, Men’s 6pm
• Monday August 12: Birmingham Phoenix v Trent Rockets, Edgbaston. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Tuesday August 13: Northern Superchargers v London Spirit, Headingley. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Wednesday August 14: Southern Brave v Welsh Fire, Utilita Bowl. Women’s 11.30am, Men’s 3pm
• Wednesday August 14: Trent Rockets v Oval Invincibles, Trent Bridge. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Thursday August 15: Birmingham Phoenix v Manchester Originals, Edgbaston. Women’s 3pm, Men’s 6.30pm
• Saturday August 17: Eliminator, The Kia Oval. Women’s 2.15pm, Men’s 6pm
• Sunday August 18: Final, Lord’s. Women’s 2.15pm, Men’s 6pm

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