Naseem Shah, Amy Jones, Richa Ghosh and Sean Abbott were the big players of the night to join Birmingham Phoenix at The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage.

Birmingham Phoenix had first choice in the women’s side of The Hundred Draft, bringing local Birmingham star Amy Jones back to Edgbaston for her fourth year in Birmingham Phoenix colours. 

She joins world stars Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine who were retained by Birmingham Phoenix last month – while Pakistan international and PSL winner Naseem Shah and Sean Abbott link up with Daniel Vettori’s men’s team led by Moeen Ali.

Richa Ghosh, Katie Levick, Seren Smale, Ailsa Lister, Chloe Brewer, James Fuller and Dan Mousley have also signed for Birmingham Phoenix.

Elsewhere in The Hundred Draft, Kieron Pollard went to Southern Brave, Meg Lanning to London Spirit and Beth Mooney to Manchester Originals.

England players Dawid Malan, Tom Banton, Lauren Filer and Ollie Pope were also on the move, as well as international superstars Andre Russell, Ashleigh Gardner, Shaheen Afridi, Chamari Athapaththu and Nicholas Pooran. 

Amy Jones said: “I’m really excited to be returning to Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred. Edgbaston is my home, and I may be biased as a local but it’s a great ground to play at. It has been a weird feeling not knowing where I’ll be playing next season so I’m very happy to know I’ll be back with Phoenix and I can’t wait to get back to it later in the summer. 

I’ve loved playing in The Hundred over the last three seasons and I’m looking forward to being a part of it again this year.”

Amy Jones will be involved in the opening game of The Hundred’s fourth year, as her Phoenix side travel to The Kia Oval on Tuesday 23 July to face Oval Invincibles – the first of 68 games that promise world class men’s and women’s sporting action, live music, and a host of family-friendly entertainment.    

Birmingham Phoenix’s picks in The Hundred Draft on the Women’s side were: Amy Jones, Richa Ghosh, Katie Levick, Seren Smale, Ailsa Lister, Chloe Brewer

Their men’s picks were: Naseem Shah, Sean Abbott, James Fuller, Daniel Mousley.

In 2023, The Hundred and Birmingham Phoenix continued to attract new audiences to cricket. A record 580,000 fans were in attendance across The Hundred last season, including over 300,000 in the women’s competition while Birmingham Phoenix saw 70,000 people attend across the four games at Edgbaston last season. 

The Hundred’s blend of high-quality sport and entertainment alongside the brilliant matchday experience at Edgbaston saw 22% junior tickets, 29% female tickets and 12% ethnically diverse tickets in Birmingham.

An impressive 45% of ticket buyers also attended a cricket match at Edgbaston for the first time and we hope to see more new faces watching Birmingham Phoenix this year!

There is currently an exclusive window open to buy tickets for fans who have previously attended The Hundred, until March 27th. There will be a priority window open from 9-23 April for all fans who sign up in advance at thehundred.com. The general sale period begins from 25 April. 

Tickets are once again great value, with prices set at £5 for juniors aged 3-15 (free for under 3s) and adults starting from £11.  All games will again be live on Sky Sports and BBC broadcast and digital channels throughout the competition.