Pakistani cricketers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi (Image by A Sports)

The Pakistani duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, Australia’s Grace Harris and India’s Harmanpreet Kaur were some of the big names snapped up at The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage.

Sophia Dunkley and Tom Abell were the first picks of the men’s and women’s competitions, both for Welsh Fire, where Abell will be joined by Afridi and Rauf, who will both be making their first appearances in The Hundred.

The women’s competition was staging a draft for the first time, with Laura Wolvaardt moving to Manchester Originals, Kate Cross crossing the Pennines to Northern Superchargers and Sarah Glenn signing for London Spirit three of the other stand-out stories of the day.

The Hundred Draft saw 64 spots filled across the men’s and women’s competitions, with the eight teams taking it in turns to select players – the order for selections is based on last year’s finishing positions.

The open market process will see the remaining 56 places filled in the women’s competition, while 16 spots remain up for grabs in the men’s competition by virtue of The Vitality Wildcard Draft, which will be held in the week commencing 3 July.

Across the men’s and women’s competitions, the following players were signed:

Birmingham Phoenix: Sophie Devine, Hannah Baker, Eve Jones, Katie Levick, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Miles Hammond.

London Spirit: Grace Harris, Sarah Glenn, Sophie Munro, Sophie Luff, Mitchell Marsh, Olly Stone, Michael Pepper.

Manchester Originals: Laura Wolvaardt, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Kathryn Bryce, Katie George, Laurie Evans, Ashton Turner, Josh Tongue.

Northern Superchargers: Kate Cross, Georgia Wareham, Alice Davidson-Richards, Reece Topley, Tom Banton, Michael Bracewell, Bas de Leede.

Oval Invincibles: Suzie Bates, Dane Van Niekerk, Mady Villiers, Paige Scholfield, Heinrich Klaasen, Ross Whiteley, Ihsanullah.

Southern Brave: Danni Wyatt, Anya Shrubsole, Chloe Tryon, Maitlan Brown, Leus du Plooy, Tim David, Devon Conway.

Trent Rockets: Harmanpreet Kaur, Lizelle Lee, Kirstie Gordon, Grace Potts, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sam Hain, Brad Wheal.

Welsh Fire: Sophia Dunkley, Shabnim Ismail, Georgia Elwiss, Freya Davies, Laura Harris, Alex Hartley, Tom Abell, David Willey, Shaheen Afridi, Glenn Phillips, Haris Rauf, Roelof van der Merwe, Stevie Eskinazi, Daniel Douthwaite.

The third year of The Hundred will start with a double-header at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, 1 August – the first of 34 matchdays that promise high-octane men’s and women’s sporting action, live music, and a host of family-friendly entertainment.

More than half a million people attended games during The Hundred’s second year in 2022, including a record-breaking 271,000 watching live women’s fixtures across the competition and more families buying tickets than in 2021.

Tickets are now exclusively on sale for anyone who has previously bought tickets for The Hundred until 28 March. Those yet to attend can sign up in advance at thehundred.com to get priority ticket access from 5–18 April.

Tickets will then go on general sale on Thursday, 20 April. Tickets this year remain great value in line with 2022 pricing, with prices set at £5 for juniors aged 6-15, free for children five and under, and adults starting from £10.   

Haris Rauf said, “I’m very excited about being picked by Welsh Fire. The Hundred is a really good competition and I’m looking forward to getting to Cardiff and working with Mike Hussey. It looks like we’ve built a good squad, and I’m excited about meeting the rest of the team and helping us win games of cricket.”

Grace Harris, picked by London Spirit as the second-ever pick in the women’s competition in The Hundred Draft, said, “I’m really happy to have been drafted by London Spirit. Lord’s is such a special venue to play at and I’m incredibly excited to play in front of some big crowds there. It’s nice to be a part of history by being the second pick in The Hundred Draft but when you look at the squads, they’re all so strong – it’s going to be a great competition and I can’t wait.”

Over 14.1 million people tuned in to watch The Hundred action in 2022 and games will again be broadcast live on Sky Sports and BBC broadcast and digital channels throughout the competition.  

To stay up to date with the latest news, buy tickets or to sign up for priority access, visit thehundred.com or follow The Hundred, and the eight teams, on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

To view all the players picked in The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage, please visit www.thehundred.com/draft.