The first draft in British sport was complete on Sunday evening, with the eight teams competing in the new Hundred competition selecting their squads.
Each squad had already been assigned three players – one England Test star and two local icons – and had almost £1m to spend at the draft.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the first pick of the evening, joining Joe Root’s Trent Rockets for £125,000, while Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Liam Livingstone were all signed at the top price bracket.
A number of England stars also secured lucrative contracts but who were the three best signings from each Hundred team?
Trent Rockets
Rashid Khan (£125k), Lewis Gregory (£100k), Ben Cox (£40k)
Trent Rockets had the advantage of picking first in the draft and opted to make Rashid Khan one of their marquee signings at £125k.
The Afghanistan superstar entered the draft at £100k but a contract at the top base price was inevitable. His T20 record is phenomenal and nothing is more valuable in white-ball cricket than mystery spin.
Lewis Gregory, who looks set to make his England debut in New Zealand this winter, is a star player with both bat and ball and is well-deserving of his £100k pay-day.
Trent Rockets will have a couple of wicketkeepers to choose from next summer but there is a strong case to be made for Ben Cox, who is rated as one of the best gloveman in England and was picked up for just £40k.
Southern Brave
Andre Russell (£125k), David Warner (£125k), Shadab Khan (£75k)
Mahela Jayawardene admitted he could not believe his luck when Australia opener David Warner was still available to be picked as his second marquee signing, having already snapped up West Indian hero Andre Russell.
Warner’s struggles during the recent Ashes series were well documented but he is a different beast in limited-overs cricket. In the 2019 Indian Premier League, Warner scored almost 700 runs in 12 innings at an average of 69 and a strike-rate of 144.
Russell is the most coveted all-rounder in the world and will add considerable firepower to a bowling attack that also includes England World Cup hero Jofra Archer. The fact he smashes it miles and is a gun fielder will also come in handy.
Southern Brave needed to add a spinner to their ranks and spent £75k on Pakistan’s Shadab Khan, whose economy rate in T20 cricket is less than seven. Another top signing for a team that will be tough to beat.
Northern Superchargers
Aaron Finch (£125k), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (£125k), Ben Foakes (£60k)
With much of the limelight focusing on David Warner, fellow Australia opener Aaron Finch went somewhat under the radar ahead of the draft.
But the 32-year-old, whose T20 career has yielded nine centuries and almost 10,000 runs, was duly snapped up by Northern Superchargers for £125k. As one of the most prolific run-scorers in T20 cricket, it looks money well spent.
Despite already having Adil Rashid on their books, Northern Superchargers decided to bolster their spin options with the highly-rated Mujeeb Ur Rahman heading to Leeds.
The 18-year-old is following in the footsteps of compatriot Rashid Khan and has quickly established himself as a popular figure at drafts and auctions around the world.
With spin duo Rashid and Mujeeb potentially bowling 40 deliveries per match, the Superchargers knew an assured wicketkeeper would be key and England’s Ben Foakes certainly fits the bill.
Welsh Fire
Mitchell Starc (£125k), Liam Plunkett (£50k), Ryan ten Doeschate (£50k)
With gun batters Jonny Bairstow, Colin Ingram and Tom Banton already signed, Welsh Fire were expected to spent a large portion of their funds on a star bowler and made Australia’s Mitchell Starc their first pick.
Starc is a brilliant one-day bowler – he holds the record for the most wickets taken at a single World Cup – and his left-arm pace offers the kind of variation that T20 captains crave.
Liam Plunkett, a key member of England’s World Cup-winning squad, could also prove to be a shrewd signing and only cost £50k.
Fire’s other recruit in that price bracket – Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate – will bring valuable experience as well as an ability to shape matches with bat and ball.
Oval Invincibles
Sunil Narine (£125k), Hardus Viljoen (£60k), Laurie Evans (£30k)
It has been Sunil Narine’s ability with the bat as much as the ball that has seen him emerge as one of the most in-demand players in world cricket.
The West Indies star has always been a brilliant spin bowler but his batting has improved immeasurably and seen his value shoot up as a result.
He is almost nailed on to bowl 20 balls a game for Oval Invincibles and will likely open alongside Jason Roy. All in all, his £125k purchase is sound business.
The south London team signed the Curran brothers ahead of the draft but South African Hardus Viljoen could be the pick of their seam attack, having taken 18 wickets for Kent in last season’s T20 Blast and rarely returning untidy figures.
His presence at The Oval – along with Sam Billings and Alex Blake – will also appeal to Kent fans who The Hundred chiefs hope will grow an affinity with the team.
It was surprising that Laurie Evans did not attract a more lucrative contract, with Oval Invincibles selecting the Warwickshire batsman with their very last pick at £30k, but he is a more than decent squad player who will challenge for a place in the starting XI.
Manchester Originals
Tom Abell (£100k), Mitchell Santner (£50k), Joe Clarke (£40k)
It was inevitable that Somerset man Tom Abell would be handed a Hundred gig and he did not come cheaply, with Simon Katich’s Manchester Originals spending £100k to secure his signature.
It’s a significant sum of money but in Abell, the Old Trafford-based team have acquired a talented player who is rated highly at Somerset.
He averaged almost 45 in last summer’s T20 Blast and scored his runs at a strike-rate of close to 180. Evidently Abell can play and he will flourish in the Manchester Originals’ top order.
The £50k signing of Mitchell Santner also makes a lot of sense. The 27-year-old has developed into a key player for New Zealand in one-day cricket and played in the 2019 World Cup final.
Joe Clarke did not enjoy his most prolific season in the Blast for Nottinghamshire but there are not many more skilful batsman in the domestic game who were available for just £40k.
London Spirit
Glenn Maxwell (£125k), Mohammad Nabi (£100k), Mark Wood (£75k)
London Spirit were arguably dealt the toughest hand at the draft. They picked seventh and already had Eoin Morgan as one of their £125k stars, meaning just one of the first 18 picks came from their coach Shane Warne.
They pressure was on, therefore, to nail their opening selection and they appear to have done a good job with Australia star Glenn Maxwell.
A destructive batsman, a handy bowler and a gun fielder, Maxwell can make a big impact in a tournament seemingly designed for him.
Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, signed for £100k, is another fine addition. The 34-year-old was brilliant in his brief spell with Kent last summer and can bat anywhere in the top six.
The likes of Lasith Malinga, Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada went unsold at the draft and it is easy to see why when there were a number of suitable and cheaper alternatives available.
Ones of those was England World Cup-winner Mark Wood. £75k for a player who can bowl 90mph and should be available for the entire competition seems like a no-brainer.
Birmingham Phoenix
Benny Howell (£75k), Cameron Delport (£50k), Riki Wessels (£30k)
Having been assigned Chris Woakes and Pat Brown ahead of the draft, Birmingham Phoenix would not necessarily have identified domestic seam bowlers as a key area to target.
But Benny Howell has been a consistent performer for Gloucestershire over the past five years and could turn out to be a shrewd signing.
The same can be said for Essex batsman Cameron Delport, who smashed a 38-ball century in the T20 Blast in July and went on to help the Eagles win the competition for the first time in their history.
Somewhat bizarrely, Andrew McDonald’s Birmingham Phoenix had not signed a wicketkeeper until the penultimate round of the draft.
But a bargain deal for Riki Wessels – a talented batsman and solid gloveman – has vindicated the team’s decision to hold off and wait for the value.
