Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow up for grabs in The Hundred's new auction
Sunrisers Leeds will keep a close eye on Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow as The Hundred stages its inaugural player auction at London’s Piccadilly Lights on Wednesday and Thursday.
Up to seven Yorkshire stars – including former England captain Joe Root and spin wizard Adil Rashid – are among high-profile names set to go under the hammer in the landmark men’s auction for the upcoming season.
With a combined longlist of 425 players available for the sixth season of the cash-rich tournament, the women’s auction kicks off today, followed by the men’s on Thursday in London.
Auctioneer Richard Madley, the man behind the gavel for the groundbreaking player auction in English professional sport, is convinced the mega event could mark a “historic moment for UK sport”.
Madley was the voice of the Indian Premier League’s first-ever auction in 2008, a significant shift for cricket that reached its crescendo when he declared MS Dhoni ‘sold’ to Chennai Super Kings for $1.5m – a staggering price tag that redefined player valuations overnight.
“Could we see a player earning £350,000? Indeed,” said Madley. Fresh from his $1.55m windfall with CSK in the 2009 IPL auction, former Sunrisers head coach Andrew Flintoff bought the famous auctioneer a well-deserved beer for bringing down the hammer on his bumper payday.
The Hundred’s auction may not produce IPL-level mega-bids, but England captain Harry Brook has already struck gold with a £465,000 direct signing deal at Sunrisers Leeds.
Nat Sciver-Brunt (Trent Rockets) and Lauren Bell (Southern Brave) are not far behind, each pocketing £140,000 in the pre-auction contracts that highlight the growing financial pull of Hundred in women’s cricket.
Women’s teams have £880,000 total to spend per squad, swelling to £2.05m for the men – healthy increases that set the stage for competitive bidding across both days.
The Hundred auction player pool is divided into three tiers: hero players, ranked players and nominated players.
Ensuring big names from the White Rose feature prominently in the first phase, Yorkshire’s trio of Bairstow, pictured, and Rashid (£100,000 reserve price) alongside Root (£75,000) headline the men’s hero players category.
Yorkshire’s Jafer Chohan, Dominic Bess, Matthew Revis and Will Luxton (all £31,000 reserve) are also poised for lucrative deals ahead of the new season.
Sarah Glenn (£50,000) spearheads women’s auction bidding for Yorkshire in the hero phase with Sterre Kalis (£27,500), Lauren Winfield-Hill (£27,500), Ami Campbell (£15,000), Claudie Cooper, Beth Langston, Rachel Slater, Olivia Thomas, and Maddie Ward following in subsequent phases.
Sunrisers Leeds will open their Hundred campaign against MI London at The Oval on July 21.
One Yorkshire player not involved in this week’s auction is Moeen Ali.
The former England all-rounder, previously captain at Birmingham Phoenix, missed out on the shortlist after a nomination process.