London (Commonwealth) _After being released by the defending men’s champion Oval Invincibles, Jason Roy was not chosen for the draft held at the Shard in London. As a result, he will not be playing in the Hundred this summer.
With three ducks compared to one half-century, Roy did not have an influence on the Invincibles’ summer performance and was released by head coach Tom Moody last month. Despite having a reserve price of £100,000 going into the draft, the eight men’s teams gave priority to foreign players in the first several rounds.
Although Mark Wood, who had a £100,000 reserve price when he joined, was not selected, it was less noteworthy because he had withdrawn from the Hundred’s first three seasons because to injury or to control the amount of work he did. Due to a scheduling conflict with the third Test against the West Indies, England’s red-ball players will not be available when the championship kicks off on July 23 of this year.
Due to his Major League Cricket obligations with the LA Knight Riders, which are anticipated to stretch until July 28th, Roy would have been unavailable for the first few days of the Hundred. For the same reason, Roy is scheduled to miss some of Surrey’s T20 Blast group games. Even if he may still play in the Hundred this summer as a replacement, Roy’s reputation has quickly declined in the four and a half years after England’s World Cup victory in 2019.
West Indies power hitters made comprised five of the seven players signed on top-bracket £125,000 contracts in the men’s draft; new Northern Superchargers coach Andrew Flintoff selected Nicholas Pooran as the first draft pick. Rivman Powell was a high choice at the Trent Rockets, Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer have joined the London Spirit, and Keron Pollard has joined the Southern Brave.
Due to their participation in the MLC, several West Indians could miss the first few games, but they should be available for the bulk of the season. They might also choose to forgo a T20I series against South Africa. It seems that the ECB’s discussions with the Caribbean Premier League’s organizers earlier this year prevented a confrontation with the Hundred.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who signed a £125,000 contract to play for Welsh Fire, will once again be paid well. He will compete with Pakistani teammate Naeem Shah, who was selected by Birmingham Phoenix in the first round, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was welcomed back following his success last summer.
One of the high earners was Ash Gardner
After spending two seasons with the Manchester Originals, Laurie Evans joined the Southern Braves, and the Invincibles paid £50,000 to recruit Drew Malan, who led the Rockets to victory in 2022. Ollie Pope and Richard Gleeson have joined London Spirit, and Fazalhaq Farooqi and Sikandar Raza have joined the Originals.
dominant Australian players who entered the draft, including Beth Mooney (Manchester Originals), Meg Lanning (London Spirit), Ash Gardner (Trent Rockets), and Annabel Sutherland (Northern Superchargers), all accepted £50,000 contracts, validated the ECB’s decision to increase the top salaries in the women’s Hundred.
After failing to reach a retention agreement last month, Amy Jones was a surprise first pick in the draft and returned to the Birmingham Phoenix; the Invincible’ first pick was Chamari Athapaththu of Sri Lanka. The two Indian internationals selected were Richa Ghosh of the Birmingham Phoenix and Smriti Mandhana of the Southern Brave.
Before the season begins in July, each team will add two more players to its men’s and women’s teams. These players will be given the opportunity to sign “wildcard” contracts depending on how well they perform in domestic T20 cricket. In the men’s competition, these will be valued at £30,000, and in the women’s, £8,000.
In the Hundred draft, Andrew Flintoff ignited a West Indies frenzy by selecting Nicholas Pooran with his first choice, and David Warner has been shockingly omitted.
Since 2009, the Australian left-hander has played white-ball cricket all over the world. Most recently, he made an appearance for the Dubai Capitals in the United Arab Emirates. He just announced his retirement from the Test scene.
The 37-year-old was not the only well-known figure to be left out. Jason Roy, the opening batsman for England in the 2019 World Cup, Kane Williamson of New Zealand, and Babar Azam of Pakistan were also unsold at a Thursday event held at the Shard in London.
