I think we’ll wrap things up there. James Coles hasn’t played for England yet but he’s 21, bowls left-arm tweakers and has eight first-class tons. That promise has resulted in a £390,000 deal with London Spirit, the most expensive of the auction. But the most noteworthy signing remains that of Abrar Ahmed – the Pakistan spinner was picked up by SunRisers Leeds, an IPL-affiliated team, for £190,000. Is the world healing? Probably not, but it’s something.
My opinion about player auctions remains unchanged: it’s all a bit icky and just makes me a little uncomfortable. But this is the new, funky world of English cricket. Thanks for reading and writing in.
MI London are very much Surrey in fancy dress – they’ve got six players from the county.
The squads
After the auction, this is how we look:
Birmingham Phoenix
Jacob Bethell, Rehan Ahmed, Donovan Ferreira, Mitch Owen, Saqib Mahmood, Usman Tariq, Joe Clarke, Will Smeed, Jordan Thompson, Scott Currie, Laurie Evans, Chris Wood, Ethan Brookes, Mustafizur Rahman
London Spirit
Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Adam Zampa, Dewald Brevis, Jonny Bairstow, David Willey, James Coles, Mason Crane, Adam Milne, Adam Hose, Tymal Mills, James Rew, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Matt Fisher
Manchester Super Giants
Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen, Noor Ahmad, Liam Dawson, Aiden Markram, Josh Tongue, Sonny Baker, Gus Atkinson, Leus Du Plooy, Tom Hartley, Tim Seifert, Tom Moores, Max Holden, George Scrimshaw, Tawanda Muyeye, Paul Walter
MI London
Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, James Vince, Tom Curran, Trent Boult, Nathan Sowter, Sherfane Rutherford, Richard Gleeson, Ollie Pope, Olly Stone, Ollie Sykes, Callum Parkinson, Jason Roy
Southern Brave
Jofra Archer, Jamie Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Tristan Stubbs, Adil Rashid, David Miller, Chris Jordan, Luke Wood, Ben McKinney, Thomas Rew, Michael Pepper, Tom Abell, Dan Worrall, Nikhil Chaudhary, Caleb Falconer
Sunrisers Leeds
Harry Brook, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan Ellis, Brydon Carse, Ryan Rickelton, Zak Crawley, Matt Potts, Dan Lawrence, Abrar Ahmed, Benny Howell, Tom Lawes, Tom Alsop, Liam Patterson-White, Reece Topley, Ed Barnard
Trent Rockets
Tim David, Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Mitch Santner, Finn Allen, David Payne, Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Dan Mousley, Matt Henry, Sam Billings, Aneurin Donald, Ben Mayes, Danny Briggs, Brad Currie, Louis Kimber
Welsh Fire
Phil Salt, Marco Jansen, Rachin Ravindra, Chris Woakes, Joe Root, Jordan Cox, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Ben Kellaway, Lockie Ferguson, Asa Tribe, Tom Aspinwall, Matt Short, Sam Cook, Jafer Chohan
And that’s that – we’re done. A proper shift from Richard Madley finally wraps up.
Brad Currie and Louis Kimber join Trent Rockets … and Jason Roy is back in the mix. The Surrey man gets a gig at MI London.
We’re close to wrapping up here: Matt Fisher is off to London Spirit, Paul Walter joins Manchester Super Giants. Callum Parkinson will play for MI London. Ed Barnard heads to Headingley.
This is a surprise: Southern Brave nominate Nikhil Chaudhary, an uncapped overseas player who has done most of his work in the BBL. They get him for £31k.
Caleb Falconer is wanted by London Spirit and Southern Brave … and the Brave get him for £55k. He’s yet to play a game of professional cricket.
MI London nominate Surrey’s Ollie Sykes, and he’s signed for £31k. Justin Langer, from the Manchester Super Giants table, calls for George Scrimshaw. He gets him, too.
Birmingham Phoenix fill out their last overseas spot with Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman. The Fizz goes for £100k.
SunRisers Leeds nominate Reece Topley and are unchallenged, the left-armer on his way for £31k.
Jafer Chohan has gone unsold twice today … but Welsh Fire nominate him. They sign him for £35k.
The Rockets nominate Sam Cook, who went unsold earlier in the day. He’s in demand now as the price flies to £70k – Welsh Fire take him. They’ve got Cook, Chris Woakes and Marco Jansen as new-ball options.
Updated
Trent Rockets and MI Oval London fight it out for T20 Blast legend Danny Briggs. Rockets buy him for £70k.
Updated
Liam Patterson-White, the Notts all-rounder, joins SunRisers for £31k. Welsh Fire fill their last overseas spot with Australia’s Matt Short. I watched him take a very sneaky five-for at Sophia Gardens against England in 2024.
MI London nominate England quick Olly Stone and sign him for £50k. Birmingham Phoenix name Worcestershire’s Ethan Brookes for £31k, but he becomes part of a bidding war – they end up buying him for £70k.
Daniel Worrall is a wanted man, his price rocketing to £80k after he was nominated by Super Giants. Southern Brave end up signing him.
London Spirit bid for South Africa’s Lhuan-dre Pretorius, 19 years old but already a Test centurion. They sign him for £31k.
Now it’s the round for nominated players. Teams name a player and sign them if no other side makes a bid. Southern Brave call out for Tom Abell … and no one else bids. He’s off to Southampton.
Harry Chapman writes in:
Following the blog from Massachusetts - just wondering why Guardian cricket writer Geoff Lemon is on The Sunrisers Leeds table at the top the blog!?!
Geoff actually used to bowl some very tidy left-arm spin for New Zealand. Could bat a bit, too.
Ben Mayes, the England Under-19s batter, has played just three T20s but Trent Rockets don’t mind – they buy him for £31k. James Rew, older brother of Thomas, joins London Spirit for the same fee. Caleb Falconer goes unsold.
Graham Clark goes unsold before Aneurin Donald joins Trent Rockets for £31k. Tom Aspinwall moves to Welsh Fire for the same fee. Matthew Fisher, a Test cap to his name, does not find a buyer.
Alec Stewart and co decide to bring Ollie Pope home to the Oval. He receives a bid of £31k from MI London and it’s uncontested.
Updated
Hampshire veteran Chris Wood is off to Birmingham Phoenix … who he’s played for since 2024. Tawanda Muyeye will play for Manchester Originals Super Giants, signed for £50k.
Updated
Essex’s Paul Walter does not receive any bids. Michael Pepper is off to Southern Brave for £31k, while Manchester Super Giants buy Max Holden for the same fee.
Left-arm quick Tymal Mills joins London Spirit for £130k. Laurie Evans, another experienced T20 globetrotter, is bought by Birmingham Phoenix for £85k.
Australian quicks Xavier Bartlett and Jason Behrendorff go unsold.
Asa Tribe – of Jersey, Glamorgan and England Lions – and Welsh Fire, too. He joins for £70k.
Sam Billlings joins Trent Rockets for £180,000
Sam Billings, who captained Oval Invincibles, sees his fee jump to six figures as Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix battle. He faced just 35 balls across seven innings in last year’s tournament. The Rockets buy the keeper-batter for £180k.
Updated
New Zealand’s Matt Henry – I absolutely love his action – is up, and there’s a bit of confusion over what his base price is. It’s confirmed as £75k and the Rockets, predictably, raise their paddle. And they’ve got him: that’s their third New Zealander in the squad.
Trent Rockets still have £522k to spend with a minimum of five more players to buy today. They’ve got one overseas spot to fill and they’re looking a touch short with the ball, needing a bit more pace and probably another frontline spinner to join up with Mitch Santner.
Updated
Dawid Malan and Anrich Nortje do not find any suitors.
Keaton Jennings goes unsold, as does Jafer Chohan, who was in the first round of the auction. Toby Albert and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza do not receive bids. Jason Roy, a hero of 2019, does not receive a bid for a base price of £31k.
Scott Currie joins Birmingham Phoenix for £210,000
Sam Cook has an excellent record in the Hundred – but he goes unsold at £31k. Adam Hose is off to London Spirit. Scott Currie took nine wickets at 19.66 last year for Manchester Originals and his fee races to £100k … the 24-year-old seamer is in demand and Trent Rockets take it to £200k. Birmingham Phoenix are quite light on fast bowling so they go to £210k – and they’ve got him.
Updated
Richard Gleeson, who played a handful of T20s for England in 2022, has paddles from MI London and Welsh Fire go up. The 38-year-old quick is off to the Oval for £65k. Dan Mousley, an all-rounder who bowls rapid off-breaks, receives a bid of £31k from Trent Rockets. They eventually sign him for £40k.
West Indies’ Sherfane Rutherford gets a £100k bid from MI London – they’ve got their four overseas slots sorted. New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson is off to Welsh Fire for £75k. Faf du Plessis, still knocking it about at 41, goes unsold at £100k.
SunRisers Leeds and Manchester Super Giants have filled their overseas allocations. Welsh Fire still have two slots to fill from abroad, having spent big money on their domestic stars.
Wanindu Hasaranga, the leg-spinning allrounder from Sri Lanka, goes unsold at £100k. Lungi Ngidi does not receive a bid either. Adam Milne, the New Zealand quick, does get a deal, going to London Spirit for £50k.
Thomas Rew joins Southern Brave for £80,000
Glamorgan’s Ben Kellaway is staying at Welsh Fire for £37.5k, and here comes Thomas Rew, who captained England Under-19s at their recent World Cup. He’s played just three T20s for Somerset and hasn’t played in the County Championship but carries Big Next Thing energy – and the paddles are starting to fly. The 18-year-old is heading to Southern Brave for £80k.
Updated
Tom Alsop joins SunRisers, too. They’ve signed 12 players and have £101k left in their wallet.
Dan Worrall, the Surrey opening bowler – he’s got a delicious outswinger – goes unsold. Tom Moores, keeper-batter, is off to Manchester Super Giants for £50k. Another Surrey quick, Tom Lawes, joins SunRisers for £40k.
Jordan Thompson – once of Yorkshire, now at Warwickshire – is wanted by MI London. But it’s Birmingham Phoenix who buy him for £60k.
Benny Howell, slower-ball supremo, is off to SunRisers Leeds for £50k. Craig Overton could be joining his twin brother at London Spirit … but Trent Rockets want him, too. And he’s off to Trent Bridge for £120k.
Tim Seifert went unsold in the first round but he’s got a deal now: Manchester Super Giants take him for £100k.
Up first is Surrey’s Jordan Clark at a base price of £31k. Oddly enough, he’s unsold. The Durham left-hander Ben McKinney has had a quiet start to his T20 career – he averages 14.29 after 19 games – but he’s off to Southern Brave for £45k.
OK, so we’re moving to the ranked players section of the auction. It’s basically a list of 50 players nominated by the teams and can include those who went unsold in the first section of the auction.
“Super Giant energy runs in Aiden’s blood,” says the Manchester Super Giants X account. Some other questionable posts on there.
Here’s how the teams look at the moment.
Birmingham Phoenix
Jacob Bethell, Rehan Ahmed, Donovan Ferreira, Mitch Owen, Saqib Mahmood, Usman Tariq, Joe Clarke, Will Smeed
London Spirit
Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Adam Zampa, Dewald Brevis, Jonny Bairstow, David Willey, James Coles, Mason Crane
Manchester Super Giants
Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen, Noor Ahmad, Liam Dawson, Aiden Markram, Josh Tongue, Sonny Baker, Gus Atkinson, Leus Du Plooy, Tom Hartley
MI London
Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, James Vince, Tom Curran, Trent Boult, Nathan Sowter
Southern Brave
Jofra Archer, Jamie Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Tristan Stubbs, Adil Rashid, David Miller, Chris Jordan, Luke Wood
Sunrisers Leeds
Harry Brook, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan Ellis, Brydon Carse, Ryan Rickelton, Zak Crawley, Matt Potts, Dan Lawrence, Abrar Ahmed
Trent Rockets
Tim David, Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Mitch Santner, Finn Allen, David Payne, Lewis Gregory
Welsh Fire
Phil Salt, Marco Jansen, Rachin Ravindra, Chris Woakes, Joe Root, Jordan Cox, Tom Kohler-Cadmore
David Howell writes in:
I genuinely did not see one of the literally IPL-branded teams acquiring a Pakistani player. In fact I assumed that all the Pakistani players would go unsold, the national team schedule to be cited, and probably an eventual discovery years down the line that the cynical explanation was the right one after all. Delighted to be proven wrong!
Wonder if the SunRisers mothership will get fan backlash for it back in Hyderabad?
James Coles is the most expensive buy of the auction, sold for £390,000 to London Spirit. He plays for Sussex, who aren’t having a great time with their own finances. I’d say that Abrar’s move to SunRisers is more eye-catching, a Pakistan international heading to an Indian-owned side. Phew.
I forgot to mention: London Spirit have got themselves Mason Crane for £31k.
Abrar Ahmed joins SunRisers Leeds for £190,000
Now this is worth noting: SunRisers Leeds, an IPL-affiliated team, bid for Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed. They take the leggie’s price to £130k, but Trent Rockets want him, too. SunRisers aren’t hesitating with that paddle – they go to £190k. And they’ve got him! That’s the most significant buy of the day.
Nathan Sowter’s leggies helped Oval Invincibles to three titles in a row so it’s no surprise that MI London want him back. Trent Rockets want in on the action but Sowter can keep his spot in the Oval dressing room. MI London buy him for £130k.
Tom Hartley joins Manchester Super Giants for £35k. Keshav Maharaj is spelt as Kehav Maharaj on the big screen and the Hundred website. Anyway, he’s unsold.
Dan Lawrence joins SunRisers Leeds for £210,000
Lewis Gregory rejoins Trent Rockets – he captained them to the title in 2022 – for £55k. Dan Lawrence, classed as an all-rounder in this auction because of those funky off-breaks, is in demand as his price rockets past £100k. He’s never starred in the Hundred, averaging 18 with the bat after five seasons, but his price moves past £200k. He’s going to Leeds for £210k.
Australia’s Ben Dwarshuis goes unsold, as does Pakistan Saim Ayub.
James Coles joins London Spirit for £390,000
James Coles, the England Lions all-rounder, is bound to get plenty of attention. His price flies quickly past £100k, with Phoenix and the Super Giants bidding against one another. Phoenix take the price to £170k, the Super Giants outbid them … before Trent Rockets rock up at £190k. Phoenix re-emerge at £200k … but SunRisers are up at £220k. The price goes beyond £250k … and London Spirit put their paddle up … we’re past £300k. Coles, 21 and uncapped, is the most expensive buy of the day.
SunRisers eventually say no to the man who won the SA20 with their affiliate team in that comp – he goes to London Spirit for £390k.
Updated
Olly Stone has a base price of £50k – no team makes a bid.
David Payne, player of the match in the Big Bash League final in January, is off to Trent Rockets for £130,000. He’s the first fast bowler to join them. The Rockets bid for Matt Potts, too, but the England quick joins SunRisers Leeds for £75k.
Chris Jordan, who has played a whopping 431 T20s, goes for £160,000 – Southern Brave are the victors.
Time for some quicks, with a New Zealand great on show. MI London bid for Trent Boult at £100k. They’re unchallenged and the left-armer is off to the Oval.
Will Smeed, top-order blaster at Somerset, hit the first hundred in the Hundred back in 2022. He’s back at Birmingham Phoenix for £55k.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore gets a bid from Manchester Super Giants but is off to Welsh Fire for £80k. That’s their first buy since spending big on Jordan Cox.
Somerset veteran Tom Abell is up – he goes unsold at £31k.
Leus Du Plooy is in the middle of a bidding war between Welsh Fire and Manchester Super Giants. The latter take him for £120k.
Time for the ‘Tier 2’ section of players in the auction. Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke, who has already played for three Hundred teams, is going back to Birmingham Phoenix – where he played last year – for £85k.
It’s Tom Curran’s birthday. Tidy time to get a £260,000 contract.
Sean Clayton writes in:
Admittedly, I’m not a Hundred fan at the best of times but why have the new owners rebadged the franchise as SunRisers Leeds, rather than, say, Northern SunRisers? That rebranding is not going to attract many new fans within the supposed franchise catchment area from Sheffield, Newcastle, Hull, etc...
They’re all quite silly, aren’t they? Also don’t get the rogue capital letter. That being said, it could be worse – at least they’ve not gone for ‘SunRiserz’ to get down with the kidz.
West Indies left-arm tweaker Akeal Hosein is unsold at £100,000.
Bangladesh’s Rishad Hossain is unsold, his base price at £75k.
Usman Tariq joins Birmingham Phoenix for £140,000
Here’s Pakistan’s Usman Tariq … and he’s got a bid from Birmingham Phoenix at his base price of £100k. Trent Rockets are in competition with him. A reminder: both teams are not IPL-affiliated. His price flies to £140k … and he’s off to Edgbaston.
Yorkshire’s Jafer Chohan, a product of the South Asian Cricket Academy, is unsold at £31k.
David Willey is on the move to London Spirit for £120k. Next up, some spinners.
Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai is ignored as well.
Pakistan’s Shadab Khan goes unsold.
Gus Atkinson joins Manchester Super Giants for £70,000
The England quick joins an attack featuring Josh Tongue, Sonny Baker and Liam Dawson.
Tom Curran joins MI London for £260,000
We’re looking at the top all-rounders now. Tom Curran is in demand; he was a key part of the Oval Invincibles team that won three titles in a row. MI London (the new Invincibles) want him back, taking the bidding to £200,000. Curran’s price continues to climb – he’s going to end up as one of the day’s biggest earners … MI London take him for £260,000.
Saqib Mahmood joins Birmingham Phoenix for £150,000
Saqib Mahmood, previously part of Oval Invincibles, is off to Edgbaston. Birmingham Phoenix have their first signing of the day.
Sonny Baker joins Manchester Super Giants for £95,000
Sonny Baker played for Manchester Originals last year. And he’s playing for Manchester Super Giants this year. Again, all this faff to end up in the same place.
Luke Wood joins Southern Brave for £130,000
Luke Wood, that nippy left-armer, will share the new ball with Jofra Archer.
Josh Tongue joins Manchester Super Giants for £200,000
Josh Tongue, a standout for England during the Ashes, hasn’t played much short-form cricket. But he’s got wheels and impressed last year for Manchester Originals. Birmingham Phoenix really need to start buying some players and they’re in a bidding war with Manchester Super Giants. Phoenix pull out at £200k though and Tongue is staying at Old Trafford.
Updated
Tim Seifert, despite his pyrotechnics at the T20 World Cup, goes unsold.
Zak Crawley joins SunRisers Leeds for £180,000
Zak Crawley had a very decent time of it at Northern Superchargers last year. And he’s getting plenty of love around the tables, several teams enchanted by those straight drives. He climbs from a base price of £31k to £180km, joining SunRisers. After all that faff, he’s staying at Headingley.
Updated
Ryan Rickelton joins SunRisers Leeds for £150,000
South Africa’s batters are very much in demand. Ryan Rickelton is off to Headingley.
Finn Allen joins Trent Rockets for £160,000
Right then, here’s Finn Allen, who slapped that 33-ball ton against South Africa at the World Cup. He has the Rockets, Super Giants and Spirit all going for him … and he’s heading to Trent Bridge.
Something I failed to clock: Aiden Makram is part of the Super Giants teams in the IPL and SA20, too.
Phil Salt, Welsh Fire’s captain, is looking fairly dapper at the auction. He’s got quite a decent crew of teammates: Marco Jansen, Rachin Ravindra, Chris Woakes, Joe Root and Jordan Cox.
Welsh Fire, having spent big on Joe Root and Jordan Cox, have £487,000 left in their purse. Trent Rockets, SunRisers Leeds and Birmingham Phoenix are yet to sign a player today.
Aiden Markram joins Manchester Super Giants for £200,000
Aiden Markram, South Africa’s T20 captain, is quickly in the middle of a bidding war between Trent Rockets and Manchester Super Giants. He’ll join his compatriot Heinrich Klaasen at Old Trafford.
David Miller joins Southern Brave for £110,000
Now South Africa’s David Miller, who does get a bid for £100,000 from Trent Rockets. Southern Brave want him, too, and they get him for £110,000.
Updated
Here’s Pakistan’s Haris Rauf … his base price at £100,000. He, too, goes unsold.
Daryl Mitchell, a solid all-format operator for New Zealand, does not attract any bids. His base price was £75,000.
The domestic marquee names are done. Time for the big overseas stars.
Jonny Bairstow joins London Spirit for £160,000
The Yorkshireman could be coming home … SunRisers Leeds have the paddle up. But London Spirit, quiet so far today, put their name in the ring. And he’s off to Lord’s for £160,000.
James Vince joins MI London for £190,000
James Vince, very much on the T20 treadmill nowadays, finds love from MI London and Manchester Super Giants. Alec Stewart and Kieron Pollard, on the MI table, get their man for £190k.
Jordan Cox joins Welsh Fire for £300,000
Here’s Cox, once of the Oval Invincibles. Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix go at one another, before MI (Mumbai Indians) London and the Rockets start their battle.
SunRisers are late entrants … as are Southern Brave. The price goes to £270k and the Brave aren’t that brave, pulling out. But now come Welsh Fire. The price goes to £300k and SunRisers pull out. Cox is off to Wales with Joe Root. They’re spending big early.
Adil Rashid joins Southern Brave for £250,000
England’s masterful leggie is up next. Southern Brave and Trent Rockets are raising their paddles, and SunRisers enter the mix, too. Southern Brave take it to £250k – Rashid is off to Southampton, joining forces with Jofra Archer.
Joe Root joins Welsh Fire for £240,000
Richard Madley welcomes us to this “historic” auction. Joe Root is the first name up, his base price at £75k. Manchester Super Giants open things up and are in competition with Southern Brave. The price balloons past £100k … the two teams tap out as Welsh Fire and SunRisers Leeds start going at each other. We’re past £200k … and it’s the Fire who get him for £240k. He’s off to Cardiff, not Headingley.
Here are the “marquee” names on the Hundred auction longlist: Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, James Vince, Jordan Cox, Joe Root, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Haris Rauf and Daryl Mitchell.
I reckon Cox could be the most expensive: top run-scorer in last year’s tournament, 25 years young and one to build your team around for the next few years.
Here’s your guide for today. The key thing to note: each team has a salary cap of £2.05m. There are only 16 overseas spots still available.
Here’s Andy Bull’s great piece on the women’s auction yesterday.
Preamble
Welcome to another day of gavel-slamming, subcontinental tensions and hefty sums. Am I alone in feeling a touch icky about these auctions? Or are we all OK with watching a room of people bid for other human beings? Am I just overthinking this? Anyway, let’s get out of my head: Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Jordan Cox are some of the big domestic names up for grabs.
Among the overseas, there’s been an update overnight from the ECB: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock, Shaheen Afridi, Allah Ghazanfar and Peter Siddle (still going!) are no longer on the auction list. Of course, we’ll keep a close on eye on those Pakistan players in the mix, not just to see if they get a gig, but whether any of the Indian-owned teams place a bid on them. It’s quite grim that this is a storyline, but here we are.
