London Spirit have added Australia batter Mitchell Marsh and England quick Olly Stone to their men’s squad ahead of this summer’s Hundred, while Oval Invincibles selected South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen, but high-profile overseas players were largely snubbed during Thursday’s Draft.
The likes of Babar Azam, Trent Boult, Mohammad Rizwan and Shakib Al Hasan all went unselected as teams placed an emphasis on leading domestic talent and player availability ahead of star power, with the third edition of the competition due to overlap with several bilateral international series this summer.
Marsh’s availability for Spirit will depend upon the scheduling of Australia’s white-ball tour to South Africa, which is yet to be finalised.
As well as Klaasen, who excelled in the winter’s SA20 and for the Proteas in their recent ODI series victory over England, Invincibles have added exciting Pakistan quick Ihsanullah, the 20-year-old having been named player of the tournament at the PSL earlier this month.
Last year’s bottom-ranked side Welsh Fire have also looked to Pakistan for pace, making Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf key components of their sizeable rebuild, having chosen to retain just five of a possible 11 players ahead of the Draft.
The Fire used their top £125,000 selection to sign Tom Abell, who is expected to captain, and later added England seamer David Willey for £100,000, after their initial move for Tim David with the No1 pick was thwarted by Southern Brave as they exercised their Right To Match to re-sign the Australian hitter. Middlesex batter Stevie Eskinazi is also heading to Cardiff after being rewarded for his fine white-ball form over a prolonged period with a belated first Hundred gig.
England Test opener Ben Duckett was one of those to have left the Fire and got his wish in joining the likes of Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Will Smeed at Birmingham Phoenix on a £125,000 deal. Laurie Evans, who was this week cleared to return to action after having a provisional doping suspension lifted, was immediately picked up for £100,000 by Manchester Originals.
Beyond the top salary brackets, New Zealand players proved popular, as expected, the Black Caps benefitting a clear international window during August and then facing England in an ODI series immediately after the Hundred. Glenn Phillips (Fire), Devon Conway (Brave) and Michael Bracewell (Northern Superchargers) all landed deals in the £60,000 bracket.
The Fire also had the first pick in the women’s Draft, being staged for the first time, but were denied each of their first two selections as first Phoenix and then Brave used RTM cards on New Zealand batter Sophie Devine and England’s Danni Wyatt. The Fire eventually took Wyatt’s England opening partner Sophia Dunkley, who had also previously been at the Brave, with their first pick and used their hefty draft capital to add South African quick Shabnim Ismail and England’s Freya Davies.
The Spirit, who finished second-bottom in last year’s tournament, moved quickly to nab Australian all-rounder Grace Harris and England spinner Sarah Glenn, while defending champions Oval have managed to reassemble the bulk of last year’s side after re-signing former captain Dane van Niekerk, batter Susie Bates and spinner Mady Villiers, though Ismail’s move to Wales is a blow.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was the top selection for Trent Rockets, while in-form South African batter Laura Wolvaardt and England seamer Kate Cross effectively swapped places, taken in the top £31,250 salary bracket by the Originals and Superchargers, respectively.
Each women’s team still has seven places to fill in their squad, with negotiations now due to take place in an open market, while the men’s squads will be completed with two wildcard selections following the first stage of the summer’s Vitality Blast.
