Babar Azam, Wolvaardt, Rodrigues, Afridi and Kaur up for grabs in The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage

• Host of international and England players available for teams to sign in The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage
  
• Women’s competition holds The Hundred Draft for the first time
• The Hundred Draft to be televised live on Sky Sports on Thursday March 23
• For more information and to sign up for priority ticket access visit thehundred.com  

Babar Azam, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shaheen Afridi and Harmanpreet Kaur will all be available for teams to sign in The Hundred Draft, Powered by Sage, which will be televised live on Sky Sports on Thursday March 23.

They are some of the standout names among a list of 881 players from 28 countries up for grabs ahead of the third year of the competition. The women’s competition is to stage a draft for the first time.

Up to Deadline Day, 113 players were retained in total across the men’s and women’s competition, which means The Hundred Draft and the open market process in the women’s competition will see a further 135 spots filled.

Among the other big names hoping to earn a slot in this year’s competition include:

England stars Ben Duckett, Danni Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Sarah Glenn, Reece Topley and Kate Cross.

Pakistan’s Muhammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf and Diana Baig, India’s Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey, Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, West Indies' Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell, and Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.

New Zealand's Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, Kane Williamson and Trent Boult, Australians Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Grace Harris and Amanda-Jade Wellington, South Africa's Anrich Nortje, Dane van Niekerk and Shabnim Ismail.

Trent Bridge will host the competition opener on Tuesday 1 August, with a double-header between Trent Rockets v Southern Brave – the first of 68 games across the third year of The Hundred that promise high-octane men’s and women’s sporting action, live music, and a host of family-friendly entertainment. 

More than half a million people attended games during The Hundred’s second year in 2022, including a record-breaking 271,000 watching live women’s fixtures across the competition and more families buying tickets than in 2021.

There will be an initial, exclusive window to buy tickets from 15-28 March for anyone who has previously bought tickets for The Hundred. Those yet to attend can sign up in advance at thehundred.com for priority ticket access from 5–18 April. Tickets will then go on general sale on Thursday 20 April. Tickets this year remain great value in line with 2022 pricing, with prices set at £5 for juniors aged 6-15, free for children five and under, and adults starting from £10.   

ICC Men's T20 World Cup winner David Willey said: "It's always exciting when you watch a draft and you wait to see where you're heading to play. The Hundred has been a lot of fun to play in across the last two seasons. We've had great crowds and they've made for some really good atmospheres. There's a lot of world class talent going into the draft and I'm looking forward to finding out where I'll be playing in the summer."

Laura Wolvaardt, top run-scorer in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, said: “It’s really great that the women’s competition is hosting The Hundred Draft for the first time this season. It goes to show the continued progression of the women’s game and you only need to look across the names already retained to see it’s a world class competition. I’m really excited for the day itself and finding out where I’ll be playing next season. It’s a great competition, with big crowds, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to get out there this summer.”

Over 14.1 million people tuned in to watch The Hundred action in 2022 and games will again be broadcast live on Sky Sports and BBC broadcast and digital channels throughout the competition.  

To stay up to date with the latest news, buy tickets or to sign up for priority access, visit thehundred.com or follow The Hundred, and the eight teams, on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

About The Hundred: 

The Hundred is an action-packed, unmissable cricket competition that fuses world-class cricket with blockbuster entertainment. 

Combining a short, fast format of cricket, with each game lasting less than three hours, and incredible entertainment beyond the sport, The Hundred is making cricket more accessible and reaching a broader audience. It’s simple: 100 balls per team, most runs wins, so every ball counts.  

The Hundred features eight teams from seven cities, with men’s and women’s competitions taking place side by side:  Welsh Fire (Cardiff), Southern Brave (Southampton), Northern Superchargers (Leeds), London Spirit, Trent Rockets (Nottingham), Oval Invincibles (London), Manchester Originals and Birmingham Phoenix. Each teams features some of the best international and domestic cricketers from around the world, including England Men’s & Women’s World Cup winners. 

Highlight statistics from The Hundred 2022: 

• More than 500,000 people attended games across the course of the competition 
• The Hundred continued to take cricket to new audiences with more women (28%), children (22%) and families (41%) attending than in the first year 
• 2022 once again set a new global record for total attendance at a women’s cricket competition, with 271,000 people attending  
• All eight venues broke their previous best for domestic women’s attendances  
• Of the Sky and BBC TV coverage, 42% hadn’t watched any other ECB cricket in 2022 prior to The Hundred, resulting in 5.9m new viewers 
• Women (31%) and children (14%) made up a significant share of the TV audience  

About The Hundred Draft powered by Sage:

For more information about The Hundred Draft powered by Sage, follow this link.

About The Hundred fixtures:

For all fixtures in The Hundred, follow this link.

To download a full list of men's and women's players in The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage, follow this link.