Players on the move as first batch of men’s and women’s players confirmed for The Hundred in 2021

• Ollie Pope joins Welsh Fire as the men’s retention window opens for The Hundred 
• Windies stars Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor re-sign for London Spirit and Southern Brave respectively, alongside a group of England Women’s players re-committing to The Hundred

The first 18 players confirmed to take part in The Hundred have been revealed today – with England batsman Ollie Pope one of the first players to move teams.

Pope will be heading to Cardiff to play for Welsh Fire, where he will be joined by England bowler Katie George – one of eight women’s players whose decision to roll over their 2020 contract offer has been confirmed.

Alongside Pope, the destination for the England Men’s Test Centrally Contracted players has also been announced. The first eight women’s players to have rolled over their contracts have been unveiled, including six England players and two West Indian superstars.

While many of the men’s teams have retained the same Test players that were due to play for them this year before the inaugural year of the competition was postponed due to Covid-19, two England stars – Pope and Rory Burns - are on the move. Burns will cross London to join Oval Invincibles.

This announcement marks the start of a three-month men’s retention window meaning until the end of January, the eight men’s teams will be able to retain players from their original 2020 squad for the 2021 season. A men’s draft will be held in early 2021 to select the remaining players.

London Spirit have decided to keep hold of Zak Crawley and there’s more good news for Spirit fans with Deandra Dottin re-signing for the side off the back of some impressive form against England in the recent Vitality IT20 Series.

Alongside recruiting Rory Burns, Oval Invincibles have retained two England players with Sam Curran and Fran Wilson both confirming their commitment to the men’s and women’s sides respectively.

Further south, Southern Brave keep a pair of superstars with Jofra Archer and West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor signing up, but with Pope joining Welsh Fire they’ll now have a space to fill in the men’s draft.

The two northern teams remain unchanged with Kate Cross and Jos Buttler staying at Manchester Originals, and Lauren Winfield-Hill and Ben Stokes remaining Northern Superchargers players.

England Men’s Test captain Joe Root and England Women’s leading allrounder Nat Sciver will stay at Trent Rockets, while three local heroes in Amy Jones, Dom Sibley and Chris Woakes will line up for Birmingham Phoenix.

Ollie Pope said, “I’m incredibly excited to be joining Welsh Fire. The side had a really strong squad lined up and I’m sure they’ll be working hard to retain some of the star names and further strengthen the side in the upcoming draft.

“We have all experienced a year none of us could have predicted but The Hundred promises to be a hugely exciting competition next year and I can’t wait to take part.”

Katie George added, “We were building a really strong side at Welsh Fire and I’m really pleased to re-sign with them for 2021. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the team falls into place and I’m really looking forward to getting going next summer.

“The Hundred is hugely important to the ongoing growth of the women’s game, from both a performance and profile perspective. As a player I am hugely excited to get to play with and against some of the best cricketers in the world, and I’m sure the fans will get even more excited as more names are confirmed over the next few months.”

Sanjay Patel, Managing Director for The Hundred, said, “This is a really exciting moment for The Hundred to see where the England Men’s Test Central Contract players will be playing next year and to announce the first wave of re-signed players for the women’s teams.

“Over the next few months we will see world-class players and massive names from around the world committing to The Hundred and we can’t wait to launch the competition in 2021.”

Confirmed players for The Hundred in 2021

Birmingham Phoenix – Amy Jones, Dom Sibley and Chris Woakes

London Spirit – Zak Crawley and Deandra Dottin

Manchester Originals – Jos Buttler and Kate Cross

Northern Superchargers – Ben Stokes and Lauren Winfield-Hill

Oval Invincibles – Rory Burns, Sam Curran and Fran Wilson

Southern Brave – Jofra Archer and Stafanie Taylor

Trent Rockets – Joe Root and Nat Sciver

Welsh Fire – Katie George and Ollie Pope

ENDS

Notes to Editor

HUNDRED PLAYER MOVEMENT

The Hundred will launch in 2021, an action-packed unmissable 100-ball cricket competition that will put you on the edge of your seat.

Wondering how the 120 players will be picked by the eight men's teams for 2021? Here’s how it’ll work:

HOW WERE THE HUNDRED MEN'S TEAMS SELECTED IN 2020?

Each team had a squad of 15 players. Among each 15 was one England red-ball contracted player, and 14 Drafted players. Teams were permitted a maximum of three overseas players.

HOW WILL THE HUNDRED MEN'S TEAMS BE SELECTED IN 2021?

This is a three-step process:

Stage 1: England player allocation

Stage 2: The Player Retention Window

Stage 3: The 2021 Draft

STAGE ONE:

ENGLAND MEN'S PLAYER ALLOCATION

Players from the 2020/21 England red-ball contract list fit into one of four categories:

• An England player who was centrally contracted in 2019/20 and will be again in 2020/21 can be retained by their 2020 team.

• An England contracted player in 2019/20, who is not given a contract in 2020/21 can negotiate with their 2020 team for a position in 2021. If no agreement is made, they will be released to the Draft.

• A player drafted by a team in The Hundred who was not England contracted in 2019/20, but is contracted in 2020/21 can be retained by their team for 2021. However, the team’s other England player must be released to the ‘England pot’

• A player not drafted by a team in The Hundred who was England contracted in 2019/20, but is in 2020/21 will go straight into the ‘England pot’.

England players and management are able to withdraw from team selection. In the 2021 squads, this applies to James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

As there are more than eight eligible contracted players, some teams have more than one player. No team has more than two players.

Once teams have chosen to retain or release players, any teams without an England player needed one. They then selected a player from the ‘England pot’ until all teams have one player. This was done in a draw order and resulted in Ollie Pope joining Welsh Fire.

As there are more than eight eligible contracted players, a new draw was made to select the remaining player(s). This meant that Rory Burns joined Oval Invincibles and Dom Sibley joined Birmingham Phoenix.

STAGE TWO:

THE RETENTION WINDOW

Teams start with their 2020 squad lists. From today they can negotiate to retain any or all of their players for 2021. A maximum of three overseas players are permitted.

Players can move up or down the squad list in terms of salary bracket.

NEW SALARY BANDS FOR 2021

Round 1: £100,000
Round 2: £80,000
Round 3: £60,000
Round 4: £48,000
Round 5: £40,000
Round 6: £32,000
Round 7: £24,000

Negotiations may take place during the ‘Retention Window,’ running from today (8 October 2020) through to the end of January 2021. Any player who has not agreed terms by the end of the retention window is automatically released.

Only players contracted to a team for 2020 will be able to sign contracts during the retention window.

STAGE THREE:

THE 2021 DRAFT

At the end of the retention window, The Hundred will publish the final retained player list. This will highlight slots available to teams for the 2021 Draft.

If only one player is retained in a salary band, the higher slot in that band will be left open for the Draft.

A draw for the picking order of the Draft will take place after the retention window.

Each team will have a ‘Right to Match’ option. This will apply to players contracted for 2020, but released into the 2021 Draft pool. If a new team wishes to sign that player, his 2020 team may stop this by guaranteeing him the same salary band. Each team may only do this once, and only if they have an available slot in their squad list at that salary band.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE HUNDRED DRAFT?

• Each team have the opportunity for a final ‘Wildcard’ pick
• This will be chosen before the 2021 season begins
• Wildcard player will receive the lowest salary band

HOW ARE THE WOMEN’S TEAM PICKED?

• In a two-stage process
• All players can roll-over their 2020 contracts – the eight players announced today have done this
• Any players not rolling-over their contracts are selected in an open-market system

To read the full player selection process for the women’s teams click here.