PCA PRESS RELEASE
The game’s first 100-ball competition moves one step closer with inaugural player draft.
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The first ever player draft in British sport has taken place on Sunday evening with 96 players selected to take place in the inaugural season of The Hundred.
With Test Centrally Contracted players and two ‘Icon Picks’ selected per team earlier in October, the brand new teams have now chosen 14 of their 15 man squads. The final selection will be a ‘Wildcard’ pick after the group stage of the 2020 Vitality Blast, therefore offering an opportunity for players to still be involved in the new concept.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan made history in being the first ever pick, chosen by Trent Rockets in the £125,000 category which also saw Liam Livingstone selected by Birmingham Phoenix.
Dane Vilas joined his Lancashire teammate in being a £125k selection and was one of 72 domestic players selected at the event held at Sky Studios.
In all, 34 out of the top 50 players in the 2019 Vitality Blast have been drafted, that is according to the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings.
The MVP formula is designed to reward match-winning performances, and recognises the importance of a genuine all-rounder. Bonus points are awarded for hitting a high proportion of your team’s runs, scoring quickly and taking top order wickets, amongst other things.
The formula therefore gives a more accurate reflection of the top performers than traditional batting or bowling averages which has been proven by the amount of selections in The Hundred.
"To see a good number of domestic players picked up at the top end of the salary bands has been particularly pleasing."
DARYL MITCHELL
Sussex are the county who have the most selections, 10 in all which does not include Jofra Archer’s selection as a Centrally Contracted player while Leicestershire did not have one player chosen amongst the 72 players who plied their trade as a local player in 2019.
Worcestershire all-rounder and PCA Chairman, Daryl Mitchell, said:
“It has been an exciting evening with some very interesting selections across all of the rounds. To see a good number of domestic players picked up at the top end of the salary bands has been particularly pleasing.
“The Hundred is an exciting concept and I am sure the Draft has gone a long way to capturing the imagination of players and supporters with every team full of high quality players.
“The opportunities that have been presented to the players selected have never been seen before in this country and with the platform of free to air TV along with the excellent coverage on Sky Sports, I await with anticipation to how this competition can capitalise on the wonderful summer of cricket we have witnessed in 2019.”
For full details on which players have been selected through The Hundred Draft, click here.
