The Hundred 2023 draft preview: what is it, how many spaces are left and who might get picked up for the first time

The draft for the 2023 men's Hundred season is set to take place tomorrow, on March 23rd 2023. The draft is a system used for many sports around the world, particularly in basketball. Other t20 tournaments use auctions such as the Indian Premier League and the SA20, while competitions like the Hundred use a draft. This will not be a full draft like the one used to decide all the squads for the Hundred's inaugural season, with just 30 places available.

What is the Hundred draft?

The Hundred draft sees a large number of players, both domestic and overseas, presented to the eight franchises to peruse and decide upon. 

In this instance, there are 30 spaces to be filled across the eight teams' respective rosters; 20 spaces are for domestic players while ten will be filled by overseas talents. There are also 'salary bands', ranging from £125,000 to £30,000.

Most of these have already been filled after franchises were allowed to retain up to ten of their respective 2022 squads.

Welsh Fire, who finished rock bottom last year, only retained five players and will be by far the busiest of the eight franchises. In fact, the only other franchise to not take up the option of retaining ten players was the Northern Superchargers, who retained nine.Embed from Getty Images

What is the 'Right-to-Match' card for the Hundred draft?

Teams will be allowed one 'Right-to-Match' (RTM) on a player that they have chosen not to retain from the 2022 season. This can be used when an opposing team choose one such player to join their squad, the catch being the player's original team must be prepared to pay what the potential new franchise are proposing. Furthermore, if the team has already used up the salary band slots for the price of the proposed player, then they will be unable to obtain him.

So, for example, if the Welsh Fire chose David Willey for a £125,000 slot, then Willey's previous team (Northern Superchargers) would be unable to use their RTM because their two £125,000 slots are already taken (Adil Rashid and Harry Brook). Conversely, if the Southern Brave fancied slotting Tom Kohler-Cadmore into their remaining £75,000 slot it would mean the Trent Rockets, Kohler-Cadmore's 2022 team, would have to offer the batter the top £125,000 slot, should it still be available in that scenario, or end up losing out.

Embed from Getty Images

There are likely to be deals that have already been unofficially agreed as well. Tom Abell, part of the Birmingham Phoenix in 2022, is supposedly being lined up to captain what will be a new-look Welsh Fire under new coach Mike Hussey. Ben Duckett is seemingly set to go the other way, with all signs pointing towards the England international joining the Phoenix. 

It will be fascinating to see what happens with Willey, too, given that the Superchargers still had one slot remaining and chose not to retain him. He has, though, since moved from Yorkshire back to Northamptonshire which could have played a part. Other intriguing big names to not have been retained include Kohler-Cadmore (Trent Rockets), Olly Stone (Birmingham Phoenix) , Tom Banton (Welsh Fire) and Matt Parkinson (Manchester Originals); all those players' previous sides have RTMs available for them.

Five domestic players who could be picked up for the first time in the 2023 Hundred draft

Stephen Eskinazi

The Middlesex batter has enjoyed some fantastic form in the last year or so, having piled on the runs in white ball cricket for the Lord's-based side in the 2022 season, as well as England Lions. On the back of that, Eskinazi enjoyed a fairly successful stint in the Big Bash League over the English winner, playing a part in yet another title for the Perth Scorchers. Such form and recent prowess is likely to put him firmly in the mind of a number of franchises.

Embed from Getty Images

Ben Green

Green has shown a number of flashes of his considerable talent for Somerset in recent seasons and led the side in the Royal London One Day Cup, the domestic 50-over tournament that was played alongside the Hundred last year. He made a stunning 157 in a losing effort in that competition against Durham and has often contributed with important runs lower down the order in the t20 Blast. He also offers a good medium pace option with the ball.

Ali Orr

An exciting 21-year-old left-handed batter, Orr has played a number of eye-catching innings for Sussex. His outings for his county have primarily been in first-class cricket, where he has passed fifty 11 times in 37 innings, converting four of those occasions into hundreds. He has played just eight t20 matches so far so may perhaps be considered too raw and inexperienced for the 2023 Hundred, but he has shown strong potential with a current strike rate of 161.2.

Bas de Leede

A young Dutch international, de Leede has impressed significantly for the Netherlands in 54 white ball international appearances. He is a genuine all-rounder who is able to bat at the top of the order and bowl at a good pace. He will go into the draft as a domestic option having signed a contract with Durham for the upcoming season.Embed from Getty Images

Archie Lenham

Like his Sussex teammate Orr, 18-year-old Lenham may be considered too inexperienced for this particular Hundred draft but he could certainly be worth a punt on one of the lower salary bands. Given how effective leg-spinners can be in t20 cricket, there could be one or two eyes cast on the bowler who already has 20 t20 appearances behind him with a very respectable economy of 8.00.

Five overseas players who could be picked up for the first time in the 2023 Hundred draft

Shakib Al-Hasan

Inarguably one of the best all-rounders of the last decade worldwide, Shakib presents a true world-class option to any franchise. His availability is also likely to be a positive for any side and he will be on the minds after he lead Bangladesh to a 3-0 T20I series whitewash over England last week. His batting quality and miserly slow left-arm bowling style will offer something rare in terms of a top quality profile.

Lockie Ferguson

Raw pace is always on show when Ferguson is in a lineup, with the New Zealand international providing a premium when it comes to a select few in world cricket able to consistently clock over 90mph. His aggressive bowling style will no doubt appeal to many franchises looking for a genuine strike bowler.

Embed from Getty Images

Dasun Shanaka

Sri Lanka's limited overs captain, Shanaka has started to truly deliver on his initial promise when he debuted with the national team back in 2015. He has played some sensational innings in the last year or so and has so often provided incredible impetus at the back end of an innings, whether it is to boost a first innings total or propel his side towards an unlikely victory. He also provides leadership experience and a steely confidence with the ball.

Matthew Short

Unlikely to be involved with the Australian national team and on the back of a sensational Big Bash League campaign, where he narrowly missed out on being the top runscorer with 458 runs in 14 innings, Short could be an outsider for one of the ten overseas slots.Embed from Getty Images

Since the conclusion of the 2022/23 BBL season, where Short unfortunately finished with back-to-back ducks, the 27-year-old has continued his rich vein of form. In nine innings in both 50-over and first-class cricket with Victoria, he has scored three hundreds and three fifties. He also has regularly opened the bowling for the Adelaide Strikers with his off-spin and has a career t20 economy rate of 7.31.

Ihsanullah Khan

Like Lenham, Ihsanullah would be somewhat of a leftfield pick given his lack of experience. He is, however, coming off the back of an incredible breakthrough season in the PSL. During the recently-concluded PSL campaign, he racked up 22 wickets in 12 matches and bowled with incredible pace. While franchises looking for such a profile will likely end up going with someone like Ferguson given the considerable edge in experience, it would be exciting to see such a raw talent like Ihsanullah in the Hundred.