The Hundred Men’s Player Retentions: Stars Left Out

Australia stars Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc may miss the inaugural season of The Hundred as the duo were left off of Welsh Fire’s player retention list. Other notable names omitted from lists include South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, Aussie all-rounder Dan Christian and Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell Santner.

The Hundred is a brand new 100 ball tournament, originally scheduled to be held last summer but the Covid pandemic forced the English Cricket Board to postpone it until this year. The tournament’s main selling point is the introduction of five ball overs (usually an over consists of six balls), something which the ECB believe will make the matches more exciting for spectators and will engage a larger audience. It’s hoped this strategy will introduce a new audience to the game.

All eight teams have finalised their retentions before the remaining places are due to be filled by a draft, being held on the 23nd February.

England’s test and limited overs stars have already been retained by their franchises prior to today’s deadline. Test captain Joe Root (Trent Rockets), limited overs captain Eoin Morgan (London Spirit), along with superstars Jos Buttler (Manchester Originals), Ben Stokes (Northern Superchargers) and Jofra Archer (Southern Brave) will all feature in the competition.

Players will have until the 15th of February to put their names forward for inclusion in the draft. There is a limit of three overseas players per squad and all players who have not been retained are free to join another team.

Smith and Starc, two superstars of the international game, are not expected to put their names into the draft. International commitments and ‘bubble fatigue’ caused by Covid quarantining are cited as the main reasons. This leaves Welsh Fire with two overseas slots open after retaining Afghanistan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad.

However, there are some international superstars who have been retained including New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, all-rounders Andre Russell and Marcus Stoinis. Batsmen Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn along withspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman have also been kept. Australian duo Nathan Coulter-Nile and D’Arcy Short have retained their Trent Rockets places.

The draft promises to be exciting with more big names rumoured to be interested in participating. At this moment in time we will have to wait to see who gets selected, but with the retention lists, the tournament is shaping up to be an exciting one.