Women's Hundred to introduce player draft for fresh season

The Women's Hundred is all set to mirror the men’s competition as the system of player draft will be introduced for the forthcoming season. The Hundred announced on Friday, November 18 that up to 32 players are set to be recruited under the new system ahead of next summer's competition.

According to the new system, Welsh Fire, the side that finished bottom of the standings in the 2022 season will be given the first pick whereas two-time reigning champions Oval Invincibles will get to pick last. The 2023 draft consists of three stages that commences in December and concludes in June of next year.

English women’s team skipper Heather Knight, who represents the London Spirit was elated by the new system that will be implemented for the forthcoming season.

"It is brilliant news that the Hundred will be holding the first-ever draft in the women's game, and it'll be fascinating to see who is first pick!” said an overjoyed Heather as quoted by Cricbuzz.

"We've already talked about it as a playing group - it's really exciting and I think we've seen in the men's game that drafts really get people discussing and debating selection, so it's great that the women's competition will be part of that conversation,” she added.

The three stages of the draft

Stage one of the system will consist of the retentions where in each team will be allowed to retain as many as four from their existing squads. Stage two allows teams to use one "right to match card (RTM)" if they are willing to retain a player who had been part of the 2022 squad. In addition to this, the RTM card can be activated if they have a slot available in their squad at the same salary band.

The final stage of the new system permits teams to sign the remaining seven players in each squad from the open market. A limit of three centrally contracted England players and three overseas players will apply throughout the process ahead of the new season.