David Warner, Williamson, Mandhana among star-studded talent in Hundred draft

Ace cricketers David Warner, Kane Williamson, Meg Lanning, and Smriti Mandhana are among the overseas players up for grabs in the Hundred draft. The draft is scheduled to take place on March 20 at the Shard in London.

Birmingham Phoenix will make the first pick in the women's draft, while Northern Superchargers will kick off the men's draft proceedings.

Warner is priced at £100,000 (US$127,000), while Williamson, previously signed by Birmingham Phoenix but sidelined due to injury, is available for £75,000 (US$95,000). In the women's draft, India vice-captain Mandhana is one of four players with a top reserve price of £50,000 (US$63,500), along with Ashleigh Gardner, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma. Former Australia captain Lanning, who has withdrawn from the competition previously, is listed at £40,000 (US$50,500), along with Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland.

Notable Indian players in the women's draft include Richa Ghosh, Renuka Singh, and Shikha Pandey, among others. For the men's draft, seven players are listed in the top price band of £125,000 (US$158,500), including Sunil Narine, Nicholas Pooran, Josh Inglis, and Daryl Mitchell. Kieron Pollard, Shamar Joseph, Sikandar Raza, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Naseem Shah are all priced in the £100,000 bracket. Meanwhile, England players like Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Amy Jones, and Lauren Filer are also in the mix among the 890 names.

Also read: RCB's Mr. Nags trolls Smriti Mandhana over average in WPL 2023

Malan, who won a title with Trent Rockets in 2022, could potentially be retained by them using their Right-to-Match card. He expressed his eagerness for the competition, stating he has enjoyed playing in it over the past three years and is excited about the upcoming opportunity.

"I've really enjoyed playing in the competition across the last three years and I'm excited about getting the chance again this year. You look at the names involved, both those retained and those in list for the draft, and there's world-class talent in The Hundred across both competitions," Malan was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Also read: The Hundred 2024: Buttler, Rashid, Perry, Sciver-Brunt amongst key retentions

Chamari Athapaththu, the Sri Lankan captain, conveyed her excitement upon being included in the draft for the Hundred. She is eagerly anticipating the possibility of being selected for the first time in the competition.

"I am really excited about being in the Hundred draft. There are so many good players in this competition and I would really love to be a part of it. It has looked very fun over the last three years, with big crowds at big stadiums, and it would be very exciting to play in the Hundred this season," said Athapaththu.