The realities of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to sell equity stakes in The Hundred competition became more evident in London on March 11 and 12.
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In keeping with other franchise leagues, a player auction replaced the previous draft system of acquiring players. It was justified on the basis of needing to attract the best male and female players in the world and maintaining a competitive balance between the squads. No doubt the change is also a result of external investors, mainly Indians, pushing to bring in a system similar to that deployed in the Indian Premier League.
Almost 1,000 men and women players submitted their entries for the auction by the closing date of Feb. 16, 2026. Their submission had to state a base price, effectively a self-valuation. This carried a risk of going unsold if set too high or being stuck on a low salary for the duration of the contract, if set too low.
Two weeks prior to player registration, each of the eight franchises had submitted a shortlist of between 75 and 100 players in whom they were most interested. Cross analysis of these two lists resulted in a shortened list, ironically called a longlist, of 175 women and 247 men, to go under the gavel. This was wielded by Richard Madley, who was the auctioneer at the IPL between 2008 and 2018 and at the ILT20 auction in October 2025, when he was interviewed by Arab News.
