PCA members picked up in Hundred draft

Further draft picks for the postponed first edition of the Hundred were unveiled on Tuesday, with 35 male players drafted whilst 16 selections for the women’s Hundred were also revealed.

Nicholas Pooran, who enjoyed a brief stint with Yorkshire in 2019, was the first name to be selected in the men’s draft after being picked by Manchester Originals, whilst Kieron Pollard (Welsh Fire), David Warner (Southern Brave), Kagiso Rabada (Originals) and Tom Abell (Birmingham Phoenix) completed the first five in that order.

Abell, 26, was the first English player to be picked in this year’s draft, and will be looking to build on a strong 2020 season which saw him finish 18th in the PCA Overall Most Valuable Player Rankings with 163.5 MVP points.

Harry Gurney, known for his death bowling ability in the shortest format, was the sixth pick of the day, also for Originals, whilst veteran Ravi Bopara was eighth and the first to be chosen by Lord’s-based London Spirit.

Both Jamie Overton and Ian Cockbain have been rewarded for their excellent 2020 seasons, when Overton finished 12th in the Overall MVP (175 MVP points) and Cockbain finished second in the Vitality Blast MVP with 119 points after inspiring Gloucestershire to a Finals Day appearance at Edgbaston.

Overton was the eleventh pick of the day, also for Originals, who were the busiest team with ten total picks, whilst Cockbain was the 13th player to be picked up and the fourth by his local team Fire.

Other notable picks who performed well in last year’s Vitality Blast include Daniel Bell-Drummond (fourth in the 2020 Blast MVP, picked up by Phoenix), Colin Ackermann (sixth, Originals), Jake Ball (21st, Fire) and Timm van der Gugten (42nd, Trent Rockets).

The eight men’s Hundred teams have now filled all but one place in their squads – they each have one Vitality Wildcard pick each to fill the final slot in June.

Though there was no draft event, a further 16 players have been selected for the women’s Hundred, headlined by the number one-ranked IT20 spinner in the world Sophie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone will be hoping to bowl the first ball of the brand-new tournament after she was picked up by her home team – the Originals are set to take on Oval Invincibles at the Kia Oval on Wednesday 21 July.

Other international players to be picked up include Georgia Elwiss (Phoenix), Tammy Beaumont (Spirit) and the 2020 NatWest PCA Women’s Player of the Year Sarah Glenn (Rockets). Glenn was the last winner of the England Women IT20 MVP after earning 45 MVP points during England’s 5-0 whitewash of the West Indies last summer.

Alice Davidson-Richards (Northern Superchargers), Sophia Dunkley (Southern Brave) and Bryony Smith) were the only players without central England contracts to be picked up on Monday. The trio finished 69th, 45th and 75th in last summer’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint MVP respectively.

Full list of players drafted for men’s Hundred (number denotes order in which players were selected):

Full list of players selected for women’s Hundred:

View the PCA MVP Rankings.