Pakistan will be represented at this summer’s Hundred tournament after spinner Usman Tariq was signed by Birmingham Phoenix at the inaugural men’s auction.
The England and Wales Cricket Board was compelled to issue formal denials of an effective ‘shadow ban’ being employed by some of the sides who have taken Indian investment, releasing a joint statement from all eight franchises affirming players would not be excluded on nationality.
The country’s only female representatives – Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal – went unsold in the women’s auction, Shaheen Shah Afridi withdrew from the men’s sale on Wednesday evening and fellow quick Haris Rauf failed to attract an offer when he was put up for his reserve price of £100,000.
There will have been relief at the ECB that Tariq, who bowls with an unorthodox stop-start action, was sold for £140,000 after a brief tussle between the Phoenix and Trent Rockets. It is equally notable that both groups have American co-owners, with none of those affiliated to Indian backers joining the bidding.
Earlier, last year’s tournament MVP Jordan Cox landed the biggest deal among the marquee English contingent. He picked up £300,000 from Welsh Fire in the first round at London’s Piccadilly Lights. They then spent a further £240,000 on Test star Joe Root, shelling out more than half their budget on two of the first three players.
All eight franchises entered the bidding hall with just over £1million at their disposal to build their squads, with each already locking in four players apiece as direct signings, and the Cardiff-based outfit spent big in the opening minutes.
All-rounder Tom Curran netted a lavish £260,000 purse as he joined brother Sam at the Oval’s MI London, England’s leading white-ball bowler Adil Rashid collected £250,000 from Southern Brave, James Vince switched to MI London for £190,000 and Jonny Bairstow fetched £160,000 as London Spirit’s first new arrival.
Paceman Josh Tongue, whose stock rose during his impressive work on an otherwise disappointing Ashes tour, earned £200,000 from Manchester Super Giants while England Test opener Zak Crawley went for £180,000 to Sunrisers Leeds.
The latter, the rebranded successors to Northern Superchargers, had been among those not to get a deal over the line in the first set of marquee players – surprisingly allowing all three hometown favourites Root, Rashid and Bairstow to go elsewhere.
The top men’s salaries under the old draft system peaked at £200,000 last season, with England white-ball captain Harry Brook the current highest-paid player in the tournament on £465,000 via a direct pre-auction agreement with Sunrisers.
