The Hundred is coming next summer and, following the Player Draft, every squad has been confirmed for English cricket’s brand-new short-form tournament. But how will each side use their 15 players? DEC takes a look at who will get a regular start.
Birmingham Phoenix
Cameron Delport, Moeen Ali, Kane Williamson, Liam Livingstone, Chris Cooke, Ravi Bopara, Chris Woakes, Shaheen Afridi, Adam Zampa, Pat Brown, Tom Helm
Reserves: Benny Howell, Adam Hose, Henry Brookes, Riki Wessels
An impressive top four at Birmingham Phoenix, although the threat of losing Moeen Ali to England will be a lingering concern. Wessels provides a terrific alternative opener as Worcestershire’s leading scorer in the 2019 Vitality Blast, although they would lose a bowling option, while Hose could fit in the middle order with Livingstone promoted to open. Howell is a straight swap for Woakes if he’s on England duty. Expect Brookes to push Helm hard for selection.
London Spirit
Joe Denly, Luis Reece, Dan Lawrence, Eoin Morgan, Mohammad Nabi, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Rossington, Kyle Abbott, Mark Wood, Mason Crane, Mohammad Amir
Reserves: Rory Burns, Roelof van der Merwe, Zak Crawley, Jade Dernbach
Is there any way Rory Burns fits into this team? He has a higher T20 strike rate than Denly, but having played five times as few matches. Only in the Kent man’s absence would Burns slot in, because he doesn’t fit in Spirit’s powerful middle order, but even then, Crawley might be preferred. Shane Warne may have happily paid more than £50,000 for Crane but he, Nabi and Maxwell balance out a strong pace attack, which still has the divisive but variation-heavy Dernbach and the power-hitting all-rounder van der Merwe on the bench.
Manchester Originals
Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Ed Pollock, Wayne Madsen, Dan Christian, Dane Vilas, Wayne Parnell, Mitchell Santner, Saqib Mahmood, Imran Tahir, Matt Parkinson
Reserves: Tom Abell, Joe Clarke, Marchant de Lange, Eddie Byrom
The top four is fluid, with Buttler, Salt and Pollock all able to take a game beyond the opposition in the Powerplay. Abell is unlucky to miss out as is Byrom — Somerset’s two fastest scoring batsmen in the Blast this year will get a chance with Buttler playing internationally. Manchester Originals should go spin-heavy with two attacking leg-spinners and Santner, who will bowl a miserly 20 balls. Clarke may struggle to dislodge Salt or Pollock, while de Lange will feature on tracks less conducive to spin.
Northern Superchargers
Aaron Finch, Adam Lyth, David Willey, Chris Lynn, Ben Stokes, David Wiese, John Simpson, Ben Foakes, Richard Gleeson, Adil Rashid, Mujeeb ur Rahman
Reserves: Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Nathan Rimmington, Brydon Carse, Ed Barnard
Adam Lyth will be dangerous early in an innings while Willey is at his best with the bat when inside the top three. Foakes’ wicket-keeping is good enough to earn him a spot as a specialist gloveman, while Simpson can be used either as a finisher or to steady the ship if early wickets fall. But he will probably lose his place to Kohler-Cadmore when the Superchargers lose Stokes’ batting, with Barnard far less proficient. Rimmington and Carse will likely rotate with Gleeson.
Oval Invincibles
Jason Roy, Rilee Rossouw, Laurie Evans, Sam Curran, Sam Billings, Fabian Allen, Tom Curran, Hardus Viljoen, Sunil Narine, Sandeep Lamichhane, Reece Topley
Reserves: Alex Blake, Will Jacks, Nathan Sowter, Chris Wood
It’s a toss-up between Allen and Blake as the finisher, with Allen’s ability as a bowler getting him the nod. Should Sam Curran — whose position in the order is extremely flexible — be away with England, Blake would slot in at five with Billings moving up. Jacks should get a chance in the middle order too. Head coach Tom Moody will hope Topley can stay fit throughout the tournament, but his injury record may give Wood chances. Expect turning tracks at The Oval with 60 balls of spin in this team, plus Sowter in reserve.
Southern Brave
David Warner, James Vince, Alex Davies, Ross Whiteley, Delray Rawlins, Andre Russell, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Shadab Khan, Tymal Mills
Reserves: Ollie Pope, George Garton, Max Waller, Craig Overton
Ollie Pope’s omission from this team is a reflection of how strong the batting is on the south coast. Southern Brave may be concerned to lack anyone to rebuild an innings and so may opt for Pope instead of Whiteley. Garton will keep the pace of the first-choice attack by replacing Archer; Overton provides cover for any injury to Garton and Mills in particular. Of players to have more English T20 wickets than Max Waller’s 113, only Tom Smith and Danny Briggs have a better strike rate than Waller’s 19.8; he will play a key role at some stage.
Trent Rockets
Alex Hales, D’Arcy Short, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Steven Mullaney, Tom Moores, Lewis Gregory, Rashid Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Matthew Carter, Harry Gurney
Reserves: Luke Wood, Ben Cox, Luke Fletcher, Luke Wright
How do Trent Rockets get Luke Wright in this side with Joe Root around? Malan’s T20 record is outstanding and he’s a potential captain while Short has been the Big Bash League’s star of the last two years. Wright slots in once Test cricket returns. The other two Lukes, Wood and Fletcher, provide a good rotation option. Moores is excellent in the middle overs and although Cox is the superior wicket-keeper, it’s hard to justify including him over Moores.
Welsh Fire
Tom Banton, Jonny Bairstow, Colin Ingram, Steve Smith, Leus du Plooy, Ryan Higgins, Simon Harmer, Liam Plunkett, Mitchell Starc, Ravi Rampaul, Danny Briggs
Reserves: Ben Duckett, Qais Ahmed, Ryan ten Doeschate, David Payne
Ben Duckett’s ability against spin will put him in contention in place of du Plooy, albeit leaving the Fire with five players who would prefer to bat in the top three. Both Duckett and du Plooy will feature should Bairstow earn a Test recall. Higgins’ prowess with the ball secures him a spot over ten Doeschate, while Payne will undoubtedly get games. A tricky decision to leave out Ahmed of the spinners, but Harmer’s the best batsman of the three and Briggs is England’s leading domestic T20 wicket-taker.