The Hundred Draft takes between 4pm and 6pm on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Mix and via free stream on Sky Sports' digital platforms;the draft process is new for the women's competition; Welsh Fire to have first picks after sides finish bottom in 2022
Thursday 23 March 2023 15:14, UK
The Hundred Draft returns on Thursday as the men's and women's teams bolster their squads for the 2023 season.
You can watch the sides make their selections between 4pm and 6pm, live on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Mix and via a free stream on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App
A total of 64 players will be drafted on Thursday - 30 men and 34 women - and here's how it all works…
The eight sides - Welsh Fire, Southern Brave, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals and Trent Rockets - had the option to retain up to 10 players from their 2022 squads as well as their centrally-contracted England men's player.
Most teams did just that, except for Superchargers, who retained nine plus England Test captain Ben Stokes, and Fire, who have kept five plus the centrally-contracted Jonny Bairstow after a dismal 2022 in which they lost all eight of their matches.
Those departures were not all decisions made by Fire, with Ben Duckett saying he chose to leave the side in order to fight for silverware elsewhere.
The England batter told reporters at Nottinghamshire's media day: "I was really happy with how I went in a team that struggled. I hope they do turn it around.
"But for me, going three years on the bounce and potentially having another bad year this year, that's a big chunk of my career, I want to be playing for sides winning trophies."
Fire will now be the busiest side on Draft day with the Cardiff-based team adding eight players to their roster, as opposed to four for Superchargers and three each for Brave, Invincibles, Phoenix, Spirit, Originals and Rockets.
With the sides picking in reverse order from where they finished last season, Fire will be up first followed by Brave, Superchargers, Invincibles, Phoenix, Spirit, Originals and defending champions Rockets.
In early July, the men's teams will each add two more players to their squads, through the Wildcard Draft, comprised of players who have impressed in the 20-over Vitality Blast.
New for 2023 is the Women's Draft, with each of the teams expanding their squads to eight players on Thursday before the final seven spots are filled on an open-market basis.
The women's teams could retain up to four of their 2022 squads, with Welsh Fire the only one to go lower than that and keep just three.
However, Fire's squad now only has two players - Tammy Beaumont and West Indies international Hayley Matthews - with Australia's Annabel Sutherland pulling out of her deal on the eve of the Draft.
Fire's women's side, just like their men's team, finished at the foot of the table in 2022 so will select first followed by Spirit, Originals, Superchargers, Phoenix, Rockets, Brave and two-time defending champions Invincibles.
No women's team can sign more than three England-contracted players.
A new addition for 2023 across the men's and women's Drafts, 'Right to Match' enables a team to re-sign one of their 2022 players that they previously released when a rival team offers to buy them.
Teams using their 'Right to Match' must offer the same salary as the player's prospective new team. If they've already filled up all their slots at that price band, the option isn't available to them.
In the Women's Draft, England internationals Sophia Dunkley, Danni Wyatt and Kate Cross will be available, alongside a number of international players including India batter Jemimah Rodrigues and South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt.
In the Men's Draft, overseas players on the list include Pakistan batter Babar Azam, New Zealand seamer Trent Boult and hard-hitting West Indian all-rounders Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard.
Player Availability is set to be a big factor in who gets taken on, with New Zealand's clear August schedule increasing the potential value of picks such as Boult, Kane Williamson, Lockie Ferguson and Devon Conway.
Duckett, Reece Topley, David Willey, Olly Stone, Tom Banton and Matt Parkinson are among the English players on the Draft list, as well as wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who signed up at the last minute.
Rashid Khan (Trent Rockets), Ellyse Perry (Birmingham Phoenix), Jos Buttler (Manchester Originals) Nat Sciver-Brunt (Trent Rockets), Smriti Mandhana (Southern Brave) and Glenn Maxwell (London Spirit) were among the players confirmed as returning to their respective teams for The Hundred this summer.
'Deadline Day' on February 16 saw the eight teams confirm the players they wished to retain for the 2023 season in their men's and women's squads, and as such, how many spaces they'd have left to fill in the draft.
The Hundred gets under way on Thursday August 1, with a Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave double-header at Trent Bridge - the first of 68 games live on Sky Sports up to and including the final on Sunday August 27.
Tickets this year remain in line with 2022 pricing, with prices set at £5 for juniors aged 6-15, free for children five and under, and adults starting from £10.
We are currently inside a priority window for anyone who has previously bought tickets for The Hundred to do so again, with exclusive access running until March 28.
Those yet to attend can sign up in advance at thehundred.com for priority ticket access from April 5-18. Tickets will then go on general sale on Thursday April 20.
The Hundred Draft will be shown live on Sky Sports on Thursday from 4pm.
Sky Sports will show all 68 games in The Hundred live this summer.
