The Hundred 2025: Assessing each complete squad as James Anderson earns Wildcard selection

England legend James Anderson will feature in franchise cricket for the first time after the 42-year-old was selected by the Manchester Originals as one of their two picks in last week’s wildcard draft.

Anderson’s Lancashire teammate Rocky Flintoff was a somewhat surprise pick-up by Northern Superchargers, who are coached by his father Andrew, despite the 17-year-old having yet to play a professional T20 game.

Elsewhere, Northamptonshire’s Ben Sanderson was rewarded for his excellent T20 Blast campaign with a deal at Trent Rockets, whilst young talents Toby Albert (Southern Brave) and Ben Kellaway (Welsh Fire) were selected to represent their home franchises.

With the squads now complete ahead of the fifth edition of the competition which gets underway with a London Derby on August 5, we take a look at how each team is shaping up.

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Birmingham Phoenix

Wildcards: Louie Kimber (Leicestershire) and Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)

Overseas: Trent Boult, Adam Milne and Tim Southee (all New Zealand)

The Phoenix have a very strong domestic batting core, including the likes of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, which meant there was little to urgently address in the draft.

A wicketkeeper was the priority with England’s Jamie Smith moving on, though Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke represents as good a domestic replacement as was available, whilst the batting lineup is also boosted by the return of opener Will Smeed who missed the 2024 competition through injury.

Moeen Ali’s decision to retire from English domestic cricket ahead of the tournament was a blow, though their batting depth remains sufficient with the T20 Blast top six-hitter Aneurin Donald, whilst the wildcard selections of Louie Kimber and Liam Patterson-White provide both middle order firepower and additional spin bowling options to cover the void.

Trent Boult’s arrival as their marquee signing, fresh from winning Major League Cricket with MI New York, is a real coup for both the Phoenix and the competition as a whole, joining Adam Milne and Tim Southee in an all-Kiwi pace trio full of quality and experience.

With right and left-hand combinations throughout, as well as a flurry of spin bowling all-rounders, Birmingham also possess versatile seam options with Tom Helm’s death bowling skills and Benny Howell’s canny medium pace, meaning there are no obvious weaknesses in any department and they should expect to be in contention for a maiden title under new captain Liam Livingstone.

Possible XI: Smeed, Duckett, Clarke, Bethell, Livingstone, Mousley, Howell, Patterson-White, Milne, Southee, Boult (Donald, McCann, Kimber, Helm, C. Wood).

London Spirit

Wildcards: Sean Dickson (Somerset) and Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)

Overseas: Ashton Turner, David Warner (both Australia) and Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

London Spirit once again found themselves having a reset at the draft after finishing bottom of the table in 2024.

With that comes a new high-profile pairing at the top of the order in David Warner and Kane Williamson, whilst the addition of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith as their Centrally Contracted player looks a smart one.

With the first pick in March’s player draft, they opted for big-hitting all-rounder Jamie Overton as a much needed finisher with the bat and also secured a steal with left-arm swing bowler Luke Wood in the £63,000 price band, providing a strong England international core alongside spinner Liam Dawson.

In an otherwise vastly experienced squad, Yorkshire’s Jafer Chohan is an exciting leg-spin prospect to keep an eye on and is set for his debut in the Hundred after previously being an unused wildcard at Southern Brave.

There are some concerns around their ability to score quickly in their middle order, though the somewhat underrated pick of Sean Dickson as a wildcard could help address that, with the Somerset man striking at 156 in the T20 Blast, whilst all-rounder Ryan Higgins has been called upon again to offer some variation to a heavy pace-on seam attack.

Possible XI: Williamson, Warner, Jennings, Smith, Pope, Turner, J.Overton, Dawson, L.Wood, Gleeson, Worrall (Madsen, Dickson, Higgins, Stone, Chohan).

Manchester Originals

Wildcards: James Anderson (Lancashire) and Marchant de Lange (Gloucestershire)

Overseas: Heinrich Klaasen (South Africa), Noor Ahmed (Afghanistan) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)

The Originals had a disappointing 2024 campaign with just the solitary victory but the addition of local hero James Anderson and an X-factor overseas lineup may inspire a change of fortunes reminiscent of their back-to-back final appearances in 2022 and 2023.

The joint-least potent attack of the last campaign has a fresh injection with 42-year-old Anderson who has taken 17 wickets in nine T20 Blast games for Lancashire at an economy of just 7.57, as well as Afghanistan wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad who claimed 24 wickets in the IPL earlier in the year and should be well-suited to conditions at Old Trafford.

England Test bowler Josh Tongue did not feature last year but will be available, alongside Hampshire duo of Scott Currie and Sonny Baker who have 30 wickets between them in the T20 Blast, with the signing of George Garton also providing a useful left-arm option up front.

In terms of the top order, none look more destructive than Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Heinrich Klaasen and Rachin Ravindra, not to discount young local wicketkeeper Matthew Hurst who equalled Lancashire’s fastest T20 half-century last month.

Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory, a previous winning-captain of the Hundred with Trent Rockets in 2022, represents a very smart signing to replace Jamie Overton with both bat and ball, though they remain a little light in middle order depth, with the wildcard selection of Marchant de Lange perhaps could have been put to better use.

Ravindra is set to miss the first half of the competition on international duty which may present the opportunity to 20-year-old batter Ben McKinney, who was a surprise pick at £78,500 and has only featured three times for Durham in the T20 Blast.

Noor is also set to be unavailable for the latter stages which will put a lot of emphasis on Tom Hartley as the only other recognised spinner in the squad.

Possible XI: Salt, Ravindra, Buttler, Klaasen, Hurst, Gregory, Garton, Hartley, Currie, Noor, Anderson (McKinney, Aspinwall, de Lange, Tongue, Baker).

Northern Superchargers

Wildcards: Rocky Flintoff (Lancashire) and James Fuller (Hampshire)

Overseas: Ben Dwarshuis (Australia), David Miller (South Africa) and Mitchell Santner (New Zealand)

Northern Superchargers had their best campaign to date last season, with five wins and only missing out on a place in the knockout stages on net run rate.

They will be without star batter Nicholas Pooran this time around, who top-scored with 227 runs and a competition-high 19 sixes, as well as Ben Stokes who is sitting out the tournament to prioritise his fitness ahead of the Ashes, having injured his hamstring playing against Manchester Originals in 2024.

In South Africa’s David Miller though, they have acquired one of the most like-for-like replacements around, who will also have full availability after not being selected for South Africa’s white-ball tour of Australia.

Their struggles at the top were addressed in the draft with a plethora of established names such as Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence and Dawid Malan, in addition to Essex wicketkeeper Michael Pepper at a very shrewd price of £52,000.

Rocky Flintoff was an unexpected call-up, particularly over the likes of Will Luxton or James Wharton who have been performing well for Yorkshire, though the England Lions batter will no doubt benefit from the experience even if game time is limited.

Spin duo Adil Rashid and Mitchell Santner will do a good job at containing the opposition, though as with Ravindra for the Originals, Santner will be unavailable for a period at the start of the competition for New Zealand’s two-match Test series in Zimbabwe.

Durham pair Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts provide strong seam options, along with Ben Dwarshuis – not one of the most high-profile overseas names but has averaged 45 with the bat and taken 18 wickets for Worcestershire in the recent T20 Blast – though the depth of their bowling attack may be a concern with Pat Brown and James Fuller both proving expensive during the T20 Blast campaign, whilst Tom Lawes did not feature for Surrey.

Possible XI: Crawley, Malan, Pepper, Lawrence, Brook, Miller, Carse, Dwarshuis, Santner, Potts, Rashid (G. Clark, Flintoff, Fuller, Lawes, Brown).

Oval Invincibles

Wildcards: Zafer Gohar (Middlesex) and George Scrimshaw (Northamptonshire)

Overseas: Jason Behrendorff (Australia), Donovan Ferreira (South Africa) and Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

The reigning champions have unsurprisingly a familiar makeup to the side that has won the title in the past two seasons, though the box-office overseas signing of Rashid Khan from the Trent Rockets will only make them even stronger, despite replacing fellow leg-spinner Adam Zampa who ended the 2024 competition as the leading wicket-taker.

However, the Afghanistan superstar is expected to be included in the national team squad towards the end of August which will affect his availability later on.

Experienced left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff was a slightly uninspiring overseas pick in the draft ahead of a widely expected opening batter to partner Will Jacks, though captain Sam Billings may have urged those in charge to show faith in his Kent teammate Tawanda Muyeye who scored more runs than any other domestic player in the T20 Blast group stage.

Jordan Cox, who recently belted an unbeaten 139 off just 60 balls for Essex against Hampshire, will once again be hoping to push his England case, whilst the Invincibles will have Gus Atkinson available subject to England management after he missed most of 2024 due to Test commitments.

George Scrimshaw was an anticipated wildcard selection with his extra pace and bounce, taking 23 wickets in the T20 Blast group stage but can be expensive, whilst domestically-qualified Middlesex spinner Zafar Gohar provides sufficient depth, even if his T20 numbers in recent years do not particularly stand out.

Possible XI: Jacks, Muyeye, Cox, S.Curran, Billings, Ferreira, T.Curran, Rashid Khan, Atkinson, Mahmood, Sowter (Hammond, J. Clark, Gohar, Scrimshaw, Behrendorff).

Southern Brave

Wildcards: Toby Albert (Hampshire) and Hilton Cartwright (Australia – Overseas)

Overseas: Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell (both New Zealand) and Hilton Cartwright (Australia)

The 2024 runners-up were already forced into a change ahead of the wildcard draft, with Jason Roy replacing the injured Faf du Plessis, meaning they still had an overseas slot to fill with their wildcard pick.

They opted for Hilton Cartwright who was at Hampshire for the second half of the T20 Blast, with the Australian providing much needed firepower in a middle order which is without Kieron Pollard this time around, however there is a feeling they may still be a high quality batter short.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Toby Albert provides an exciting asset at the top order after a coming of age T20 Blast campaign with 472 runs at an average of 47.20 and an injury doubt to Finn Allen may result in the local lad getting the opportunity to showcase his talent further.

James Vince will be expected to do the bulk of the run-scoring again after a remarkable 2024 campaign in which he scored 155 runs more than any other batter, though Sussex’s James Coles has been an impressive performer in county cricket recently and the signing of Warwickshire-bound Jordan Thompson offers a big-hitting option in the lower order if they can find room for him in the team.

Much will rely on their high quality pace attack, spearheaded by Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan, with Reece Topley another international calibre bowler added to their ranks this season.

After releasing Rehan Ahmed, New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell has a key role as the frontline spinner and finisher with the bat, though the Brave do look short in this department with their preference for pace.

Possible XI: Allen, Vince, Roy, Du Plooy, Evans, Coles, Bracewell, C.Overton, Jordan, Archer, Mills (Albert, Cartwright, Thompson, Topley, Briggs).

Trent Rockets

Wildcards: Callum Parkinson (Durham) and Ben Sanderson (Northamptonshire)

Overseas: Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), George Linde (South Africa) and Marcus Stoinis (Australia)

A number of fresh faces at Trent Bridge after failing to finish in the top three for the past two seasons as Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and New Zealand speedster Lockie Ferguson were signed up, as was the experienced David Willey who replaces Lewis Gregory as captain.

There is a useful flexibility to their batting order, with Stoinis, Willey and Rehan Ahmed – arguably the bargain of the draft at £52,000 – all important bowling options that can also bat anywhere in the top or middle order.

They have also been boosted by the news that Stoinis is set to be available for the whole competition, with confirmation due shortly that he will skip Australia’s white ball series against South Africa.

It remains to be seen who will open with Tom Banton, with Joe Root a strong possibility after successfully performing in that role during the SA20 in January. Max Holden and Adam Hose were acquired in the draft to add more depth, whilst they retained Sam Hain who has a sensational record at Trent Bridge but has so far yet to make a real impact in the Hundred.

South Africa’s George Linde is the latest in a line of overseas spinners signed by the Rockets who can also offer something with the bat to replace Rashid Khan, though he may miss the first 3-4 games which has been covered by the smart wildcard signing of the ever-reliable Callum Parkinson.

In the pace department, there has been a late change with Nottinghamshire’s’ Dillon Pennington called up to replace the injured John Turner.

With a number of new ball options, the wildcard pick of Ben Sanderson after a prolific T20 Blast season for Northamptonshire offers both experience and a knack for bowling well during the death overs.

Possible XI: Banton, Root, Holden, Hain, Willey, Stoinis, Hose, Ahmed, Linde, Ferguson, Cook (Alsop, Harrison, Parkinson, Sanderson, Pennington).

Welsh Fire

Wildcards: Ben Kellaway (Glamorgan) and Ajeet Singh-Dale (Gloucestershire)

Overseas: Chris Green, Riley Meredith and Steve Smith (all Australia)

A competitive 2023 aside, the Welsh Fire have struggled to get it right and once again had a bit of a clear out ahead of the main draft.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore was their highest run-scorer in 2024 but only averaged 23, so it is hoped the arrival of Steve Smith – who was in line to play at Sophia Gardens during the inaugural edition – will provide a consistent platform at the top of the order.

Smith is one of three Australians, joined by spinner Chris Green and pace bowler Riley Meredith who have both been impressive during their stints for Lancashire and Somerset respectively, the latter ending the T20 Blast group stage as the leading wicket-taker with 27 scalps.

In a rebuild of their bowling attack, Chris Woakes, who has only ever made three appearances in the Hundred, made the move to the Welsh capital as their Centrally Contracted player, though the Fire did use their highest remaining salary band to secure the return of left-armer David Payne.

Paul Walter and Saif Zaib represent two very handy additions in the middle order, with Walter’s bowling style likely to suit the wide dimensions at Cardiff, whilst Zaib has been one of the most in-form batters in the country.

Local boy Ben Kellaway was a notable selection in the wildcard draft after a breakthrough season for Glamorgan with his boundary-hitting and ambidextrous bowling ability making him a particularly attractive proposition for the long-term future, though no doubt he will be able to make an immediate impact if required.

Gloucestershire quick Ajeet Singh Dale is also another useful pick-up as an alternate seam option with England Lions experience and a solid recent Blast campaign with 12 wickets, if not slightly on the expensive side.

Possible XI: Bairstow, Smith, Wells, Kohler-Cadmore, Abell, Zaib, Walter, Green, Woakes, Meredith, Payne (Eskinazi, Kellaway, Singh-Dale, Hull, Crane).

By Dom Harris