The Men’s Hundred 2026: All you need to know ahead of the inaugural auction

History will be made in London across March 11 and 12, as a new dawn for the Hundred edges closer with the first major player auction held in UK sport.

After five editions of the controversial franchise dive into the heart of the English domestic summer, all eight host counties have sold ownership stakes to private investors – four of which have now been taken over, in part or full, by Indian Premier League owners and the other four backed by American investment.

The subsequent rebranding of three franchises are not the only changes, with the competition switching from a draft system to an IPL-style auction selection model which will see over 400 players across the men’s and women’s game up for grabs as teams shape their squads ahead of the 2026 season.

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How does the auction work?

A draft method has previously been conducted whereby teams took it in turns to select an eligible player into a pre-determined salary band, whereas the auction will see players go under the hammer to the highest bidder – each men’s franchise has a remaining pot of £1.1 million to build their roster.

710 registered men’s players have been narrowed down to a designated longlist of 247 after each franchise was required to put forward up to 100 players they would be most interested in purchasing.

The auction itself has been divided into three phases – the first is the ‘hero’ category, which contains 50 of the biggest names earmarked as potential key signings, divided into sets based on their role.

The second phase is the ‘ranked’ category, a selection of the most popular picks submitted by the franchises from the longlist, which may also include any unsold hero players.

‘Nominated’ players

The third and final phase involves the ‘nominated’ players after a random draw to determine the order in which teams hand-pick any of the remaining names – this player will then be auctioned as usual, but if no bids are received, they will automatically join the team who made the initial selection.

Whereas teams could previously retain up to 10 members, the reset has each franchise starting fresh with just four pre-auction retentions or direct signings, which means a challenge is posed to rebuild, in some cases, well-constructed and settled squads.

Between 80-96 men’s players will be sold on Thursday, 16 of which will be overseas players – each franchise has now been permitted an extra fourth overseas slot.

As per in past years, any players that go unsold will still have a second chance with the Vitality Wildcard, which grants two further picks per team closer to the start of the competition.

Who has already been signed?

12 of England’s T20 World Cup semi-finalists have been locked in as an early pick ahead of the auction, as well as a number of leading white-ball internationals.

Harry Brook (Sunrisers Leeds), Jacob Bethell (Birmingham Phoenix), and Jofra Archer (Southern Brave) are among those to have been retained by their respective franchises, whilst Sam Curran and Will Jacks both remain at their home ground with the newly-branded defending champions MI London.

Elsewhere, Welsh-born Phil Salt has switched Manchester for Cardiff in a big-money move, Liam Livingstone will now call Lord’s home throughout August, where spinner Liam Dawson and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith have both departed to join Manchester Super Giants and Southern Brave, respectively.

The usual franchise suspects, such as Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan (both MI London) and Tim David (Trent Rockets) have already been announced.

Meanwhile, Australia T20I captain Mitch Marsh (Sunrisers Leeds), superstar batter Dewald Brevis (London Spirit) and leading all-rounder Marco Jansen (Welsh Fire) are set to play in the Hundred for the first time.

Who are the leading domestic players available?

There are a number of high-profile domestic names up for grabs early on in the auction, headlined by England batting legend Joe Root and leading white-ball wicket-taker Adil Rashid after the pair were released by Trent Rockets and Sunrisers Leeds (previously Northern Superchargers), respectively.

2025 MVP Jordan Cox has also been designated a ‘marquee’ player and has been widely tipped to land the largest bid at the auction, whilst Sussex all-rounder and England prospect James Coles is also expected to trigger a serious bidding war to secure the services of the highly talented 21-year-old following an impressive winter on the franchise circuit in the SA20 and recently with the Lions in the UAE.

England Test bowlers Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson are among a raft of domestic quicks available in phase one, as well as typically sought-after left-arm swing bowlers Luke Wood and David Payne.

Former England internationals Jonny Bairstow, James Vince, David Willey and Chris Jordan all represent strong, experienced options, as does three-time Hundred-winning captain Sam Billings, who may now find a new home after a strong association with the Oval Invincibles/MI London since inception.

Moeen Ali failed to make the auction longlist and will not be sold, whilst Ben Stokes, Mark Wood and James Anderson did not register themselves for consideration.

What about India and Pakistan players?

Despite the influx of IPL-led investment into the competition, as per BCCI rulings, none of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad are permitted to be involved in T20 franchise leagues outside of the IPL.

There are reports that Pakistan players will not be considered by the four IPL-owned franchises amid ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two nations, despite reassurances from the ECB – no Pakistan player has featured in the IPL since 2009.

There are 14 Pakistan men’s internationals involved in the auction, six of whom find themselves in the top 50 ‘hero’ category, including Shaheen Afridi, BBL leading wicket-taker Haris Rauf and unconventional spinner Usman Tariq – who have all listed themselves at the maximum reserve price of £100,000.

Which overseas stars are in contention?

South Africa T20I captain Aiden Markram is bound to attract plenty of suitors after his impressive T20 World Cup campaign with the bat.

Proteas star David Miller, Kiwi Daryl Mitchell and 37-year-old globe-trotter Sunil Narine join Markram and Haris Rauf in the premium marquee group of international players.

Any franchise in need of an opening batter will surely look no further than the destructive duo of Finn Allen and Tim Seifert in the Tier 1 category, who led the way for New Zealand in their run to the final.

Sikandar Raza, Matt Henry and Lungi Ngidi are among a host of other World Cup stars available, though Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan – who scored two centuries to top the run-scoring charts – and West Indies power hitter Shimron Hetmyer are notable omissions.

There may also be strong interest in less household names on the franchise circuit and more long-term value pick-ups, including the powerful middle-order batter Bevon Jacobs from New Zealand or South African teenage wicketkeeper Lhuan-dre Pretorius.

Towering Zimbabwe quick Blessing Muzarabani could prove an inspired acquisition, as could 19-year-old Afghanistan mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar and Pakistan leg-spinner Usama Mir, who will become domestically-qualified in 2027.

Who else to watch out for?

Glamorgan’s Asa Tribe is a name on everyone’s lips at the moment, with potential Test honours, and he gained his first exposure to franchise cricket in the SA20 over the winter, showcasing his flexibility in the batting order.

His county teammate Ben Kellaway has also seen his stocks rise significantly over the past 12 months as a boundary hitter in the middle order, who can also offer more than useful ambidextrous spin.

Sonny Baker was a breakthrough performer from the 2025 edition with the Manchester Originals (now Super Giants), as one of the fastest bowlers on show in the competition, who also swung the new ball, which resulted in an England ODI and T20I debut – Scott Currie also earned international recognition after his impressive display of variations in his two seasons with the Manchester-based franchise.

Elsewhere, no batter struck the ball better than Derbyshire opener Aneurin Donald in the T20 Blast last year (449 runs at 216.9), whilst Hampshire’s Toby Albert ended the 2025 campaign as the leading run-scorer with an impressive average of 48.69.

There is also a contingent of future stars from England’s U-19 World Cup squad, spearheaded by the highly coveted Somerset wicketkeeper-batter Thomas Rew, who should draw plenty of interest, as well as Ben Mayes, Caleb Falconer and Farhan Ahmed – the latter made his debut in the Hundred in 2025.

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