Andrew Flintoff will get his first chance to make a mark on The Hundred as his Northern Superchargers side kick off the tournament’s 2024 draft on Wednesday.
The former England captain and 2005 Ashes hero will act as head coach for the Headingley-based side this summer, marking a formal return to cricket following some ad-hoc mentoring work with the national side this winter.
Superchargers finished bottom of the men’s table last year under Flintoff’s predecessor James Foster, meaning they have first pick this year as the teams fill their squads in an event being hosted at the Shard, with Birmingham Phoenix starting the women’s draft.
There are 75 places to fill across the men’s and women’s competitions, including a total of 26 spots for overseas talent.
Flintoff’s Superchargers have one of their top-tier £125,000 contracts up for grabs, as well as three lower-priced deals on offer.
The biggest foreign names on the table include Australia’s David Warner, New Zealanders Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies and Pakistan pair Babar Azam and Naseem Shah.
England’s 2019 World Cup winner Jason Roy, released by Oval Invincibles this year, is also available but has narrowed his field of options by setting a high reserve price of £100,000.
Given his expected participation in the American Major League Cricket, which has a minor scheduling clash with the Hundred, the hard-hitting opener may find himself unsold.
Dawid Malan – a former T20 world number one batter and the competition’s top run-scorer two years ago – is on the shelf at £50,000 and England’s Test vice-captain Ollie Pope comes in at a minimum of £40,000 after departing Welsh Fire.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore, currently tuning up for the Indian Premier League with Rajasthan Royals, was a winner in 2022 with Trent Rockets but is also waiting to find out where he will be plying his trade this time around.
The wicketkeeper-batter, who is hoping to nudge his case for England honours after a busy winter on the franchise circuit, told the PA news agency: “I’m looking forward to seeing where I go. I’ve always loved playing in the Hundred and the standard compares to anywhere I’ve played in the world.
“I feel like I’ll be coming back a better player from my experiences and the Hundred is a great benchmark to elevate yourself. We’ve seen guys getting picked by England based on their performances and I want to push myself forward.
“It’s best versus best and we know there’ll be three ‘gun’ overseas players in every team, so if you’re performing, you’re likely to get noticed.
“In the past I’ve played alongside great spinners like Adil Rahsid, Ish Sodhi, Tabraiz Shamsi and with batters like Joe Root, Alex Hales and Dawid Malan. The levels in training are so high and I can’t wait to find out who I’ll be joining up with this time.”
Amy Jones and Lauren Filer, who are both with England in New Zealand, are looking for new homes after leaving Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit respectively.
Star names from the all-conquering Australia Women’s side are sure to attract plenty of interest, with Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland vying for attention alongside the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deandra Dottin, Chamari Athapaththu and Suzie Bates.
Representatives from last year’s winning teams, Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles, will be present at the Shard to make their picks, while others dial in remotely and make selections online during each 90-second window.
Babar's captain's innings leads Pakistan to victory as series drawn with New Zealand
Babar Azam top scored as he led his Pakistan team to a nine-run victory over New Zealand in Lahore that saw the five-game T20I series end in a draw.
Babar hit 69 runs off 44 balls before being bowled by Ben Sears, smashing six fours and two sixes to take his team to 123/3 at the time of his dismissal.
Fakhar Zaman (43 from 33) and Usman Khan (31 off 24) also chipped in with important innings as Pakistan ended on 178/5.
With a target of 179 to secure a 3-1 series victory, New Zealand's run chase faltered almost immediately as opener Tom Blundell was removed within the first over with his team having managed just five runs on the board.
Blundell's fellow opener Tim Seifert steadied the ship with a vital 52-run innings off 33 deliveries before being bowled by Usama Mir, but Shaheen Shah Afridi led the way for Pakistan, finishing with figures of 4-30 to stem the New Zealand run chase
Josh Clarkson's 38 off 26 set up a nervy conclusion, but Pakistan held on to avoid defeat in the T20 series as the teams share the spoils at two wins apiece after the first game was abandoned.
Bayern star Kane scores 400th senior goal
Harry Kane surpassed the 400-goal mark for his senior career as his double helped Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Kane moved within one of the milestone as he put Bayern 1-0 up after just nine minutes, coolly finishing from close range after Konrad Laimer's pass had set him up.
Then, after Frankfurt levelled through Hugo Ekitike, Kane slotted home a penalty with typical aplomb following a foul on Thomas Muller to move himself onto 400 career goals and ultimately lead Bayern to victory.
Kane scored 280 of his goals in 435 appearances for Tottenham, overtaking Jimmy Greaves to become the club's all-time leading scorer when he netted for the 267th time in Spurs colours against Manchester City last February.
His tally of 213 Premier League goals, meanwhile, puts him just 47 behind the competition's all-time leader Alan Shearer, who scored 260 times for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Kane is also the most prolific player in England's history, his 62 goals for the Three Lions coming in 89 international appearances.
He memorably missed the chance to surpass Wayne Rooney's previous record of 53 when he blazed a penalty over the crossbar in the Three Lions' quarter-final defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup, only to clinch his place in history in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy three months later.
The very first goal of Kane's senior career came in League One during a loan spell with Leyton Orient as they thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in January 2011.
That was the first of five goals Kane scored in O's colours, while he also netted nine times in a loan spell with Millwall in 2011-12 and twice during a stint with Leicester City the following season.
IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai
Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.
Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.
However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.
Data debrief
Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
