Andy Devaney
The Hundred has always liked to present itself as cricket with its collar loosened and its tie flung somewhere into the crowd, but this week it did something far more significant than provide summer fireworks. It changed the economics of the domestic game in plain sight. Across two days, 169 cricketers were signed by eight new teams for a combined £11.9 million, and in doing so The Hundred staged the first major sports auction in UK history.
That alone would have been enough to make it noteworthy. But what gave the occasion its real weight was what it revealed about the direction of travel. The women’s game did not merely have a seat at the table. It strode in and started moving the furniture.
A landmark moment for The Hundred
There was history in the room before the first ball of the new season has even been bowled. England and Somerset all-rounder Dani Gibson was snapped up by SunRisers Leeds for £190,000, England and Warwickshire seamer Issy Wong joined Southern Brave for £130,000, and Surrey spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman, still only 18, landed a £105,000 move to Utilita Bowl.
Those figures are not just healthy. They are seismic in the context of British women’s sport, and they underline how quickly The Hundred has become one of the most influential financial forces in the game. It is no longer simply a bright, fast competition designed to lure in new fans with coloured kits and short attention spans. It is now a marketplace with real muscle.
Davina Perrin had the distinction of becoming the first player sold in the women’s auction, joining Birmingham Phoenix for £50,000. Symbolically, that felt important. Practically, it felt even more so. Auctions have a way of turning private valuation into public theatre, and this one showed that elite women’s cricketers are commanding serious money and serious status.
Dani Gibson said: “I’m absolutely over the moon to be joining SunRisers Leeds. It was pretty nerve-wracking watching the auction, but amazing to end up at Headingley – especially as I’m joining the holders – and I can’t wait for it all to start now.
“It’s really cool to think how much the women’s game has progressed since The Hundred started. The salaries now are in a different world from when it started in 2020, and it’s nice to think young girls may see a career in cricket as a genuinely exciting option for them now – not just something they can do, but something they really want to do.”
That is the sound of a competition maturing in real time. The Hundred is no longer selling possibility alone. It is selling proof.
Big names, bold moves and a shifting market
The men’s auction, meanwhile, had all the bustle and velocity of a trading floor with a bat sponsor. Sussex all-rounder James Coles secured the biggest deal of the day, heading to London Spirit for £390,000. Jordan Cox joined Welsh Fire for £300,000, Adil Rashid moved to Southern Brave for £250,000, and Pakistan all-rounder Abrar Ahmed linked up with SunRisers Leeds for £190,000.
Joe Root had the honour of becoming the first men’s player to go under the hammer, joining Welsh Fire for £240,000. Sam Billings, a captain with three titles to his name, found a new base at Trent Rockets for £180,000. Tom Curran reunited with brother Sam at MI London for £260,000. Scott Currie became a Birmingham Phoenix player for £210,000.
None of this was quiet. Nor should it have been. Auctions are designed to reveal appetite, and what The Hundred exposed here was a healthy taste for proven quality, tactical flexibility and players who can thrive in a format that rewards nerve just as much as skill.
James Coles said: “I can’t wait to be joining London Spirit. Lord’s is obviously one of the most special places to play cricket in the world so it will be nice to call it home, and it will be great to link up with Andy Flower and the rest of the team.
“I’ve really enjoyed playing in The Hundred. It’s a world class competition and the quality of players on show in the auction demonstrates that.”
That last line is hard to argue with. The player pool tells its own story. Adil Rashid brings craft and deception. Cox brings flexibility and attacking intent. Root brings gravitas. Billings brings leadership and a feel for the tempo of this peculiar, addictive little sprint of a format.
The women’s game was the real headline
For all the men’s movement and the handsome sums involved, the strongest signal from The Hundred was the continued acceleration of the women’s game.
Sophie Devine joined Welsh Fire for £210,000. World No.1 batter Beth Mooney moved to Trent Rockets for the same figure. England batter Paige Scholfield signed for Manchester Super Giants for £115,000. These are not token gestures or decorative figures designed to win applause. These are investments.
That matters because cricket, like all sports, eventually tells you what it values when money enters the room and everyone stops pretending otherwise. The women’s auction was a public declaration that top-class female cricketers are not an afterthought within The Hundred. They are central to its identity and increasingly central to its commercial logic.
For younger players watching from county dressing rooms, school nets and club grounds, that message will land with considerable force. Careers once framed as hopeful now look viable. Ambition has moved from the abstract to the bankable.
What this means for the competition
The sixth year of The Hundred begins on Tuesday 21 July, with MI London hosting SunRisers Leeds, and it now arrives carrying a little more heft than before. This is no longer simply a competition built around atmosphere, music, pace and novelty. It has reached the stage where its decisions ripple outward.
The auction format adds drama, but it also sharpens scrutiny. Teams have declared their priorities in public. Supporters can now judge not only who performs, but who was worth the outlay. That gives the coming season an extra layer of intrigue before a ball has even been released.
It also raises expectations. Big money has a habit of making even the most cheerful summer tournament feel a touch more serious. Players will still entertain, grounds will still hum, and children will still wave foam fingers as if directing aircraft. But beneath all that colour, The Hundred is turning into something more substantial: a competition that influences careers, reshapes salaries and nudges the entire domestic game forward.
A summer competition with growing authority
There was once a temptation to view The Hundred as cricket’s flashy disruptor, all fireworks and fuss. That feels dated now. What this auction showed is that the competition has grown roots as well as reach.
It can attract world-class players. It can create financial opportunity. It can alter perceptions of what is possible, especially in the women’s game. And it can do all of that while still packaging itself as a summer spectacle.
That is a rather rare trick in modern sport. Usually the glitz comes first and the substance has to be hunted down with a torch. Here, the substance was impossible to miss. The Hundred has not just sold players. It has sold the idea that this competition matters, and the rest of the cricketing landscape may have to get used to it.
