After Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney shattered salary records with £210,000 deals at the inaugural Women’s Hundred auction on March 11, all eyes now turn to the men’s competition. The first-ever Men’s Hundred auction takes place at London’s Piccadilly Lights on March 12, 2026, with IPL franchise owners driving a new era of big-money bidding.
Star names like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sunil Narine, Finn Allen, and 2025 season MVP Jordan Cox headline a stacked auction pool as all eight franchises prepare to spend from identical purses of £1.1 million each.
Stars Up for Grabs at The Hundred Auction 2026
The overseas pool is stacked with proven T20 match-winners. New Zealand duo Finn Allen and Tim Seifert are expected to generate strong demand following their standout T20 World Cup performances. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sunil Narine, Shimron Hetmyer, and Aiden Markram add further international firepower to the bidding list.
Among English players, 2025 season MVP Jordan Cox is tipped to be the hottest domestic property. Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, and Chris Jordan are among the other prominent local names set to attract competitive bids as the Hundred enters its boldest new chapter yet.
Three-Phase Bidding Structure Mirrors Women’s Format
The auction follows the same structured approach used in the women’s competition. It begins with the Hero Players category, comprising the 50 most-nominated names with top reserve prices of £100,000. The Ranked Players phase comes next, allowing franchises to nominate up to 25 targets, including unsold players from round one.
The final Nominated Players stage lets teams take turns picking from the remaining pool, with uncontested nominations resulting in automatic signings.
Pre-Auction Retentions Lock In Star Power
| Team | Retained/Signed Players |
|---|---|
| Welsh Fire | Phil Salt, Marco Jansen, Rachin Ravindra, Chris Woakes |
| Trent Rockets | Tim David, Ben Duckett, Mitchell Santner, Tom Banton |
| Sunrisers Leeds | Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Marsh |
| Southern Brave | Jofra Archer, Jamie Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Tristan Stubbs |
| MI London | Will Jacks, Rashid Khan, Sam Curran, Nicholas Pooran |
| Manchester Super Giants | Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen, Noor Ahmad, Liam Dawson |
| London Spirit | Liam Livingstone, Dewald Brevis, Adam Zampa, Jamie Overton |
| Birmingham Phoenix | Jacob Bethell, Rehan Ahmed, Donovan Ferreira, Mitchell Owen |
IPL Investment Transforms The Hundred’s Identity
The arrival of IPL owners has fundamentally reshaped English cricket’s flagship short-format tournament. The traditional draft system has been scrapped in favour of an auction model, and several franchises have been rebranded, most notably the three-time defending champions Oval Invincibles, now known as MI London. The men’s salary cap stands at £2.05 million per team, more than double the £880,000 women’s cap. Squads can include up to 18 players with a maximum of four overseas slots.
