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This season, the Hundred will look slightly different in terms of how teams pick their players. They will be sold at an auction for the first time since the competition began in place of a draft.

 

The auction will take place across two days, with the women's auction being held the day before the men's, with both rounds being attended by all eight franchises as they prepare their squads for 2026.

 

It will follow the same principles as the Indian Premier League in which teams will be able to bid for players on the market and the highest bidder will sign that player to their franchise.

 

Why Has the Hundred Switched to an Auction System?

 

Since the Hundred was started in 2021, franchises have used a draft system, but now for the 2026 season an auction will be held instead.

 

This change comes at a time when many owners that invest in IPL franchises have bought shares in Hundred teams.

 

The auction system will bring a more competitive dynamic to the process and therefore will bring more attention to the Hundred.

 

Each team was able to make up to four signings prior to the auction, where they could sign overseas players, centrally contracted England players and last season's retained players. However only three new players could be signed, with one retention permitted per team.

 

Also Read | The Hundred 2026: Official Schedule and Venue Details Revealed

 

How Does the Auction Process Work?

 

The auction process will consist of three main stages, all differing how each team selects a player.

 

Auction Stages:

 

Stage	Description
Hero Players	Top 50 players chosen based on team interest
Ranked Players	Players nominated by teams after the first round
Nominated Players	Remaining players selected through a random order

 

Hero Players Round

 

This stage of the auction will involve hero players that have been requested the most by each franchise prior to the event, separated into different categories based on their playing style, such as batters, bowlers, all-rounders, wicketkeepers, and these players will be put up for bid one by one. The highest bid for that player will win that player for that team.

 

Ranked Players Round

 

Once the hero players are sold, the remaining franchises have the ability to nominate 25 players from the draft list that would be put up for bid for at this stage, with the most popular players nominated being called ranked players. These players may consist of; Unsold hero players, or new names from the auction list.

 

Nominated Players Round

 

The last stage involves a random draw that determines the picking order of each franchise, where the available players are called and each team picks out of the unsold players that were nominated prior to the auction, the order is drawn at random once all the players that were nominated for this round are completed.

 

Once a team places their nominated player, other franchises are then able to bid for that player, and if none do, then the player goes to the nominated team. This will carry on until the squads are filled up to 8 teams.

 

Also Read | Full Player List for The Hundred 2026 Men’s Auction Released

 

Key Players that are Expected to be Available on the List

 

There will be around 200 players available for both men's and women's competitions, some big names have already been picked up though. Players like Harry Brook, Nat Sciver Brunt, Will Jacks, Jacob Bethell and Jofra Archer have been a part of pre-auction signings.

 

Joe Root, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sarah Glenn, Beth Mooney, Amy Jones are some of the big names who will appear in the auction.

 

All 8 franchises are still able to retain two wildcard spots for the competition. These will be filled after the Vitality Blast with players performing well at that competition.

 

Salary Cap and Players Pay

 

The salary cap has also been raised for the new season, meaning more money can be spent on each franchise's players.

 

With player payments to be allocated across the squad from 2026, there has been an investment in the league, allowing teams to spend more money than previous years.

 

Team Salary Cap

 

Competition	Total Salary Cap
Men’s Teams	£2.05 million
Women’s Teams	£880,000

 

The salary cap, however, has already taken a hit with a multitude of overseas signings being brought in before the auction.

 

Pre-Auction Signings

 

Team Type	Spending if 3 Players Signed	Spending if 4 Players Signed
Men’s Teams	£850,000	£950,000
Women’s Teams	£310,000	£360,000

 

Some have already been drafted at massive fee, others will hope that it's their time at the auction on May 31 st.

 

Also Read | Moeen Ali Misses The Hundred 2026 Longlist

 

Players Experience with Auctions

 

Cricketers have all had differing experiences when it comes to being sold at an auction. Tymal Mills spoke about his experience in the Indian Premier League where Royal Challengers Bangalore invested £1.4million on the pace bowler, one of the biggest overseas contracts signed that season, and stated that the auction could be very unpredictable, but there was still a high probability of a franchise having you signed before the end of the auction.

 

Many of the players still awaiting an auction may not see that as likely however, especially with so much already signed in this time frame.

 

New Chapter for The Hundred

 

It is expected to be a completely new chapter for the Hundred, with an auction set to bring the competitive edge needed to spice things up. The auction will take place on May 31st for the men's event and on May 30 th for the women's, bringing an investment of £34,000,000 overall.

 

With a lot of new and well-known players already signed, and many more still to come, this season of the Hundred is expected to be bigger than ever.