The Hundred draft – who should each team target?

The Hundred draft takes place on Wednesday before the fifth edition of the tournament this summer.

With a host of big-name players up for grabs, the 16 teams – eight men’s and eight women’s – will be looking for the additions to give themselves the best chance of lifting the trophy at Lord’s on 31 August.

Current squad: Liam Livingstone, Ben Duckett, Trent Boult (overseas), Jacob Bethell, Benny Howell, Adam Milne (o), Dan Mousley, Tim Southee (o), Will Smeed, Chris Wood, Aneurin Donald.

What do they need? The best player available. With established openers (Duckett and Smeed), a flurry of all-rounders (Livingstone, Bethell, Mousley, Howell) and their Kiwi pace trio (Boult, Milne, Southee), Phoenix can be flexible with their selection and pick who they think is the best player available at the time.

Current squad: Jamie Smith, Liam Dawson, Daniel Worrall, Kane Williamson (o), Richard Gleeson, Olly Stone, Ollie Pope, Keaton Jennings.

What do they need? An explosive all-rounder.

Given a slow-ish scoring top four of Jennings, Smith, Williamson and Pope and tricky six-hitting conditions at Lord’s at the end of innings, Jamie Overton could fit the bill.

Current squad: Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Heinrich Klaasen (o), Matthew Hurst, Scott Currie, Josh Tongue, Tom Hartley, Sonny Baker, Tom Aspinwall.

What do they need? A wicket-taking spinner. The Originals only picked up 31 wickets across eight games last season, the joint lowest for any side.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad took 13 wickets at 17.5 in the recent SA20 with an economy of 6.90.

Current squad: Harry Brook, Adil Rashid, David Miller (o), Mitchell Santner (o), Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Ben Dwarshuis (o), Graham Clark, Pat Brown, Tom Lawes.

What do they need? A top order run-scorer. Nicholas Pooran (fourth with 227 runs) was the only Supercharger in the top 10 run-scorers last season. Their top three batters collectively average 18.9 (only Spirit were worse in 2024).

Current squad: Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Tom Curran, Jordan Cox, Rashid Khan (o), Saqib Mahmood, Sam Billings, Gus Atkinson, Nathan Sowter, Donovan Ferreira (o), Tawanda Muyeye.

What do they need? A left-handed opener. Having retained most of their back-to-back title winning squad, with the exception of Dawid Malan, they’ll be looking for a good value overseas option in the middle rounds of the draft.

Current squad: James Vince, Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills, Chris Jordan, Faf du Plessis (o), Leus Du Plooy, Craig Overton, Laurie Evans, Finn Allen (o), Danny Briggs, James Coles.

What do they need? Lower-order power. Established top-order batters Du Plessis and Vince should do the bulk of the run scoring but the squad is missing a big hitter to clear the ropes at number six.

Kieron Pollard, who memorably hit Rashid Khan for five sixes to win Southern Brave a match last year, could return. He boasts a six every nine deliveries he faces in Hundred cricket.

Current squad: Joe Root, Marcus Stoinis (o), Tom Banton, John Turner, Sam Cook, Sam Hain, Tom Alsop, Calvin Harrison.

What do they need? Mystery spin. Rashid Khan has left for Oval Invincibles and Andy Flower’s side have always had an overseas spinner in their ranks (Rashid, Chris Green, Ish Sodhi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imad Wasim).

Sunil Narine could be the next. His availability because of the CPL is a concern but that hasn’t stopped them picking Rashid in the past.

Current squad: Chris Woakes, Steve Smith (o), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell, Luke Wells, Stephen Eskinazi.

What do they need? Bowlers! Fire released all of them, with only Woakes coming in. Franchise-leading wicket-taker David Payne was a particularly surprising release.

New Zealand quick Matt Henry is an exceptional new-ball bowler in helpful conditions and in high demand after his Champions Trophy exploits.

Current squad: Ellyse Perry (o), Amy Jones, Emily Arlott, Megan Schutt (o), Hannah Baker, Charis Pavely, Sterre Kalis, Ailsa Lister.

What do they need? A top-order batter. The departure of Sophie Devine leaves a big gap – but Phoenix will pick first in the women’s draft.

Georgia Voll is a WPL star and now an Australia international. The 21-year-old’s stock has only risen throughout the winter thanks to both franchise and international exploits.

Current squad: Grace Harris (o), Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Charlie Dean, Deepti Sharma (o), Georgia Redmayne (o), Eva Gray, Cordelia Griffith, Tara Norris, Sophie Munro.

What do they need? Their title-winning captain. After lifting the title last year, Spirit followed both Oval Invincibles and Welsh Fire in retaining 10 players, with their 11th an established player returning in the top bracket.

Current squad: Amelia Kerr (o), Sophie Ecclestone, Beth Mooney (o), Lauren Filer, Mahika Gaur, Eve Jones, Kathryn Bryce, Fi Morris, Danielle Gregory.

What do they need? A dynamic middle-order batter. With Beth Mooney and Amelia Kerr expected to score the bulk of the runs, the Originals will be looking for a quick scoring batter to finish off innings.

Current squad: Phoebe Litchfield (o), Annabel Sutherland (o), Georgia Wareham (o), Kate Cross, Bess Heath, Linsey Smith, Hollie Armitage, Alice Davidson-Richards, Grace Ballinger, Davina Perrin.

What do they need? The best player available. With the Superchargers not picking until round nine, they’ll have jump on whoever drops down.

Mady Villiers has been a mainstay at Oval Invincibles and, while capable of bowling in both the powerplay and at the death, her ability to keep it tight through the middle has helped her side squeeze opposition.

Current squad: Marizanne Kapp (o), Alice Capsey, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Amanda-Jade Wellington (o), Meg Lanning (o), Tash Farrant, Ryana Macdonald-Gay, Sophia Smale, Jo Gardner, Rachel Slater.

What do they need? Continuity. Jonathan Batty has kept a core of players throughout his time as Invincibles head coach and has been joined by his WPL skipper Meg Lanning in the off-season.

Paige Scholfield has capped herself at £50, 000 for the draft and looks all but certain to return to the Invincibles.

Current squad: Laura Wolvaardt (o), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Maia Bouchier, Lauren Bell, Freya Kemp, Georgia Adams, Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Rhianna Southby.

What do they need? All-round talent.

Lauren Bell led the Brave in wickets last year with nine, but that was only joint 13th best in the competition. With the bat, Brave’s scoring rate in the final 25 balls of the match was the second lowest in the competition, a clear sign of a lack of power.

West Indies ‘ Chinelle Henry has lit up the 2025 WPL, averaging 27 while striking at 196 with the bat, hitting more sixes (15) than fours (12).

Current squad: Ash Gardner (o), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Alana King (o), Heather Graham (o), Bryony Smith, Grace Scrivens, Kirstie Gordon, Alexa Stonehouse, Natasha Wraith, Cassidy McCarthy.

What do they need? X-factor pace. While pace isn’t everything, the Rockets were the only side last year to not register a ball over 70mph in the entire competition.

While spinners Gardner and King are exceptional, they could be backed up by spells of fiery pace.

Current squad: Hayley Matthews (o), Tammy Beaumont, Jess Jonassen (o), Shabnim Ismail (o), Sarah Bryce, Georgia Elwiss, Freya Davies, Georgia Davis, Emily Windsor, Beth Langston.

What do they need? Continuity. Welsh Fire have retained the core of last year’s runners-up side and will look to do the same with their only pick in the top eight rounds, with Sophia Dunkley expected to return.

Dunkley started the 2024 Hundred brightly before her form tailed off.