In the latest cricket news, the eight men’s teams in England's inaugural 100 ball tournament -The Hundred on Friday, selected their Vitality Wildcard Draft picks to complete their squads.
With the Vitality Wildcard Draft serving as the last chance for the men’s side's to sign the final domestic cricketers for this brand new competition, Northern Superchargers named all rounder Ben Raine as the first pick. Oval Invincibles chose to go with Kent youngster Jordan Cox next, with seamer Sam Cook being signed third by Trent Rockets.
A draw determined the order of the draft and the full list is below.
1st Pick Northern Superchargers Ben Raine (Durham)
2nd Pick Oval Invincibles Jordan Cox (Kent)
3rd Pick Trent Rockets Sam Cook (Essex)
4th Pick Southern Brave Jake Lintott (Warwickshire)
5th Pick Manchester Originals Fred Klaassen (Kent)
6th Pick London Spirit Blake Cullen (Middlesex)
7th Pick Welsh Fire Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire)
8th Pick Birmingham Phoenix Dillon Pennington (Worcestershire)
Youngsters like Blake Cullen (19), Jordan Cox (20), Dillon Pennington (22) and Sam Cook (23) were rewarded for brilliant Vitality Blast outings whilst Jake Lintott’s impressive journey into professional cricket continues with the Southern Brave.
Leus du Plooy, having initially been drafted by Welsh Fire in 2020, returns to the squad as their Wildcard selection and left arm seamer from Kent, Fred Klaassen makes the journey to Manchester to represent the Originals.
Northern Superchargers’ first pick Ben Raine said, “There were a few nerves flying around leading up to this because I think every cricketer in the country wanted to be in The Hundred. I thought I’d had a decent Vitality Blast with the ball so I was hopeful of getting a spot.
“Looking through our team there will be a real Northern feel to it which will be nice. There’s a lot of Durham lads that I’ve played with and Yorkshire lads I’ve played against so there will be a bit of familiarity. It’s a good sign for the amount of talent in the region and I’m very proud to be picked up by the Northern team.
“I’m excited to get going, it looks like a strong squad and one that can really compete.”
Oval Invincibles’ Jordan Cox said, “I’m delighted to be taking part in the first year of The Hundred with Oval Invincibles. It’s a fast-paced, exciting new format that I’m sure the crowds will love and I can’t wait to get playing in front of fans again, especially at the Oval which always has a great atmosphere.”
Sam Cook, Trent Rockets’ latest addition said, “We’ve got some massive names in our squad like Rashid Khan and Joe Root and it will be great playing with them. It’s going to be fun and I’m looking forward to taking some wickets to help us get to the business end of the competition.”
