Curran, Brook and Perry headline early retentions before Hundred auction
Three-time men's and two-time women's champions MI London, rebranded from Oval Invincibles, have named a trio of Surrey players as part of their retentions. Sam Curran and Will Jacks have been retained by the franchise for the men's team while Danielle Wyatt-Hodge has been named the first of their direct signings for the women's team.
This means that so far MI London haven't retained last year's Player of the Series for the Men's Hundred, Jordan Cox, who scored 327 runs in eight innings. They have also let go of their captain Sam Billings who guided them to the three-peat.
Up north, the second newly rebranded franchise - Sunrisers Leeds, formerly Northern Superchargers, have announced all four pre-signings for the men's team while naming three players for the women's side. Harry Brook has been retained along with Brydon Carse while Nathan Ellis and Mitchell Marsh will also don the orange as their direct signings. Kate Cross, Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland have all been retained for the women's side. The women's team are the reigning champions of the Hundred.
Slightly down south, the two sides based in the Midlands - Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets - have also named their retentions. The Phoenix made one retention and a direct signing for each of their two sides. Legendary Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry has been retained while 21-year-old Alice Capsey is their direct signing. For the men's side, Ashes centurion and English wonderkid Jacob Bethell has been retained while all-rounder Rehan Ahmed was signed. Rehan featured for the Southern Brave last year, where he scored 189 runs and picked up 10 wickets in last edition.
Rockets, meanwhile, have only named a single player for each side. Tim David has been signed directly while no retentions have been made yet so far for the men's team while English all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt has been retained for the women's team.
The other four teams - Manchester SuperGiants, Southern Brave, London Spirit and Welsh Fire - are yet to announce their retentions and direct signings.
Pre-auction Signings so far
MI LONDON
Men's team - Sam Curran (retained), Will Jacks (retained)
Women's team - Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (direct signing)
SUNRISERS LEEDS
Men's team - Harry Brook (retained), Brydon Carse (retained), Nathan Ellis (direct signing), Mitchell Marsh (direct signing)
Women's team - Kate Cross (retained), Phoebe Litchfield (retained), Annabel Sutherland (retained)
BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX
Men's team - Jacob Bethell (retained), Rehan Ahmed (direct signing)
Women's team - Ellyse Perry (retained), Alice Capsey (direct signing)
TRENT ROCKETS
Men's team - Tim David (direct signing)
Women's team - Nat Sciver-Brunt (retained)
Manchester SuperGiants, Southern Brave, London Spirit and Welsh Fire - Yet to announce pre-auction signings
Short Explainer leading into The Hundred Auction
Ahead of the sixth season of the Hundred, the eight teams have been given a retention window spanning two-and-a-half months from mid-November 2025 to the end of January 2026.
The teams can make up to four pre-auction signings with a maximum of three of these signings capable of being direct signings, who can be centrally contracted English players or overseas signings. They can also have at least one retention who can be any player- a centrally contracted England player, overseas or domestic.
As the teams gear up for the first-ever Hundred auction, teams can sign up to two centrally contracted England players and two overseas players. There will be no right-to-match in the auction this season. The auction will take place in March 2026 after the pre-signing window closes.
The squad size for the men's team will be 16-18 players while 15 players will be the maximum squad size for the women's squads. The salary pot for the Men's competition has increased by 45% to GBP 2.05 million while there is a 100% increase in the pot for women's side to GBP 880,000.
Based on the number of pre-auction signings a cumulative deduction will be applied per team as follows from the overall salary pool.
Men's Competition - GBP 350,000 (one signing), GBP 650,000 (two players), GBP 850,000 (three players), GBP 950,000 (four players).
Women's Competition - GBP 130,000 (one signing), GBP 240,000 (two players), GBP 310,000 (three players), GBP 360,000 (four players).
After the auction, the Vitality wildcard will take place closer towards the Hundred, rewarding players who do well in the T20 blast and haven't picked up a contract in the auction. The system will continue as it strengthens the link between the two competitions.
