Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson ‘surprised’ to be a £125,000 pick in second The Hundred tournament draft

Dawson was snapped up by London Spirit at the highest possible price of £125,000 when the draft took place behind closed doors yesterday. The selections were publicly released this afternoon.

The England international played four matches in last year’s inaugural 100-ball-a-side tournament for eventual winners Southern Brave.

Dawson will play alongside West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard this summer, after the latter was the first pick of the 2022 men’s Hundred draft - also at the highest price of £125,000.

Dawson said: ‘It’s an honour but I was surprised to be one of the first picks in the draft for The Hundred this year.’

Spirit, who finished bottom of last season’s standings, also snapped up Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith for £75,000. The Lord’s-based team, skippered by England white ball captain Eoin Morgan, have retained Dawson’s Hampshire colleagues Mason Crane (a £60,000 draft) and Brad Wheal (£30,000. They also have Glenn Maxwell and England pair Zak Crawley and Mark Wood.

Champions Southern Brave – who play their home games at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl - have retained South African top order batsman Quinton De Kock (£125,000), while also signing Hampshire batsman Joe Weatherley (£30,000).

Also new in is spinner Rehan Ahmed (£50,000), who starred for England under 19s as they reached the final of the ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup earlier this year.

Only 17 years old, Ahmed made his one-day debut for Leicestershire in last year’s Royal London Cup.

Brave have also snapped up Surrey’s left-arm slow bowler Dan Moriarty (£30,000).

Each of the eight franchises are allowed to sign three overseas players, but Brave have only got two - De Kock and Australian batsman Marcus Stoinis (£125,000).

The eight are also allocated two centrally contracted England players, but at present Brave just have Jofra Archer, who missed last summer’s tournament through injury.

The Brave women’s side have snapped up Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath (£18,750) as they look to go one better after finishing as runners up last year. Their squad is further bolstered by the signings of Georgia Adams (£12,500) - the Southern Vipers skipper - and Jo Gardner (£10,000) from Oval Invincibles.

While the men’s draft picks range from £125,000 to £30,000, salaries are smaller in the women’s tournament - ranging from £31,250 to £7,500.

*The Hundred returns to Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl for the opening game of this year’s competition on Wednesday August 3 as the men’s team take on Welsh Fire. Three double header days follow, with the women’s team getting underway at the stadium on Friday August 12 in the first double header against London Spirit.

The other matches see both men’s and women’s sides face Manchester Originals on Thursday August 18, and Trent Rockets on Thursday August 25.