The Hundred retentions 2023 (Men’s)
Retentions for the 2023 edition of the Hundred were announced last Thursday. Each team was allowed to retain up to ten players, plus one ECB centrally contracted player (no choice here) and teams could also retain as many overseas players as they wanted.
The remaining players will be picked at the draft on March 23rd and then two further players will be picked at the wildcard draft, which should take place after the conclusion of the T20 Blast. All this results in squads of 17 players, with three overseas players in each, after the overseas wildcard pick was scrapped for this year. This potentially places further emphasis on overseas availability, without the luxury of already having an internal overseas replacement in the squad.
Retentions for all teams:
Birmingham Phoenix
Retentions: Liam Livingstone (£125k), Moeen Ali (£100k), Shadab Khan (£100k), Adam Milne (£75k), Benny Howell (£75K), Kane Richardson (£60k), Tom Helm (£50k), Chris Benjamin (£40k), Dan Mousley (£30k) & Chris Woakes (ECB contract).
Released: Matthew Wade, Olly Stone, Tom Abell, Matthew Fisher, Miles Hammond, Graeme van Buuren, Henry Brookes, Imran Tahir, Ben Dwarshuis, Tanveer Sangha, Brett D’Oliveira, Timm van der Gugten & Sol Budinger.
Remaining draft picks: £125k, £50k, £40k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Will Smeed (£60k) - As one of the more exciting t20 batters in the country, securing him at £60k is great value. Comparatively the likes of Jacks, Salt, Clarke, Roy & Hales are all on £100k or more and Kohler-Cadmore/Duckett will probably go for that amount at the draft.
- Shadab Khan (£100k) - The Phoenix spin attack struggled last season. As good as Tahir was for them in 2021, he was poor last year and wasn’t a viable option for them moving forwards. Shadab is a top leg spinner and also adds batting value, while being a top draw fielder - entertainment value = high.
- Liam Livingstone (£125k) - Injury interrupted his involvement last season but in 2021 he lit up the tournament. One of, if not the batter with the most upside in the country, tailor made for a tournament like this.
Worst retentions:
There aren’t really any retentions that I dislike from the Phoenix. I guess it could be considered slightly risky to lock in both Milne and Richardson as overseas picks, especially with Milne’s injury record, however, both have performed well when they’ve played for the franchise in previous seasons.
Surprise releases:
Once again, it’s hard to argue with what the Phoenix did. As a result of good squad building in previous seasons, there were a lot of options, when it came to players they could’ve retained.
- Tom Abell - Quality middler order batter, good against spin and accelerates well vs pace later in his innings.
- Henry Brookes - Was involved with the Phoenix in the previous two seasons, capable of reaching speeds of 140–145+. They might try to get him back at the draft again.
The Phoenix look to be the early frontrunners, assembling an even stronger core than they’ve managed in previous seasons. There’s an incredible amount of batting depth, multi-dimensional cricketers, without sacrificing on bowling quality. Shadab is a very exciting pick, though I’m not sure how they managed to pull it off, potentially exploring a loophole in the system. Regardless, it’s an exciting signing and is a big coup for the Hundred to have a player of his quality, hopefully he’s available for the majority/all of the tournament.
Likely XI so far:
If Woakes is available (depends on Ashes involvement), he’d probably play ahead of Mousley or possibly Helm, though the latter is less likely after how he performed less season. Playing Woakes would give them four pace options, in addition to four off-pace options - Shadab, Howell, Moeen & Livingstone. There’s genuine batting depth until number 8, while Adam Milne is a capable hitter himself.
A potential concern could be the lack of LHB’s, if Mousley isn’t in the XI, leaving Moeen as the only option. Could this be an area they target at the draft?
Target areas:
- Top order player - TKC looks to be the obvious choice here, a player that’s batting very well at the moment, especially when opening and is one of the cleaner strikers around, once set. Duckett is the other option, opening hasn’t been his primary role in t20’s, though he’s done it previously, with success (AV 30, SR 144) and he seems to have become a more well-rounded player over the last 12–18 months. Only Welsh Fire & Southern Brave have a £125k pick before the Phoenix, so it’s highly likely they’ll be able to get one of these two.
- SLA option - With future seasons in mind, Jacob Bethell could be a great option, as a player with genuine all-rounder potential. He also plays for Warwickshire so it makes sense in that regard. Mark Watt is less of an all-round option but his style of bowling should be well-suited to the Hundred.
- Backup pace bowler - I think the Phoenix will look for a younger option here, meaning one of Brookes, Fisher & Pennington could return to the franchise again. Blake Cullen and Sonny Baker are alternative options. A left arm pace bowler could also be of interest, Fred Klaassen looks like the best option for this role.
Overall retentions rating - 9/10
London Spirit
Retentions: Glenn Maxwell (£125k), Nathan Ellis (£100k), Liam Dawson (£75k), Dan Lawrence (£75k), Zak Crawley (£60k), Jordan Thompson (£60k), Mason Crane (£50k), Adam Rossington (£50k), Chris Wood (£40k), Ravi Bopara (£40k) & Mark Wood (ECB contract).
Released: Kieron Pollard, Eoin Morgan (retired), Riley Meredith, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Brad Wheal, Blake Cullen, Jamie Smith, Toby Roland-Jones, Josh Inglis & Ben McDermott.
Remaining draft picks: £125k, £100k, £30k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Zak Crawley (£75k) - Crawley has the potential to be a very good opener in t20’s and has perhaps been overlooked in other leagues because of his involvement/struggles in test matches. Has struck at over 140 in three of his four t20 blast seasons.
- Jordan Thompson (£60k) - For a mid-range priced player, Thompson gives the team reasonable balance. Adding a sixth bowling option and he can float up & down the batting order.
Worst retentions:
- Mason Crane (£50k) - Assuming they go into the season with Crane as their first choice wrist spinner, a move that I wouldn’t be a fan of. Crane struggled last summer in both the Hundred and t20 blast, and if was going to be retained, it should’ve been in a lower bracket.
Surprise releases:
- Blake Cullen - After impressing in the first season of the Hundred, taking ten wickets and bowling with good pace, Cullen missed the entirety of last season through injury.
Personally, I’m not a massive fan of what London Spirit have done. They’ve retained 11 players but at least 2–3 of those shouldn’t be considered as guaranteed starters. It’s also a squad on the older side, six players will be over the age of 30, come the start of the Hundred in August.
Likely XI so far:
I think it’s likely that Crane is considered a starter, while Chris Wood will come in for Mark Wood, when he misses/is rested for games. Ravi Bopara may start at number 6, after a successful stint in the finisher role last season, scoring 107 runs in four innings (SR 185). His ability to start quickly has been in doubt but it wasn’t an issue last season.
On a side note, captaincy also looks to be an issue for them, with Eoin Morgan retiring, there isn’t a clear option in the squad.
Target areas:
- LH middle order batter - If a high quality option is desired, the Spirit will have to use their final overseas pick on this position. Miller, Rossouw, Hetmyer & Poor could be among the targets, depending on availability.
- Domestic pace bowler - I’d be looking to target one of the premium domestic pace bowlers available, whether that’s Stone, Topley or Willey, it would be wise to recruit one of them as I’m not sure the availability of Mark Wood can be relied upon.
- Backup opener - Crawley could miss a couple of games, so London Spirit need to get another opener in. Eskinazi could be one of their main targets for this role.
Overall retentions rating - 6/10
Manchester Originals
Retained: Wanindu Hasaranga (£125k), Phil Salt (£125k), Jamie Overton (£75k), Tom Hartley (£75k), Richard Gleeson (£60k), Paul Walter (£60k), Josh Little (£50k), Wayne Madsen (£40k), Tom Lammonby (£40k), Mitchell Stanley (£30k) & Jos Buttler (ECB contract).
Released: Laurie Evans, Andre Russell, Matt Parkinson, Dan Worrall, Sean Abbott, Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaassen, Calvin Harrison, Ashton Turner, Tristan Stubbs & Ollie Robinson.
Remaining draft picks: £100k, £100k, £50k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Wanindu Hasaranga (£125k) - Although it’s in the top price category, Hasaranga is still a great retention. His wicket taking threat is incredible and he also adds a bit of value with the bat. The Originals will be hoping that he’s available.
- Josh Little (£50k) - One of the best value picks of all the teams in my opinion. Little had a big impact in the five games he played last season, picking up 13 wickets and was a consistent threat whenever he bowled.
- Mitchell Stanley (£30k) - Looks to be a very high upside bowler, capable of swinging the new ball at good pace. Probably won’t start but I’m glad they retained him.
Worst retentions:
There aren’t any that I strongly dislike, Hartley at £75k could be considered a little steep but after moving on from Parkinson, they needed to keep hold of a second spin option and Hartley is also showing improvements with his batting.
Surprise releases:
The Originals were in a similar situation to Birmingham Phoenix, there were always going to be some tough decisions to be made. Their hand was forced with Laurie Evans, after he failed a drug test and releasing Parkinson was also understandable. They released all of their ‘poor’ picks from previous years.
Likely XI so far:
Target areas:
- 3rd pace option - Jamie Overton has typically been expensive in his t20 career and I’m not sure Walter will have the same success he did last season (14 wickets). David Willey could be a good option in the number 7/8 position.
- Overseas middle order batter - The Originals were one of the best batting sides in the powerplay & at the death last season but they perhaps lacked a bit of impetus through the middle. Azam Khan would be a good option here, though his potential loyalty to Barbados Royals in the CPL could be a problem.
Overall retentions rating - 9/10
Northern Superchargers
Retained: Adil Rashid (£125k), Harry Brook (£125k), Adam Lyth (£75k), Adam Hose (£60k), Brydon Carse (£60k), David Wiese (£50k), Matthew Potts (£40k), Wayne Parnell (£40k), Callum Parkinson (£30k) & Ben Stokes (ECB contract).
Released: David Willey, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz, John Simpson, Michael Pepper, Ben Raine, Saif Zaib, Craig Miles, Roelof van der Merwe, Luke Wright & Jordan Clark.
Remaining draft picks: £100k, £100k, £75k, £40k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Harry Brook (£125k) - Phenomenal talent and completely understandable why they’ve moved him to the £125k price tag.
- Adam Hose (£60k) - One of the more underrated middle order batters in the country, capable of scoring quickly against pace & spin. At £60k he’s excellent value and will be particularly important if Harry Brook misses some games.
- Wayne Parnell (£40k) - Some might disagree with this but I quite like this retention. Parnell provides a good new ball option and you can be more aggressive with his usage in the Hundred. Bowled well in the SA20 and his batting also looked in reasonable order. At £40k, it’s a nice deal.
Worst retentions:
- Adil Rashid (£125k) - In a league where there’s limited quality from domestic wrist spinners, I can see why they’ve done it. However, Rashid in the top price bracket does feel a little steep. He isn’t the best defensive bowler against good players of spin.
- Matthew Potts (£50k) - Again I’m not convinced it’s a bad pick per se but lack of t20 cricket for Potts could be a concern, having only played two matches since August 2021.
Surprise releases:
- Michael Pepper - I thought at least one of the keeping options would’ve been retained and personally I would’ve gone for Pepper. Even though he didn’t have a great tournament last season, scoring 77 runs in five games (SR 122), he really impressed in the t20 blast, with his scoring rate and variety of shots vs spin.
Likely XI so far:
With potential availability issues at the start of the tournament looming for Stokes & Brook, the Superchargers will want to secure backups for those players. They’re also in need of a keeping option, they could go overseas for this role, though I’m not sure I would. I’d rather use their final overseas pick to target an overseas pace bowler, their bowling was a much bigger issue last season - finishing the tournament as the most expensive side. Partly coming as a byproduct of playing their home matches at Headingley but they were 0.35 rpo more expensive than the next highest team.
There’s quite a few pace options in the XI above but how many of them are genuine four over/set bowlers? Arguably only Parnell, possibly Potts.
Target areas:
- Keeping option - In a dream world they’d be able to get Tom Kohler-Cadmore. However, with eight teams having picks before them, either in the £125k category or £100k category, it doesn’t feel realistic. Tom Banton (poor form), Jamie Smith or Michael Pepper could be cheaper alternatives. Someone that can opener would be preferable, to split Lyth & Stokes.
- Overseas pace bowler - Obviously this depends on availability but getting a decent overseas pace bowler for £100k should be fairly simple, whether that’s Boult, Naseem Shah or someone different.
- Backup domestic batters - You’d think this would need to be a priority with Stokes and Brook likely to miss a couple of games at least, possibly more for Stokes. LH batting options include the likes of Du Plooy (possibly unrealistic), Saif Zaib, Ross Whiteley, Tom Moores & Miles Hammond. Sam Hain, Jack Haynes and Michael Pepper look like some of the better RH options.
Overall retentions rating - 7/10
Oval Invincibles
Retained: Sunil Narine (£125k), Will Jacks (£125k), Jason Roy (£100k), Tom Curran (£100k), Sam Billings (£75k), Saqib Mahmood (£75k), Jordan Cox (£50k), Gus Atkinson (£50k), Danny Briggs (£40k),Nathan Sowter (£30k) & Sam Curran (ECB contract).
Released: Reece Topley, Hilton Cartwright, Rilee Rossouw, Peter Hatzoglou, Mohammad Hasnain, Jack Leaning, Jack Haynes, Pat Brown, Rory Burns & Peter Hatzoglou.
Remaining draft picks: £60k, £60k, £40k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Will Jacks (£125k) - High upside, high quality. The second player to score a hundred in ‘The Hundred’ and you’d be brave to bet against him adding to that tally in the coming seasons.
- Sunil Narine (£125k) - Of the bowlers that have played at least ten games in the Hundred, Narine has the best economy rate. One of the best defensive bowlers around and can be given the ball at any stage and will likely do a good job. Also adds a bit of batting value.
- Jordan Cox (£50k) - Talented player, capable of batting in multiple roles. Did well last season, scoring 191 runs in six innings (SR 144, AV 38).
Worst retentions:
- Jason Roy (£100k) - I thought Roy would probably end up staying in London anyway but for £100k? Seems excessive based on recent performances. Scored 51 runs in six games last season.
- Sam Billings (£75k) - I don’t mind Billings as a player but when you’ve got a similar player in the squad (Cox), both in terms of role type & quality, who is almost ten years younger, I’m not sure it makes much sense to retain Billings
- Nathan Sowter (£30k) - Decent backup spin option, however, there would’ve been limited interest in him at the draft, especially given some of the more high profile wrist spin bowlers that have been released (Lintott & Parkinson). Feels like a wasted pick.
Surprise releases:
- Reece Topley - It looks like Oval Invincibles weren’t very happy with Topley pulling out of the tournament halfway through last season. Understandable, nevertheless I’m still a little surprised that he was released, given he’s a reliable option with the new ball and has decent numbers at the death.
Likely XI so far:
Even though I disagreed with a few of the retentions, the Invincibles still have a strong domestic core to build from, with two overseas spots available. The ‘all-round ability’ of the Curran brothers and Narine gives them a lot of flexibility that other teams in the tournament don’t necessarily have.
A potential issue for them is that a lot of their retentions are in the higher priced categories, meaning they don’t have draft picks in the top three price bands. Five of the other teams have at least two picks in the £100 & £125k price categories. Having two overseas spots available will help them out for a bit, though players choose their ‘minimum price’, which could cause problems.
Target areas:
Overseas pace bowler - Even though there’s already four pace options in the XI, I’d still be looking for another one, capable of bowling in key phases. The £60k price could make this tricky, as things stand, the overseas player draft list hasn’t been announced yet. Here’s a list of players that would’ve been attainable at that price point last season:
- £60k reserve price - Sean Abbott & Kane Richardson..
- £50k reserve price - Jason Behrendorff, Daniel Sams & Naseem Shah.
- £40k reserve price - Nathan Ellis, Matt Henry & Romario Shepherd.
- No reserve price - Mark Adair, Taskin Ahmed, Carlos Brathwaite, Shahnawaz Dahani, Fazalhaq Farooqi & Binura Fernando.
They *should* be able to recruit a good bowler, it’s more of a waiting game until we see the draft list.
Overseas middle order batter - There’s likely to be more options for this role. They were in a similar situation last season and went for Hilton Cartwright. He could be an option again, though they’ll be hoping for someone with more upside - Josh Inglis, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Donavon Ferreira & Glenn Phillips are some players that could be considered.
Backup domestic batter - Having retained two spinners, as well as four pace options + an overseas pace bowler (potentially), there’s enough depth in the bowling department. A reserve batter needs to be considered, in case Jacks is involved in the Ashes, or Roy continues to underwhelm. Eskinazi, Bell-Drummond, Haynes, Ali Orr and Sol Budinger are potential options.
The Invincibles still have a strong squad but I’m not sure they’ve maximised the potential of it with the retentions they’ve made.
Overall retentions rating - 6/10
Southern Brave
Retained: James Vince (£100k), Chris Jordan (£100k), Tymal Mills (£75k), Rehan Ahmed (£60k), Craig Overton (£60k), Finn Allen (£50k), George Garton (£50k), James Fuller (£40k), Alex Davies (£40k), Joe Weatherley (£30k) & Jofra Archer (ECB contract).
Released: Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Paul Stirling, Tim David, Ross Whiteley, Jake Lintott, Dan Moriarty, Michael Hogan, Sonny Baker & Beuran Hendricks.
Remaining draft picks: £125k, £125k, £75k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Tymal Mills (£75k) - Injury issues are an obvious concern, though at £75k it’s worth a gamble for a bowler that’s consistently been one of the best during the death overs in the country.
- Finn Allen (£50k) - A high upside opener, that’s well-suited to a competition like this. £50k is a very good price for a player of his potential.
- James Fuller (£40k) - Fuller has found success later than most in his t20 career. The Ageas Bowl is a ground that suits his style of bowling and he also adds hitting value lower down the order. Not a guaranteed starter, especially if Archer is available but at £40k, he adds great depth to the squad.
Worst retentions:
- Alex Davies (£40k) - Weak boundary hitter, which spells disaster at a big ground like the Ageas Bowl. Not necessarily as reliable as you might think either, averaging in the mid 20’s in first two seasons of the Hundred and even lower in the t20 Blast.
Surprise releases:
- Sonny Baker - A highly rated pace bowler, who played a few times for the Brave last season. I thought they might retain him over one of the older pace bowlers in the squad.
Likely XI so far:
A lot of pace bowling options have been retained and it wouldn’t surprise me to see at least four, potentially five of them featuring in the XI. Particularly for games at the Ageas Bowl, which has been a venue that heavily favours pace in recent seasons.
I don’t necessarily think it’s certain that Southern Brave line up like this, with the three fairly valuable picks available to them it’s entirely possible they’ll be able to get two strong overseas batters, plus a decent domestic option. This would mean that one of Garton, Fuller or Weatherley would likely drop out of the XI.
Target areas:
- Domestic spin option - Whether another wrist spin option or an orthodox spinner, I think the Brave need another spinner in the squad. They’ve had players like Moriarty, Lintott and Lenham in the past, though they might not want to spend £75k on any of the domestic spinners available. This could be something they aim to solve with one of their wildcard picks.
- Overseas finisher - This will be availability dependent but Southern Brave have the resources to get the best player available in this department. Welsh Fire are the only other team that might be looking for an overseas player in their lower/middle order.
- Overseas top order/middle order player - Again availability dependent. Ideally they’d also manage to find someone that provides a secondary spin option. A player like Markram could be perfect for this role.
It’s not entirely out of the question that Southern Brave could use all three of their remaining picks on batting options. Going for one of Duckett or Du Plooy and then two further overseas batters, resulting in an XI like this:
On paper, it looks like a strong side. Lack of batting specialists would be the major concern, however, with smart usage of Garton and the depth offered by the likes of Fuller, Jordan, Rehan and Overton/Archer, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Overall retentions rating - 8/10
Trent Rockets
Retained: Rashid Khan (£125k), Alex Hales (£100k), Dawid Malan (£100k), Lewis Gregory (£75k), Luke Wood (£75k), Colin Munro (£60k), Sam Cook (£60k), Daniel Sams (£50k), Samit Patel (£50k), Matt Carter (£30k) & Joe Root (ECB contract).
Released: Tabraiz Shamsi, Marchant de Lange, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Ian Cockbain, Steven Mullaney, Luke Fletcher, Tom Moores & Ben Mike.
Remaining draft picks: £125k, £40k, £40k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- Alex Hales (£100k) - One of the best t20 openers in the country, has played plenty of cricket at Trent Bridge and he’s well worth the £100k they’re paying for him.
- Colin Munro (£60k) - Age concerns could be an issue but at £60k it’s hard to argue with the Munro retention. Gives them another LH batting option, which can be particularly important at Trent Bridge, with lopsided square boundaries often a thing here.
Worst retentions:
- Lewis Gregory (£75k) - As someone who was a big fan of Gregory a few years back, it’s crazy to see how badly his numbers have fallen off over the last 18–24 months. Across his last two domestic seasons in the UK (T20 blast/the Hundred), Gregory has only scored 397 runs in 34 innings (AV 17, SR 125).
Surprise releases:
There weren’t really any major surprises.
Kohler-Cadmore was picked in the £125k category last season, though he didn’t get to bat in his preferred opening position and a release felt inevitable.
Ben Mike is a high upside player, capable of reaching decent speeds with the ball and is a good lower order hitter. I would’ve been tempted to invest in him, as he would’ve been attainable in one of the lower price categories.
Likely XI so far:
Understandably, Trent Rockets have stuck with the majority of the core that won them the title last season. It’s hard to disagree with that, though the Gregory retention seems to be largely based on captaincy reasons and I’m not sure that’s a route I would’ve gone down.
Target areas:
- Domestic pace bowler - Trent Rockets look to be another side that are lining up one of the primary domestic pace bowlers. Four teams do have a £125k pick before them, however, at least two of those won’t be looking for a domestic bowler (Southern Brave & Birmingham Phoenix). Assuming they want one of Topley, Stone or Willey, they should be able to get their man. Looking at their squad, the extra pace of Stone might be the best fit.
- Keeper - Unless I’m making a glaring error, there’s currently no keeping option in the squad. They’re likely to have to use their £40k pick on this, meaning one of the budget players will have to suffice. Michael Pepper, Jamie Smith and Tom Moores would be among the contenders for this role.
Overall retentions rating - 7/10
Welsh Fire
Retained: Joe Clarke (£100k), Ollie Pope (£75k), David Payne (£60k), Jake Ball (£50k), George Scrimshaw (£30k) & Jonny Bairstow (ECB contract).
Released: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Noor Ahmad, Dwaine Pretorius, Naseem Shah, Ish Sodhi, Ben Duckett, Tom Banton, Sam Hain, Leus du Plooy, Ryan Higgins, Matt Critchley, Jacob Bethell & Josh Cobb.
Remaining draft picks: £125k, £125k, £100k, £75k, £60k, £50k, £40k, £40k & two wildcard picks.
Best retentions:
- George Scrimshaw (£30k) - One of the few players that impressed for Welsh Fire last season, bowling with good pace and looking more threatening than most of their other bowlers. Still raw and concedes boundaries too often but at £30k he is a good retention.
Worst retentions:
- Ollie Pope (£75k) - I’m sure Ollie Pope will develop into a decent t20 player as he starts to play more matches in the format, after all, he’s only played 47 t20 matches, despite making his debut almost seven years ago. However, at £75k it’s a costly retention, especially with Bairstow and Clarke already in the squad. At £75k you’d assume he’d be one of the top 30–35 most valuable players in the country and I don’t think that’s the case.
- David Payne (£60k) - I like David Payne a lot but I’m not sure how he’s received a salary raise after his performances in the previous two seasons, where he’s gone at almost 10 rpo and only taken ten wickets in 15 games. His Blast performances are always good but he’s struggled with the step up in standard.
- Jake Ball (£50k) - Another player that hasn’t convinced for the Welsh Fire in previous seasons, though he’s performed better than Payne, his Blast numbers aren’t as good - has great wicket taking threat but is often expensive, going at over 9 rpo in four of his last five Blast seasons.
Surprise releases:
- Ben Duckett - The top run scorer by a distance for the Welsh Fire, scoring 452 runs across the last two seasons, which is 215 more than any other player. You’d assume Welsh Fire wanted to keep him but Duckett opted to leave.
- Leus du Plooy - Though he hasn’t started every game in the previous two seasons, when he’s played, Du Plooy has impressed. Also, had a strong showing in the SA20 recently. Once again, you’d assume this was the player’s choice to leave and I wonder if Stephen Fleming (his head coach at JSK in the SA20) had a word with him, as he was recently named as the new Southern Brave head coach.
- Jacob Bethell - Bethell has struggled to step up to senior cricket so far but he’s still only 18 and is a seriously talented player. If you’re only retaining six players, I think there’s room to keep hold of a player of his ability.
Likely XI so far:
Despite only retaining five players (plus Bairstow), Welsh Fire look to have made more ‘bad’ picks than most other teams in the competition. It leaves them with a lot of work to do in both departments, at least they still have three overseas picks available to them.
As things stand, there’s also no balance to the XI. Of the six retentions they made, three are frontline batters, that offer nothing with the ball and three are frontline bowlers, that offer nothing with the bat. Even with the amount of picks they have available to them, this could be tough to fix at the draft.
Target areas:
- Domestic wrist spin - The Fire can target one of the more premium wrist spinners (Parkinson & Lintott). Of the two, I think Lintott would be a better fit for games in Cardiff.
- Domestic middle order batter - Ideally they’d bring back one of Du Plooy or Duckett, however, this seems unrealistic. The rumours are that they may go for Tom Abell for this role.
- Domestic ‘all-round’ option - They need to find a domestic player that can offer something with both bat and ball to give the squad some balance. David Willey would be the more expensive option but Ben Mike and Bas de Leede could be cheaper alternatives.
For the overseas picks, I’d be looking for a top order batter (number three), a pace bowler and then either a ‘finisher’ or a wrist spinner.
All in all, there’s a lot of work to do for Welsh Fire.
Overall retentions rating - 5/10
That concludes this article.
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