Aussies again in demand for English cricket's Hundred
Adam Zampa and Spencer Johnson, who helped bowl the Oval Invincibles to victory in last year’s edition of the men’s Hundred, head the list of Australian stars who have been retained for the 2024 tournament.
The Australian influence in England’s big-money 100-ball-a-side competition remains a dominant one with seven teams retaining a total of nine players who featured among the overseas rosters in 2023.
Paceman Johnson, now set to be an IPL millionaire, was one of the finds of last year’s tournament with his sensational debut for the London-based Invincibles when he took 3-1 off his 20 balls against the Manchester Originals.
He’s back, along with spin ace Zampa, even though both are also involved in the overlapping Major League Cricket season in the US with the Los Angeles Knight Riders.
Quick Spencer Johnson will be back for the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Allrounder Nathan Ellis will feature for Lord’s-based London Spirit and opener Matt Short for the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers, who will be coached this year by former England allround great Andrew Flintoff.
Ellyse Perry, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Wareham, all of whom are currently in action in the Women’s Premier League in India, will join Alana King back in the women’s competition.
Perry had been signed by Birmingham Phoenix as their captain last year but had to pull out of the tournament with a knee injury suffered in Australia’s one-day international series against Ireland.
One noticeable absentee from the list of the 137 players retained ahead of the fourth edition of The Hundred was England paceman Mark Wood, who could opt out of the event to help manage his workload over a busy home summer.
London Spirit have, instead, decided to instead use the spot dedicated to a centrally-contracted England player on opener Zak Crawley.
Other Australians could be picked up in the draft on March 20 before the four-week event begins on July 23 with the final to be held at Lord’s on August 18.
AUSTRALIANS RETAINED AS OVERSEAS PLAYERS FOR THE 2024 SEASON OF THE HUNDRED:
Men
London Spirit: Nathan Ellis
Northern Superchargers: Matt Short
Oval Invincibles: Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
Women
Birmingham Phoenix: Ellyse Perry
London Spirit: Grace Harris
Northern Superchargers: Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Wareham
Trent Rockets: Alana King