Nicholas Pooran, the West Indian big hitter, and Meg Lanning, the Australian superstar, were the highlights of The Hundred Draft, powered by Sage. They were selected as the first picks for Northern Superchargers and London Spirit, respectively.
In the women's competition, England's wicket-keeper, Amy Jones, was the first player to be selected, re-joining Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine at her local club, Birmingham Phoenix.
Andrew Flintoff, the England Men's legend, selected Pooran with the first pick of the men's competition. Pooran was the first of five West Indian men to be chosen in the first round of picks, along with Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, and Shimron Hetmyer.
Several other players, including Dawid Malan, Amy Jones, Tom Banton, Ollie Pope, Lauren Filer, Beth Mooney, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Ash Gardner, were also on the move.
Amy Jones, the first pick of the night, will participate in the opening game of The Hundred's fourth year. Her Phoenix team will travel to The Kia Oval on Tuesday 23 July to face the Oval Invincibles. This match is the first of 68 games that will offer world-class men's and women's sporting action, live music, and a range of family-friendly entertainment.
The top hundred draft picks
Birmingham Phoenix Women’s: Amy Jones, Richa Ghosh, Katie Levick, Seren Smale, Ailsa Lister, Chloe Brewer
Birmingham Phoenix Men’s: Naseem Shah, Sean Abbott, James Fuller, Daniel Mousley
London Spirit Women’s: Meg Lanning, Cordelia Griffith, Eva Gray, Hannah Jones, Niamh Holland
London Spirit Men’s: Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, Richard Gleeson, Ollie Pope, Michael Pepper
Manchester Original Women’s: Beth Mooney, Sophie Molineux, Lauren Filer, Eve Jones, Phoebe Graham
Manchester Original Men’s: Sikandar Raza, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Josh Hull
Northern Superchargers Women’s: Annabel Sutherland, Grace Ballinger, Lucy Higham, Ella Claridge, Davina Perrin
Northern Superchargers Men’s: Nicholas Pooran, Daniel Sams, Tom Lawes, Graham Clark
Oval Invincibles Women’s: Chamari Athapaththu, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Jo Gardner, Lizzie Scott, Georgie Boyce
Oval Invincibles Men’s: Dawid Malan, Donovan Ferreira, Tom Lammonby
Southern Brave Women’s: Smriti Mandhana, Naomi Dattani, Lauren Cheatle, Kalea Moore, Tilly Corteen-Coleman
Southern Brave Men’s: Kieron Pollard, Laurie Evans, Akeal Hosein, Danny Briggs
Trent Rockets Women’s: Ash Gardner, Grace Scrivens, Heather Graham, Katie George, Josie Groves, Kira Chathli, Cassidy McCarthy
Trent Rockets Men’s: Rovman Powell, Imad Wasim, Tom Banton, Calvin Harrison, Jordan Thompson, Adam Lyth
Welsh Fire Women’s: Jess Jonassen, Phoebe Franklin, Ella McCaughan, Claire Nicholas, Alex Griffiths
Welsh Fire Men’s: Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shaheen Afridi, Jake Ball
Last season, a record-breaking 580,000 fans attended The Hundred, with over 300,000 attending the women's competition. The Hundred's unique combination of high-quality sport and entertainment resulted in 41% of tickets being sold to families, 23% to juniors, and 30% to women.