Trent Rockets retain duo as first batch of players confirmed for The Hundred in 2021.
- Trent Rockets retain Joe Root and Nat Sciver for inaugural The Hundred competition next summer
- 18 players have today committed to The Hundred as the three-month Retention Window opens
The first 18 players confirmed to take part in The Hundred have been revealed today – with Trent Rockets announcing that Joe Root and Nat Sciver will remain with the team.
England Men’s Test captain Root and England Women’s all-rounder Sciver have been retained from the Trent Rockets’ initial men’s and women’s playing squads respectively.
The duo join the 18-strong list of players, including the likes of England stars Ben Stokes, Amy Jones, Kate Cross and Jos Buttler, who have today been confirmed to play in cricket’s new 100-ball competition.
This news marks the start of a three-month process where, until the end of January, each of the eight teams will be able to retain players from their original men’s squads for the 2021 season.
The teams are also able to retain and sign players to complete their women’s squads. A draft will be held in early 2021 to allocate the remaining players for the men’s squads.
Joe Root said: “It has been a tough year for everyone and I think the players will welcome the opportunity to put on a show next summer in a fresh competition like The Hundred.
“I’m sure there will be plenty of entertainment and I know everyone will be very keen to win it.
“We had a great draft last year and I’m looking forward to seeing how our final squad takes shape over the next few months.”
Nat Sciver said: “Having been chosen to captain Trent Rockets, I didn’t hesitate in choosing to roll-over my contract. I’ve seen the squad we’re putting together and there’s some serious talent there.
“As well as that, Salliann Briggs and I had had a few chats about how we saw things going so I wanted to continue what we’d started. It’s going to be a really good competition and I’m excited about 2021 coming round.”
Today’s announcement has confirmed that ten of England’s men’s Test stars, including Root, will be contracted when the competition launches next year. The first eight women’s players have also been unveiled, including a host of England players and two of the West Indies’ star performers.
Most teams have retained the same Test players that were due to play for them this year, before the competition was postponed due to Covid-19, with only England batsmen Ollie Pope (Welsh Fire) and Rory Burns (Oval Invincibles) moving teams.
London Spirit have decided to keep hold of Zak Crawley and there’s more good news for Spirit fans with Deandra Dottin re-signing off the back of some impressive form against England in the recent Vitality IT20 Series.
Across the Thames, Oval Invincibles have retained their two England players with Sam Curran and Fran Wilson both confirming their commitment to the men’s and women’s teams respectively.
Further south, Southern Brave keep a pair of their stars with Jofra Archer and West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor signing up, but with Pope joining Welsh Fire they’ll now have a space to fill in the men’s draft.
The two northern teams remain unchanged with Kate Cross and Jos Buttler staying at Manchester Originals and Lauren Winfield-Hill and Ben Stokes remaining Northern Superchargers players.
England men’s all-rounder Chris Woakes and England women’s wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones will stay at Birmingham Phoenix, wo have also signed new Test-contracted batsman Dominic Sibley.
Sanjay Patel, Managing Director for The Hundred, said: “This is a really exciting moment for The Hundred to see where the Test centrally contracted men’s players will be playing next year and to announce the first retained players for the women’s teams.
“Over the next few months we will see world-class players and massive names from around the world committing to The Hundred and we can’t wait to launch the competition in 2021.”