Williamson, Boult eye The Hundred

Thirty New Zealand cricketers are among those chasing spots in England’s new competition The Hundred, with stars Kane Williamson and Trent Boult setting their bars the highest.

Williamson and Boult set their respective reserve prices at £100,000 (about NZ$204,000) for the inaugural player draft to be staged early on Monday (NZT).

That places them on the second of seven salary bands from which the eight team coaches – including former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming with Trent Rockets – can piece together their rosters for next year’s tournament.

It’s a tight race for overseas players, with just three per team meaning a maximum of 24 will be picked from a total of 239 who have entered the draft. No current Indian players have been permitted to enter by their board, while 53 Australians are in the mix.

Only six foreign players carry the top tier reserve of £125,000 ($255,000): Australian trio Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc along with big-hitting West Indian Chris Gayle, Sri Lanka veteran Lasith Malinga and South African quick Kagiso Rabada.

Williamson and Boult are among 17 in the £100,000 bracket while Black Caps opener Martin Guptill has set his reserve next highest of the New Zealand contingent at £60,000 ($122,000).

Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Ross Taylor are in the next band of £50,000 ($102,000).

Most of the overseas hopefuls have not set a reserve, including 16 of the 30 New Zealanders listed.

The Hundred is the England and Wales Cricket Board’s alternative to Twenty20 cricket and will be played in next year’s English summer.

As the name suggests, both teams will face 100 balls rather than the 120 of T20, with bowlers permitted to deliver a maximum of 20 including up to 10 in one ‘over’. It means a match will span 21⁄2 hours.