DRAW LOTS FOR ROOT

Hundred sides in ballot to land England captain

EnGLand stars Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Rory Burns face a ballot before being picked for a Hundred team at the competition’s official launch tomorrow.

England’s Test captain, wicketkeeper and leading opening batsmen are the red-ball players who have not been selected by one of the eight franchises ahead of the launch.

now the three Hundred franchises who do not have Test players on their books will draw lots to determine who gets first choice of the trio.

In a complex system designed by the ECB, each of the eight franchises has the option to pick one of the eight available England players with Test contracts who belong to their constituent counties.

In most cases such decisions are straightforward — Lancashire’s Jos Buttler will play at Old Trafford, Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes at Edgbaston and Jofra archer at Southampton because he is registered to their junior partner Sussex.

But with more England players on their books, the teams based at Headingley and the Oval had more options.

Leeds franchise northern Superchargers opted for Ben Stokes of durham ahead of Yorkshire duo Root and Bairstow, while Sam Curran was picked by the Oval Invincibles. as a result, the franchises based at Lord’s, Trent Bridge and Cardiff will draw lots to decide who gets first choice of Root, Bairstow and Burns.

In addition to the destination of the England stars, each franchise’s two local Icon Players will be revealed tomorrow, decisions which have already been made and have caused some controversy.

Tom Curran will join brother Sam and England team-mate Jason Roy at the Oval, denying partners Kent any guaranteed big-name players at the franchise. adil Rashid and david Willey are expected to be confirmed as Icons at Headingley. Liam Livingstone and Matt Parkinson will play for the Manchester Originals at Old Trafford, with Worcestershire’s Moeen ali and Pat Brown earning deals with the Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston.

Perhaps the stand-out selection is Somerset’s Tom Banton as an Icon Player for the Western Fire. The 20-year-old batsman is understood to have capped a remarkable breakthrough season by being given a contract worth £100,000 to play at Cardiff.

There are seven wage bands in the Hundred ranging from £ 30,000 to £ 125,000 for the duration of the four-week tournament, with Banton being awarded the second highest.

The identity of the two England women’s players allocated to each franchise will also be revealed at tomorrow’s launch, which will take place at 1pm.