Joe misses out in Leeds Hundred cut
‘MAN OF MOMENT’ GETS NOD OVER ROOT
BEN Stokes edged out Joe Root for the right to head up The Hundred’s Leedsbased franchise, with the England captain admitting he never stood a chance against cricket’s man of the moment.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s new 100-ball franchise was launched on Thursday in an explosion of colourful shirts, with some of the country’s biggest names snapped up ahead of the full player draft on October 20.
Each of the eight teams announced five signings, one centrally-contracted Test player and two ‘local icons’ for the men’s sides and the first two members of their women’s roster.
Northern Superchargers, who represent Yorkshire and Durham, were forced to choose between White Rose favourites Root and Jonny Bairstow and Stokes – whose heroics in the World Cup and the Ashes made him the sport’s leading man in recent months.
They opted for Stokes, whose unforgettable match-winning century at Headingley is sure to ingratiate him to the locals, leaving Nottingham-based Trent Rockets to pick up Root, while Bairstow will head to Cardiff with Welsh Fire.
Root insisted there were no hard feelings about being overlooked and agreed Stokes was too tempting a proposition to turn down.
“I think anyone that had Stokesy at their disposal, especially off the back of this summer, was on to a winner really,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Virat Kohli, you’d have struggled to get first choice over Ben. It will be nice to see him back at Headingley and I’m sure some fond memories will flood back for him when he’s playing there again.”
Bairstow enjoyed the ‘red hair, red kit’ combination when he was assigned his new shirt and is embracing the change of scene.
There is no Welsh in the Bairstow lineage but he is friends with rugby union internationals Liam Williams and Jonathan Davies.
“I just messaged a couple of the Wales lads over at the World Cup in Japan and sent them a picture of the kit,” he said.
“It will feel weird going to Headingley and being in the away dressing room, but it’s an amazing honour to be one of the guys to figurehead a team.”
Southern Brave, who represent Hampshire and Sussex, have Jofra Archer as their main attraction, Jos Buttler heads up the Manchester Originals, Chris Woakes will take the field for Birmingham Phoenix and Sam Curran joins brother Tom and Jason Roy at the Oval Invincibles.
World Cup-winning captains Eoin Morgan and Heather Knight will both play for London Spirit at Lord’s.
Birmingham Phoenix:
London Spirit:
Manchester Originals: Jos Buttler: Saqid Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone;
Northern Superchargers: Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Lauren Winfield, Linsey Smith;
Oval Invincibles: Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Jason Roy, Laura Marsh,
Southern Brave: Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, James Vince, Anya Shrubsole, Danni Wyatt;
Trent Rockets: Joe Root, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Nat Sciver, Katherine Brunt;
Welsh Fire: Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Colin Ingram, Katie George, Bryony Smith.