Hundred forks out for stars
STEVE Smith had no idea he was just hours away from pocketing nearly a quarter of a million dollars as one of the pin-up boys of England’s new “The Hundred” competition.
Ten Aussies shared just under $2 million as they were snapped up in yesterday’s player draft, in which West Indies megastar Chris Gayle was left on the shelf.
Last year Ricky Ponting bought Glenn Maxwell for $1.7 million in the Indian Premier League and yesterday another
Aussie legend zeroed in on the Victorian. This time it was London Spirit, coached by Shane Warne, that drafted Maxwell with its first pick.
Afghanistan mystery spinner Rashid Khan went No. 1, with Andre Russell next. Darren Lehmann’s Northern Superchargers used the No. 3 pick to take Aussie white-ball captain Aaron Finch.
Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc risked going unsold by placing the maximum price on their heads — $235,000. That meant they could only be picked in the first two rounds, which they were.
A weary Smith joined The Hundred draft broadcast via a TV cross from Sydney Harbour early yesterday, before New South Wales beat Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield.
But Smith was stumped when asked about the draft on Sunday night.
“When is that?” Smith said. “See how we go — (my) name’s in there so … if I get picked up I get picked up, and if I don’t I don’t. As far as I know (I’m available to play).
I’ll go where I’m told. I’d like to play.
“I think it’s a pretty cool concept and it would be cool to play in the first one.”
About 12 hours later and Smith was $235,000 richer, joining Starc at Welsh Fire.
Starc will earn $1500 a delivery during the 38-day tournament.
The radical new concept was invented to liven up cricket in England and take the game to new audiences, although it failed to make a big splash as the draft rolled out. While Sky Sports broadcast the Sunday night (UK time) draft live, it received little airplay yesterday.
England’s Rugby World Cup semi-final blockbuster against the All Blacks and the Liverpool-Manchester United 1-1 draw dominated headlines.
Indian captain Virat Kohli was among those cynical about The Hundred.
“I feel somewhere the commercial aspect is taking over the real quality of cricket and that hurts me. I’m all for the leagues, but not to experiment,” Kohli said last year.