Coles, Cox land bumper paydays in Men's Hundred auction

Thursday 12 March 2026 15:38, UK

James Coles fetched the highest ​price in the first round of bidding in the Men's Hundred auction as London Spirit paid £390,000 for the 21-year-old Sussex all-rounder.

Welsh Fire secured England's Joe Root and last year's tournament MVP Jordan Cox as they spent over half their budget on the duo.

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All eight franchises entered the bidding hall with just over £1m at their disposal to build their squads, with each already locking in four players apiece as direct signings and the Cardiff-based outfit spent big in the opening minutes.

They picked up Root - England's record Test run-scorer - for £240,000 and gambled even bigger (£300,000) on last year's leading scorer Cox.

After finishing bottom last year, the Fire's new investors fronted by Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil, splashed the cash in a bid to attract big name talent but left themselves just £487,000 to spend on their remaining eight places.

England's leading white-ball spinner Adil Rashid collected £250,000 from Southern Brave, James Vince switched to MI London for £190,000 and Jonny Bairstow fetched £160,000 as London Spirit's first new arrival.

Sunrisers Leeds, the rebranded successors to Northern Superchargers, were among those not to get a deal over the line in the first set of marquee players - surprisingly allowing all three hometown favourites Root, Rashid and Bairstow to go elsewhere.

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Ravi Bopara, speaking at The Hundred Auction:

"As a young man with that price tag on his head, there will naturally be some pressure on James Coles to perform. I guess London Spirit see something in him.

"I've had the pleasure of playing with him at Sussex - he's a very promising cricketer. He has plenty of time when he bats, and he contributes with the ball as well.

"He's done well in franchise cricket around the world, so it's a great opportunity for him. Hopefully he's young - and naïve enough - not to feel the pressure of the price tag."

Sky Sports Cricket's Eoin Morgan, at The Hundred Auction:

"We've had the highest bid for young James Coles - how magnificent was that?

"His ceiling is huge. He has foundations in the shortest format of the game, but he also has a strong base with eight first‑class hundreds.

"He impressed with the England Lions, he can bat in the top five, and he offers a huge amount with the ball in the powerplay or the middle overs.

"All-rounders are the most sought‑after players, so no surprise with Coles at all."

Pakistan will be represented at this summer's Hundred tournament after spinner Usman Tariq was signed by Birmingham Phoenix at the inaugural men's auction.

The England and Wales Cricket Board was compelled to issue formal denials of an effective 'shadow ban' being employed by some of the sides who have taken Indian investment, releasing a joint statement from all eight franchises affirming players would not be excluded on nationality.

The country's only female representatives - Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal - went unsold in the women's auction, Shaheen Shah Afridi withdrew from the men's sale on Wednesday evening and fellow quick Haris Rauf failed to attract an offer when he was put up for his reserve price of £100,000.

However fears of Pakistani players being frozen out proved unfounded as spinner Abrar Ahmed was signed by Indian-owned Sunrisers Leeds and Usman Tariq joined Birmingham Phoenix.

Tariq guaranteed Pakistani representation in this summer's tournament when he was signed for £140,000 by the Edgbaston-based Phoenix, though it was notable that only they and another American-backed side, Trent Rockets, made offers.

It was, therefore, a significant moment when Sunrisers - owned in full by the group behind Indian Premier League outfit Sunrisers Hyderabad - went in for, and won, the highly-rated leg-spinner Abrar at a cost of £190,000. Chief executive Kavya Maran was there in person to raise the paddle.

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The tournament runs from Tuesday July 21 to Sunday August 16, with Sunrisers Leeds Women and MI London Men starting their title defences on day one, at The Kia Oval.

Every match from the men's and women's competitions will be live on Sky Sports, including the eliminators on Friday August 14 and finals two days later, with every day seeing a women's game precede a men's fixture at the same venue.

Teams play eight group games, meeting six sides once and their local rivals twice.

MI London face London Spirit on two occasions, with the other home and away fixtures Sunrisers Leeds vs Manchester Super Giants, Trent Rockets vs Birmingham Phoenix, and Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire.

The men's and women's sides that top the league phase will qualify directly for the finals, with the sides ending second and third meeting in the eliminator to decide the table-toppers' opponents.