How the Hundred teams shape up after the 2022 draft

London Spirit

Overall team rating 6/10

The best thing that can be said for the Spirit squad this year is that it is stronger than last year’s effort, but it still has a few notable weaknesses. Kieron Pollard being taken as their first pick was a strange choice as he is unlikely to play much and there were players with better availability and of higher quality, such as Andre Russell. The depth in the batting department is also weaker than it needs to be if Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence will be missing for Test duty and I’m not convinced the likes of Ravi Bopara and Daniel Bell-Drummond are good enough to replace them. The strength in depth is better in the bowling department if the likes of Mark Wood miss out for Test duty or through injury with the likes of Blake Cullen and Brad Wheal likely to start on the bench and both are good options at this level. They also have a pair of solid spinners in Hampshire duo Liam Dawson and Mason Crane so I do think they are good enough to finish midtable at least.  

Best lineup 

Zak Crawley

Adam Rossington (WK)

Dan Lawrence

Eoin Morgan ©

Glenn Maxwell

Kieron Pollard

Jordan Thompson

Liam Dawson

Mark Wood

Mason Crane

Riley Meredith

Bench

Daniel Bell Drummond

Ravi Bopara

Blake Cullen

Chris Wood

Brad Wheal

Welsh Fire

Overall team rating 7/10

Welsh Fire have improved significantly on last year, recruiting a very explosive top six for this year’s competition as well as world class leg spinner Adam Zampa. Joe Clarke and Tom Banton were the outstanding domestic talents on offer during the draft and the Fire managed to pick up both. On paper, Fire now have the best domestic batting options. Weaknesses ahead of the draft in the retention period means that they haven’t quite rectified their fifth bowler issue, with the current situation that either Matt Critchley or Ryan Higgins will be required to bat at seven and bowl four overs. If Jonny Bairstow goes to Test duty, they can rectify that slightly by picking Josh Cobb who might be able to fill in with a couple of overs but this is far from ideal. The main four bowlers provide a nice balance however, with powerplay specialist David Payne, the exciting Naseem Shah, who’s availability is slightly in doubt and death bowler Jake Ball alongside Zampa. The depth for these bowlers is low however, with only four bowlers and three all rounders contracted in total. Two new bowlers are essential at the wildcard draft to boost this depth, ideally with an overseas who can bat seven too. The depth for the batting is also of questionable quality if both Bairstow and Ollie Pope play Test cricket. 

Best lineup

Jonny Bairstow ©

Tom Banton (WK)

Joe Clarke

Ben Duckett

David Miller

Ollie Pope

Matt Critchley

David Payne

Adam Zampa

Jake Ball

Naseem Shah

Bench

Leus Du Plooy

Sam Hain

Josh Cobb

Jacob Bethell

Ryan Higgins

Manchester Originals

Overall team rating 8/10

I was very impressed with the work the Manchester Originals have done during the draft and they could be given the bonus of Jos Buttler being available for the whole tournament this year, which is worth more than any £125,000 signing. Andre Russell and Wanindu Hasaranga are both world class options although neither will play the full tournament with Russell missing the last few games at least for the CPL and Hasaranga unlikely to be around for much. I think Sean Abbott is an underrated signing in a poor market for both overseas and domestic seamers and he will be a key player across the season. The big strength of Manchester remains the spin duo of Tom Hartley and Matt Parkinson with Hasaranga and Calvin Harrison also thrown in on traditionally spin friendly Old Trafford surfaces. I really like the Laurie Evans signing and for me he has proven himself as the third best player available in the draft after Clarke and Banton. Dan Worrall was a leftfield selection but he is a good powerplay operator, the Australian who plays as a domestic player may have to be used at the death in this squad however, which is far from his strength.  There is decent depth in this squad, with all of the bench players, with the possible exception of Ollie Robinson, having a strong chance of being in the side and making an impact. An overseas finisher would be a good option in the wild card draft to cover Russell and Hasaranga with a domestic player to bat at three also on their agenda. 

Best lineup

Phil Salt

Jos Buttler © (WK)

Wayne Madsen

Laurie Evans

Tom Lammonby

Andre Russell

Wanindu Hasaranga

Sean Abbott

Tom Hartley

Daniel Worrall

Matthew Parkinson

Bench

Colin Ackermann

Jamie Overton

Fred Klaasen

Ollie Robinson

Calvin Harrison

Northern Superchargers

Overall team ranking 8/10

My first reaction to the Northern Superchargers draft was similar to many others; questioning whether this squad had been assembled for a competition taking place five years ago. But as I looked through it I saw more and more of a plan, which is a welcome relief after last season. Last year Superchargers really struggled bowling at the death and they have tried to rectify this in the draft with the signings of Wahab Riaz and Dwayne Bravo. I like the signing of Bravo but I’m not convinced Riaz is quite good enough now. Nevertheless, I think signing two seam bowlers makes sense. The addition of two death bowlers allows David Willey to bowl almost exclusively in the powerplay and Adil Rashid and Brydon Carse to star in the middle overs. Last year the Headingley based side had too many opening batter options and these have been streamlined by removing Chris Lynn and Tom Kohler Cadmore from the equation. Losing Jordan Thompson is a blow to the squad but he was misused last year, often not selected or used in the wrong batting positions so may not affect the team’s performance. Batting wise, Faf Du Plessis and Harry Brook are under a fair amount of pressure with Adam Lyth not having the best season last year and John Simpson unlikely to reproduce last year’s exploits based on his previous t20 performances. They do however have batting depth with Luke Wright and Adam Hose both very capable of contributing from the bench if somebody loses form. I think this squad has a lot of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL about it, which I doubt is a coincidence with long-term CSK player Faf Du Plessis leading the side. 

Best Lineup

Adam Lyth

Faf Du Plessis ©

Ben Stokes

David Willey

Harry Brook

John Simpson (WK)

Brydon Carse

Dwayne Bravo

Roelof Van Der Merwe

Adil Rashid

Wahab Riaz

Bench

Luke Wright

Adam Hose

Callum Parkinson

Matthew Potts

Oval Invincibles

Overall team rating 8/10

I really like the Oval Invincibles core squad and re-signing Sunil Narine makes a lot of sense with both bat and ball. I really like the signing of Rilee Roussow too and I think he adds a lot of middle order intent to the squad on the back of a strong Pakistan Super League. Matt Milnes is also very good value cover for their high quality English seam attack which boasts Reece Topley and Saqib Mahmood as well as both Sam and Tom Curran. Danny Briggs is also a very astute addition. Where I think they are weak is with their cover players as neither Jack Leaning or Nathan Sowter convince me as strong options and they lack a high quality wrist spinner to complement Narine. Hilton Cartwright strikes me as a strange signing with Invincibles prioritising availability over ability here. I’m not convinced Cartwright is a massive upgrade on the potential of Jordan Cox who would have started instead and I think they could have gone for a Noor Ahmed or Zahir Khan type spinner as an alternative.

Best Lineup

Jason Roy

Will Jacks

Rilee Roussow

Hilton Cartwright

Sam Billings

Sunil Narine

Sam Curran

Tom Curran

Saqib Mahmood

Danny Briggs

Reece Topley

Bench

Jordan Cox

Jack Leaning

Rory Burns

Matt Milnes

Nathan Sowter

Trent Rockets

Overall team rating 5/10

This might be a bit controversial as a lot of cricket writers were impressed with their business and squad but I’m not so convinced. I think they have too many players who want to play in the same role. Tom Kohler Cadmore and Alex Hales are very similar players for me and with Dawid Malan, Colin Munro, Iain Cockbain and Joe Root (when available) also wanting to bat in the top three something has to give. I don’t really get spending so much on Kohler Cadmore and I think they would have been better off letting him go by and investing in a quick bowler like Jhye Richardson. In a first choice lineup, I’m not convinced Kohler Cadmore should make the team, he’s a good player in the right team but I don’t think this is it.  Tom Moores has yet to deliver regularly on the potential he has shown in glimpses and Lewis Gregory’s weakness against spin makes him a limited player for how much he cost. I really like Samit Patel and I think he is the key to balancing the side, but he can’t do that on his own. Rashid Khan is obviously the best T20 bowler in the world but he is unlikely to be available too often. I do really like the domestic spin duo of Patel and Matthew Carter though, with Root a strong matchup option when available. Marchant De Lange had a very good tournament last year but he has an awful lot of pressure on him to deliver again and his overall T20 record is not exceptional. Luke Wood is a very talented operator but I’m not sure Sam Cook and Luke Fletcher are of the level if required to cover. 

Best lineup

Alex Hales

Colin Munro

Joe Root

Dawid Malan

Tom Moores

Lewis Gregory

Samit Patel

Rashid Khan

Marchant De Lange

Luke Wood

Matt Carter

Bench

Tom Moores

Luke Fletcher

Steven Mullaney

Iain Cockbain

Sam Cook

Birmingham Phoenix

Overall team rating 8/10

Phoenix had a great squad ahead of this year’s draft, however, the decisions made for 2022 disappointed me a tad. Matthew Wade as an overseas addition made sense although I do think they could have waited and signed him in the 60K category and gone for a Jhye Richardson type at £125K. As it happens they’ve invested in a few seamers with high upsides but lowish returns and fitness levels. Henry Brookes was already selected for Birmingham but the addition of Olly Stone at £100K raised a lot of eyebrows given his regular injuries and not amazing T20 performances, although admittedly there aren’t too many domestic seamer options. Matthew Fisher ahead of Matt Milnes was a strange pick too with Fisher often expensive when he’s played T20 and also having his own injury issues. Fisher could also be picked for Test cricket this summer. I love the Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone duo with the bat however, and with Smeed and Wade ahead of them this is, along with the Welsh Fire, the best batting lineup in the competition, particularly when you throw in Chris Benjamin, Miles Hammond, Tom Abell, Chris Woakes and Benny Howell. They do lack a wrist spinner in the squad which will need to be rectified at the wildcard draft. 

Best team

Matthew Wade

Will Smeed

Moeen Ali

Liam Livingstone

Miles Hammond

Chris Benjamin

Benny Howell

Chris Woakes

Adam Milne

Kane Richardson

Olly Stone

Bench

Tom Abell

Graeme Van Buuren

Matthew Fisher

Henry Brookes

Jack Leach

Southern Brave

Overall team rating 9/10

Southern Brave had very little to do to shape their squad for this season and the retention of Quinton de Kock was the worst kept secret in the draft. Rehan Ahmed is an intriguing selection having never played a professional t20 game and I think Joe Weatherley could have gone higher up in the draft after his performances for Hampshire in last year’s Blast. Dan Moriarty is a very solid performer who will replace Danny Briggs from last year. The bowling attack they have is far better than any other team  bar perhaps the Oval Invincibles with Jofra Archer likely to play a part this year to make it even stronger. In Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David they have a really explosive side although teams will be looking to match them up with spin. 

Best team

Marcus Stoinis

Quinton de Kock

James Vince

Alex Davies

Tim David

Ross Whiteley

Jofra Archer

Chris Jordan

George Garton

Jake Lintott

Tymal Mills

Bench

Rehan Ahmed

Joe Weatherley

Dan Moriarty

Craig Overton