The Hundred draft: Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf picked up by Welsh Fire

London [UK] March 24 (ANI): The Hundred draft on Thursday saw 30 men's players picked across the eight teams and overall 64 players were picked up across the men's and women's categories by eight teams.
Welsh Fire went above and beyond to snap the Pakistan pacer duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf for the tournament.
Welsh Fire's new coach Michael Hussey first selected Tom Abell and Tim David in the draft, then the head coach went to pick the Pakistan pacer duo, as well as the all-round skills of David Willey.
Domestic players were particularly popular once again, with several key overseas players, including Babar Azam, Kieron Pollard, and Trent Boult, remaining unsold - in some cases due to availability concerns.
After the Vitality Blast group stages, each team will be able to sign two more players as 'wildcards,' as well as any replacement players needed before the Hundred begins on August 1.
Welsh Fire:
Retained: Jonny Bairstow (central contract), Joe Clarke, Ollie Pope, David Payne, Jake Ball and George Scrimshaw.
Draft picks: Tom Abell, David Willey, Shaheen Afridi, Glenn Phillips, Haris Rauf, Roelof van der Merwe, Stevie Eskinazi and Dan Douthwaite.
Southern Brave:
Retained: Jofra Archer (central contract), James Vince, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Rehan Ahmed, Craig Overton, Finn Allen, George Garton, James Fuller, Alex Davies and Joe Weatherley.
Draft picks: Leus du Plooy, Tim David and Devon Conway.
Northern Superchargers:
Retained: Ben Stokes (central contract), Adil Rashid, Harry Brook, Adam Lyth, Adam Hose, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, David Wiese, Wayne Parnell and Callum Parkinson.
Draft picks: Reece Topley, Tom Banton, Michael Bracewell and Bas de Leede.
London Spirit:
Retained: Mark Wood (central contract), Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Ellis, Liam Dawson, Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley, Jordan Thompson, Mason Crane, Adam Rossington, Chris Wood and Ravi Bopara.
Draft picks: Mitchell Marsh, Olly Stone and Michael Pepper.
Oval Invincibles:
Retained: Sam Curran (central contract), Sunil Narine, Will Jacks, Jason Roy, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood, Jordan Cox, Gus Atkinson, Danny Briggs and Nathan Sowter.
Draft picks: Heinrich Klaasen, Ross Whiteley and Ihsanullah.
Birmingham Phoenix:
Retained: Chris Woakes (central contract), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Shadab Khan, Adam Milne, Benny Howell, Will Smeed, Kane Richardson, Tom Helm, Chris Benjamin, Dan Mousley
Draft picks: Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Miles Hammond.
Trent Rockets:
Retained: Joe Root (central contract), Rashid Khan, Dawid Malan, Alex Hales, Lewis Gregory, Luke Wood, Colin Munro, Sam Cook, Daniel Sams, Samit Patel and Matt Carter.
Draft picks: Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sam Hain and Brad Wheal.
Manchester Originals:
Retained: Jos Buttler (central contract), Wanindu Hasaranga, Phil Salt, Jamie Overton, Tom Hartley, Richard Gleeson, Paul Walter, Josh Little, Wayne Madsen, Tom Lammonby and Mitchell Stanley.
Draft picks: Laurie Evans, Ashton Turner and Josh Tongue. (ANI)