KARACHI: Captain Fatima Sana will become the first Pakistani player to feature in the women’s edition of The Hundred after being signed by Birmingham Phoenix in Thursday’s wild card draft.
The Pakistan captain and all-rounder is Phoenix’s fourth overseas slot, which opened up after Cricket Australia dropped Lucy Hamilton to manage her workload.
Although his participation will be limited due to Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka from July 23 to August 4, Sana will earn the tournament’s minimum salary of £15,000 (approximately PKR 5.6 million).
His selection comes hours after a fine all-round performance in Pakistan’s narrow defeat to South Africa at Edgbaston, Phoenix’s home ground. No
Sana became the third Pakistani player to be signed to The Hunter this year. He joins Usman Tariq at Birmingham Phoenix, while mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed is set to represent Sunrisers Leeds after being signed for £190,000 in the March auction.
He added that there were concerns that Pakistani players could be sidelined under the tournament’s new Indian franchise structure.
Elsewhere in the wild card draft, several players from the Women’s T20 World Cup have secured contracts. Each franchise signed two men’s and two women’s players to minimum contracts to complete their teams.
Scotland openers Darcy Carter and Catherine Fraser have been picked up by Sunrisers Leeds and Southern Brave respectively, having both qualified as local players.
In the men’s competition, notable selections include Sussex seamer Henry Crowcombe joining London Spirit after a recent England Test call-up, while MI London have added young pacers Eddie Jack and Seb Morgan. Southern Brave also secured England Under-19 pacer Manny Lumsden.
The hundred will run this summer from July 21 to August 16, marking the first season in which private investors have taken partial or full control of the franchises following last year’s sale of stakes in the teams.
Men’s Hundred Wildcards (£31,000)
- Welsh Fire: Jordan Clarke, Dillon Pennington
- Southern Brave: Manny Lumston, Saif Saif
- Manchester Supergiants: James Sales, Adam Finch
- London Spirit: Henry Grokamp, Kiran Carlson
- Birmingham Phoenix: Tom Helm, Sean Dixon
- MI London: Eddie Jack, Sebastian Morgan
- Sunrisers Leeds: Matty Revis, Charlie Allison
- Trent Rockets: Ben Raine, Ben Sanderson.
Women’s Hundred Wildcards (£15,000)