Hundred teams given player retention deadline of February 4

As part of the process after the postponement of the competition in 2020, it was agreed that the eight men’s teams could retain as many – or all – of their 15-man squads for the 2021 tournament, with a maximum of three overseas players each

The Hundred: Full squad lists

The deadline for player retentions ahead of the inaugural edition of The Hundred has been set for February 4.

As part of the process after the postponement of the competition in 2020, it was agreed that the eight men’s teams could retain as many – or all – of their 15-man squads for the 2021 tournament, with a maximum of three overseas players each.

At the end of that period, any gaps in the squads caused by teams opting not to retain players or players failing to agree terms will then be filled in a mini-draft.

During the retention window, salary bands – which have been reduced as part of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic – are flexible, with players already under contract from the 2019 draft free to negotiate up and down the list of price brackets.

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The likes of Dawid Malan and Joe Clarke, for example, may have viewed this as an opportunity to benefit from their form in T20 cricket over the last 12 months. Malan is the world’s top-ranked T20I batsman and Clarke enjoyed a stellar T20 Blast campaign with Nottinghamshire, but both were £40,000 signings in the sixth round of the draft in October 2019.

Crucially, only players already under contract from that draft are able to take part in the retention window, with those who missed out on deals having to wait for the partial redraft that follows. As it stands, 53 players have re-signed for their respective teams.

Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow among latest batch of players retained by Hundred teams

The women’s competition is structured differently, with players signed during a two-stage process without a draft. All contracts from 2020 can be rolled over, with those who choose not to available to be selected in an open-market system.

Following a raft of deals announced on Tuesday – 54 in total, signings for the women’s squads will continue to be announced in the coming months.