David Warner will return to Lord’s for the first time since his flashpoint with spectators in the Long Room two years ago after being snapped up in The Hundred draft by London Spirit.
Warner and Usman Khawaja had an extraordinary altercation with Marylebone Cricket Club members, one of whom was expelled and two others suspended, during a fiery conclusion to the second Ashes Test in 2023.
But Warner is set to call Lord’s home from August 5-31 and play in The Hundred for the first time after the Spirit agreed to pay the 38-year-old former Australia opening batter’s base price of £120,000.
But Jason Roy, England’s 2019 World Cup winning opener, was overlooked for the second year in a row and James Anderson and Rocky Flintoff, son of Northern Superchargers head coach Andrew, also missed out.
After finishing bottom of the men’s standings last year, the Lord’s-based Spirit were handed first pick and selected England fast bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton, who receives a bumper £200,000 pay day.
Also in the top wage bracket was ex-England left-armer David Willey, who will move to Trent Rockets, while spinners Noor Ahmad and Michael Bracewell went to Manchester Originals and Southern Brave respectively.
England’s record wicket-taker Anderson put himself forward despite not playing a T20 since 2014 and, having been snubbed at December’s Indian Premier League auction, the 42-year-old found no takers again.
At the other end of the spectrum is 16-year-old Flintoff but while he attracted no bids, his England Lions team-mate Ben McKinney, an opener with Durham, was bought by Manchester Originals for £78,500.
Seventeen-year-old Harry Moore, an emerging prospect with Derbyshire and England Under-19s, was acquired by Birmingham Phoenix for £41,500, with Jafer Chohan fetching the same price for the Spirit.
England Test opener Zak Crawley is set for a £125,000 windfall after being purchased by the Superchargers and compatriots Joe Clarke, Lewis Gregory and David Payne were put in the same banding.
New Zealand pair Lockie Ferguson and Rachin Ravindra, who like Bracewell helped the Black Caps reach the Champions Trophy final at the weekend, were also in the same six-figure bracket.
England paceman Mark Wood’s recent injury issues always meant he was unlikely to be signed up, with his £200,000 reserve effectively a placeholder in case he appeared as a replacement player later on.
England capped players Reece Topley, Rehan Ahmed and Dawid Malan made the cut, signed for £52,000 as 39 slots in the men’s draw and 29 in the women’s were filled out of more than 800 player entries.
In the women’s draft, England captain Heather Knight was signed by Spirit after leading them to their maiden title last year.
Birmingham had the first pick and tried to recruit Paige Scholfield, Sophia Dunkley and Knight but were dashed by other teams’ right-to-match-option, so instead plumped for Australia’s Georgia Voll.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy, who set a reserve price of £50,000, was conspicuously overlooked.
