Auctions In England Cricket For First Time: The Hundred Goes IPL Way

After they sold their equity to private partners and teams either became fully or co-owned by firms, businesses and individuals, The Hundred is all set to embrace the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s auction culture too, starting next season. 

This was one of the key changes that was supposed to kick in once private investors bought stakes in all the eight teams of the 100-ball league. As a result, The Hundred 2026 will see its auction take place in March 2026. 

Thanks to auctions, the salary pot of the players have also increased manyfold, with the increase in the men’s category being 100% and that in the women’s being 45 per cent. 

The figure in the men's category will rise from £1.2 million to £2.05 million. The women’s category total spend per team will also increase and rise to £880,000 per team. 

While salary caps will be in place, the number of overseas players is also set to increase if permitted by the government of the United Kingdom. Each team used to have a maximum of three overseas players in their playing 11. However, the number will increase to four per team from 2026 onwards. 

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, there will be no option of right to match, but teams will have the option to pre-sign. The provision of wildcard signings from the T20 Blast would continue in the new format too. 

But for the wildcards, there would be no auction or pre-signing, and they could be included in the squad only through draft.