Pakistan captain Fatima Sana became the first Pakistani cricketer to be selected for the women’s edition of The Hundred after Birmingham Phoenix picked her in Thursday’s draft.
The Pakistan captain and all-rounder occupied the Phoenix’s fourth overseas spot, which had opened up after Cricket Australia withdrew Lucy Hamilton in order to manage her workload.
Sana will earn the minimum tournament salary of £15,000 (approximately PKR 5.6 million), although her participation may be limited due to Pakistan’s scheduled tour of Sri Lanka from July 23 to August 4.
His selection comes just hours after a remarkable all-round performance in Pakistan’s narrow defeat against South Africa at Phoenix’s home ground of Edgbaston. Sana top-scored with an unbeaten 55 from 38 balls at No. 8, before taking 3 from 16 as South Africa headed home with two wickets in hand.
Sana becomes the third Pakistani player to land a contract in The Hundred this year. She joins Usman Tariq at Birmingham Phoenix, while mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed is set to represent Sunrisers Leeds after being signed for £190,000 at the March auction.
Its inclusion allayed fears that Pakistani players could be sidelined under the tournament’s new Indian ownership structure.
Elsewhere in the wildcard draft, several Women’s T20 World Cup players have reached deals. Each franchise signed two men’s players and two women’s players to minimum contracts to complete their teams.
Scottish fly-halfs Darcey Carter and Katherine Fraser were picked by Sunrisers Leeds and Southern Brave respectively, both qualifying as homegrown players.
In the men’s competition, notable selections included Sussex seamer Henry Crocombe who joined the London Spirit after a recent England Test call-up, while MI London added young fast bowlers Eddie Jack and Seb Morgan. Southern Brave have also secured England Under-19 point guard Manny Lumsden.
The Hundred will run from July 21 to August 16 this summer, marking the first season since private investors took partial or full control of the franchises following the sale of stakes in the teams last year.
One Hundred Men’s Jokers (£31,000)
- Welsh Fire: Jordan Clark, Dillon Pennington
- Southern Brave: Manny Lumsden, Saif Zaib
- Manchester Super Giants: James Sales, Adam Finch
- Spirit of London: Henry Crocombe, Kiran Carlson
- Birmingham Phoenix: Tom Helm, Sean Dickson
- MI London: Eddie Jack, Sebastian Morgan
- Sunrisers Leeds: Matty Revis, Charlie Allison
- Trent Rockets: Ben Raine, Ben Sanderson.
Women’s Hundredth Wildcards (£15,000)
- Birmingham Phoenix: Mary Taylor, Fatima Sana
- Welsh Fire: Niamh Fiona Holland, Georgia Davis
- Spirit of London: Trudy Johnson, Liv Barnes
- Trent Rockets: Amu Surenkumar, Eve Jones
- Manchester Super Giants: Mia Rogers, Beth Langston
- MI London: Kate Coppack, Francesca Sweet
- Southern Brave: Naomi Dattani, Katherine Fraser
- Sunrisers Leeds: Darcey Carter, Sophia Turner.
