The list of cricketers withdrawing from its inaugural edition continues to grow longer. Kane Williamson, Nicholas Pooran, Aaron Finch and Meg Lanning are among the latest high-profile names to pull out of the tournament.
The Hundred, aimed to cater to new audiences, starts on 21 July, with eight city-based based teams competing for the title. One of the main reasons for players opting out of the league has been the jam-packed international summer.
Australia will be touring West Indies for five T20Is at the same time, while South Africa have limited-overs series lined up in Ireland. Finch’s departure means only two Australians – Chris Lynn and Josh Inglis – will be taking part in the tournament.
The Northern Superchargers have named Faf du Plessis as replacement for Finch, and have roped Laura Wolvaardt in for Alyssa Healy. Olly Stone has withdrawn as well, owing to a back injury. Jordan Thompson will be taking his place for the Superchargers.
Williamson was also ruled out owing to a recurrent elbow injury that has been troubling him for some time. Finn Allen will fill the void left by Williamson for Birmingham Phoenix. They also brought in Adam Milne for Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The Welsh Fire will be missing the service of Meg Lanning, Jhye Richardson, and Kieron Pollard for the first half of the tournament. Glenn Phillips will take his place until Pollard arrives.
Oval Invincibles are lucky in this regard. Only Rachael Haynes has withdrawn her name from the squad. The franchise called in Shabnim Ismail to replace Haynes.
Pooran joined Kagiso Rabada, Harry Gurney and Shadab Khan among the players set to be unavailable for Manchester Originals.