Having made a return to T20 cricket after 14 years for Lancashire in the ongoing T20 Blast, the 43-year-old James Anderson is gearing up for his maiden stint in the fifth edition of the Hundred with his home city-based Manchester Originals, after being one of the two picks for the Old Trafford side. Anderson has been amongst wickets for Lancashire, picking up 14 scalps in eight matches in the T20 Blast and has formed a colossal bowling trio with Luke Wood and Chris Green.
Originals got their hands on Anderson as well as T20 veteran Marchant de Lange, who has been part of the Trent Rockets in the past in the Hundred and has been among wickets in a few matches for Gloucestershire in the Blast. Other notable picks for the men's teams included Hilton Cartwright, the only overseas player by the Southern Brave, who had added Jason Roy as Faf du Plessis' replacement earlier.
Ben Sanderson, the Northants bowler and the second highest wicket-taker in the Blast, was signed by the Trent Rockets, who also got the left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson to pile their spin stocks with the departure of Rashid Khan. The Northern Superchargers, with Andrew Flintoff as the head coach, signed the former England all-rounder's son, Rocky, who is yet to play senior T20 cricket but has T20 hundreds to his name for England U19 and for Lions, while being just 17.
Abi Norgrove (London Spirit), Esmae Macgregor (Originals), Sophia Turner (Superchargers) and Alex Griffiths (Welsh Fire) were among the notable picks for the women's competition. The fifth edition of the Hundred commences at Lord's on August 5 with the London Derby for both men and women, with the Spirit (women's champions) taking on the Oval Invincibles (men's champions).
Wildcard Picks
Birmingham Phoenix
Men: Liam Patterson-White, Louis Kimber
Women: Mary Taylor, Phoebe Brett
London Spirit
Men: Sean Dickson, Ryan Higgins
Women: Abi Norgrove, Kate Coppack
Manchester Originals
Men: James Anderson, Marchant de Lange
Women: Darcey Carter, Esmae Macgregor
Northern Superchargers
Men: James Fuller, Rocky Flintoff
Women: Katherine Fraser, Sophia Turner
Oval Invincibles
Men: George Scrimshaw, Zafar Gohar
Women: Daisy Gibb, Rebecca Odgers
Southern Brave
Men: Toby Albert, Hilton Cartwright
Women: Phoebe Turner, Amara Carr
Trent Rockets
Men: Callum Parkinson, Ben Sanderson
Women: Grace Thompson, Sophie Morris
Welsh Fire
Men: Ajeet Singh Dale, Ben Kellaway
Women: Charley Phillips, Alex Griffiths
