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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

ZIMBABWE senior men’s national team T20I captain Sikandar Raza and senior women’s national team fast bowler Nomvelo Sibanda are leading the country’s registered players for the men and women’s draft of The Hundred.

Out of the 15 listed Zimbabwean players for the overseas draft, the two are the only ones who managed to have a prices attached to their names. 

The other 13 players have no reserve prices.

The draft for the players is pencilled for March 20 and that is when the Chevrons and Lady Chevrons players will go under the hammer for a chance to play in the unique cricket competition.

In the men’s registered overseas player draft, the Chevrons’ star all-rounder, Raza has a reserve price of British Pounds 100 000. He is in the same category as the likes of Hassan Ali (Pakistan), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan), Shamar Joseph (West Indies), Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Naseem Shah (Pakistan), David Warner (Australia) and Hazratullah Zazai (Afghanistan).

The highest overseas player price is British Pounds 125 000 and Raza is one of the highly rated players in the world at the moment. The other Chevrons players registered for the draft, who, however, have no reserve price are Ryan Burl, Craig Ervine, Bradley Evans, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Sean Williams.

In the women’s category, the left handed Sibanda is the only Lady Chevrons player with a reserve price for the women’s draft. The 27-year-old who is part of the Lady Chevrons team in the 2024 All Africa Games in Ghana attracted a reserve price of British Pounds 11  000 and is the only player rated at that amount.

Sibanda has been an integral part of the Lady Chevrons team in the 20-over format since making her debut in 2019. 

She has picked 47 wickets in 42 T20I innings for Zimbabwe women and has best match figures of 5/14. In One Day Internationals, Sibanda has six wickets in nine innings.

The other Lady Chevrons players in the draft are Christabel Chatonzwa, Anesu Mushangwe, Mary-Anne Musonda, Kelis Ndhlovu, Josephine Nkomo, Loryn Phiri and Loreen Tshuma. 

This year’s edition of The Hundred will be the fourth after its introduction in 2021. 

No Zimbabwean international has ever played in The Hundred before.

The Hundred is a 100-ball cricket tournament involving teams in major cities across England and Wales run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The format was invented with the expectation that each match would last around two- and-a-half hours.

Eight city-based teams compete in the tournament. 

All men’s and women’s matches are held on the same day at the same grounds. In total there are 32 matches in the league stage of the tournament. 

Each team plays four matches at home and four matches away, and this includes one match against every other side and then a second bonus match against their nearest regional rivals.

The team that finishes top of the league progresses straight into the final. The teams finishing second and third compete in the Eliminator with the winner progressing into the final.

The commencement dates for the upcoming edition of the tournament are yet to be confirmed. –@brandon_malvin