2026 The Hundred season

2026 The Hundred season

Dates	21 July – 16 August 2026
Administrator	England and Wales Cricket Board
Cricket format	100-ball cricket
Tournament format(s)	Group stage and knockout
Participants	W: 8 M: 8
Matches	68 W: 34 M: 34
Official website	The Hundred
← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 The Hundred season will be the sixth season of The Hundred, a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament involving eight men's and women's teams located in major cities across United Kingdom. ^{[1] [2]}

The previous year's women's tournament was won for the first time by the Northern Superchargers, while the men's Oval Invincibles won their third consecutive title. ^{[3] [4]}

Background

In late 2025, the ECB finalised deals that valued the eight teams at over £975 million. ^[5] This restructuring was designed to secure the long-term financial health of the game, with over £500 million set to be reinvested into English and Welsh cricket, including a £50 million commitment to grassroots initiatives.

The 2026 season is the first where "TeamCos"—consisting of the investors and host venues—assumes full operational control. The buyers include a mix of Indian Premier League (IPL) owners, American private equity firms, and tech entrepreneurs. The completed partnerships for the 2026 season are as follows: ^[6]

• London Spirit: A consortium of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs (including executives from Google and Microsoft) bought the 49% stake for £145m (the highest valuation).
• Oval Invincibles: Reliance Industries (owners of Mumbai Indians) bought the 49% stake for £60m.
• Manchester Originals: RPSG Group (owners of Lucknow Super Giants) took a 70% stake for £81m, with Lancashire retaining 30%.
• Northern Superchargers: Sun TV Network (owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad) purchased 100% of the team for £100m.
• Birmingham Phoenix: Knighthead Capital (owners of Birmingham City FC) acquired 49% for £40m.
• Welsh Fire: Sanjay Govil (owner of Washington Freedom) bought 50% for £40m.
• Southern Brave: GMR Group (co-owners of Delhi Capitals) bought 49% and is also taking over the host county, Hampshire.
• Trent Rockets: Cain International & Ares Management jointly bought 49% for just under £40m.

Teams and venues

Birmingham

Cardiff

Leeds

Nottingham

Manchester

Lord's

The Oval

Southampton

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Venues in England and Wales

With the acquisition by Indian Premier League team, Oval Invincibles rebranded as MI London, whereas as Northern Superchargers to Sunrisers Leeds. ^{[7] [8]} All remaining teams who took part in the 2025 season also returned for the 2026 season.

Team	Venue	Men's coach	Women's coach
Birmingham Phoenix	Edgbaston, Birmingham	Shane Bond	Alistair Maiden
London Spirit	Lord's, London	Andy Flower	Jon Lewis
Manchester Super Giants	Old Trafford, Manchester	Justin Langer	Matthew Mott
MI London	The Oval, London	Kieron Pollard	Lisa Keightley
Southern Brave	Rose Bowl, Southampton
Sunrisers Leeds	Headingley, Leeds	Daniel Vettori	Adi Birrell
Trent Rockets	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Peter Moores	Chris Read
Welsh Fire (Welsh : Tân Cymreig)	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff	Mike Hussey	Michael Klinger

Competition Format

As in previous editions, eight city-based teams will compete for the men's and women's titles during 21 July to 16 August 2026.

The teams will play a total of 64 matches in the group stage (32 men's, 32 women's). All matches will be held on the same day at the same grounds, with one ticket granting access to both men's and women's contests.

Each team will play four matches at home and four away, including one match against every other side in the competition and a bonus match against their nearest regional rivals.

Knockout Stage

After the league stage, the top three teams will progress to the knockout stage to decide the champions. The second- and third-placed teams will face each other in the eliminator at The Oval in London. The winner of the eliminator then met the league-topping team in the final at Lord's.

	Eliminator					Final
							First-placed team
		Second-placed team					Winner of Eliminator
		Third-placed team

Player selection process

For the 2026 season of The Hundred, player recruitment is conducted through a structured, three-stage system designed to balance competitive fairness with strategic flexibility for teams. ^[9]

Pre-auction signings and retention

Each franchise may make up to four pre-auction signings or retentions between mid-November and the end of January. Of these, a maximum of three can be direct signings limited to overseas players or England centrally contracted players, while at least one must be a retention from the existing squad, which can include domestic players as well. Teams may include up to two England centrally contracted players and up to two overseas players among their pre-auction signings. No "right to match (RTM)" option is available at this stage.^{[ citation needed ]}

To maintain balance and competitiveness, pre-auction signings reduce each team's available salary cap ahead of the auction according to a tiered cumulative deduction model. For the men's competition, deductions range from £350,000 for one signing to £950,000 for four signings. In the women's competition, corresponding deductions range from £130,000 to £360,000.^{[ citation needed ]}

Auction

Following the direct signing window, an auction will be held to complete squad formation. Teams are required to recruit the remaining players within their salary cap: 16–18 players for men's squads and 15 for women's squads. For the 2026 season, the overall salary pot is set at £2.05 million for men's teams and £880,000 for women's teams, reflecting increased investment in player payments. ^{[10] [11]}

Vitality Wildcard

After the main auction, the Vitality Wildcard offers teams an additional mechanism to recruit players based on strong performances in the domestic t20 Blast competitions. Players who are not selected in the main auction can still earn contracts through this pathway, reinforcing the link between domestic form and participation in The Hundred.^{[ citation needed ]}

Squads

Women's

As of 15 January 2026

Squads contracted for the 2026 The Hundred season (Women's) ^[12]

Birmingham Phoenix	London Spirit	Manchester Super Giants	MI London	Southern Brave	Sunrisers Leeds	Trent Rockets	Welsh Fire
Alice Capsey Lauren Filer Lucy Hamilton Ellyse Perry		Sophie Ecclestone Meg Lanning Smriti Mandhana	Amelia Kerr Hayley Matthews Danni Wyatt-Hodge	Lauren Bell	Kate Cross Phoebe Litchfield Annabel Sutherland	Sophia Dunkley Ashleigh Gardner Nat Sciver-Brunt	Freya Kemp Georgia Wareham

Men's

Squads contracted for the 2026 The Hundred season (Men's) ^[12]

Birmingham Phoenix	London Spirit	Manchester Super Giants	MI London	Southern Brave	Sunrisers Leeds	Trent Rockets	Welsh Fire
Rehan Ahmed Jacob Bethell	Liam Livingstone Jamie Overton	Noor Ahmad Jos Buttler Liam Dawson Heinrich Klaasen	Sam Curran Will Jacks Rashid Khan Nicholas Pooran	Jofra Archer	Harry Brook Brydon Carse Nathan Ellis Mitchell Marsh	Tom Banton Tim David Ben Duckett	Rachin Ravindra Phil Salt

Standings

Women

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Birmingham Phoenix	0	0	0	0	0	—
2	London Spirit	0	0	0	0	0	—
3	Manchester Super Giants	0	0	0	0	0	—
4	MI London	0	0	0	0	0	—
5	Southern Brave	0	0	0	0	0	—
6	Sunrisers Leeds	0	0	0	0	0	—
7	Trent Rockets	0	0	0	0	0	—
8	Welsh Fire	0	0	0	0	0	—

First match(es) will be played: 21 July 2026. Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Men

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Birmingham Phoenix	0	0	0	0	0	—
2	London Spirit	0	0	0	0	0	—
3	Manchester Super Giants	0	0	0	0	0	—
4	MI London	0	0	0	0	0	—
5	Southern Brave	0	0	0	0	0	—
6	Sunrisers Leeds	0	0	0	0	0	—
7	Trent Rockets	0	0	0	0	0	—
8	Welsh Fire	0	0	0	0	0	—

First match(es) will be played: 21 July 2026. Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "The Hundred: Men's and women's squads for 2026 season which runs from July 21-August 16 live on Sky Sports". Sky Sports . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
2. "What will The Hundred look like in 2026?". BBC Sport . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
3. "Invincibles win third Hundred men's title in a row". BBC Sport . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
4. "Cross, Sutherland level up as Northern Superchargers clinch Women's Hundred title". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
5. "The Hundred team partnerships completed". England and Wales Cricket Board . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
6. "Hundred sale explainer: Who has bought what and for how much?". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
7. "Oval Invincibles rebrand as MI London as Hundred deal is finalised". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
8. "Northern Superchargers rebranded as Sunrisers Leeds". Cricbuzz . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
9. "The Hundred Player Slection-Explained". The Hundred. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
10. "The Hundred to introduce player auction for 2026 season". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
11. "The Hundred set for first player auction in March 2026". Cricbuzz . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
12. "The Hundred 2026 direct signings and retentions tracker". The Hundred. Retrieved 15 January 2026.

External links

• Official website