Not all uncertainty is negative.
In many ways this new beginning will have an excellent impact on cricket in England and Wales.
Privatisation of The Hundred has already generated £520m for the game, around £45m of which has been promised to be invested in grassroots cricket.
All 18 counties also received a significant sum of money to fuel the domestic game. This investment is expected to save as many as six counties from financial collapse,, external according to the Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report.
Salary pots have also grown significantly – the women’s pot has doubled from 2025, and now sits at £880,000, while the men’s pot has seen a 45% increase to £2.05m.
The prospect of earning over your annual domestic wage for less than a month’s work is now very real for many English cricketers, particularly in the female game.
Out of those already signed, the highest English earners have been bought for staggering amounts.
England men’s white-ball captain Harry Brook will earn £465,000 for the month-long tournament, while women’s international mainstays Nat Sciver-Brunt and Lauren Bell have been paid £140,000 each.
It is less simple for players in the auction, who have been tasked with valuing themselves at a reserve price. This is the minimum you are willing to be sold for.
If multiple teams then wish to enter a bidding war for a certain player, their wage will increase incrementally per bid.
In the women’s competition, the bands sit at £15,000, £27,500, £37,500, and £50,000.
The men’s bands start at £31,000, before increasing to £50,000, £75,000, and £100,000.
Valuing yourself at the correct price can be somewhat difficult when the competition has essentially been reborn – salaries from previous years are not comparable, and since this auction is the first of its kind, nobody really knows how it will play out.
Players will know their fate soon enough, with the inaugural auctions being held on 11 March (women’s) and 12 March (men’s), characteristically hosted at the iconic Piccadilly Lights in central London.
