The first Hundred auctions will be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Piccadilly, central London. Here is an explainer of everything you need to know about the events.
What's happening, and where?
The first Hundred auctions will be held on March 11 (women's) and 12 (men's) at Piccadilly Lights, a venue in central London. The auctions will start at 10am GMT and are likely to run until around 4pm each day.
What happened to the draft?
The Hundred has used a draft system in recruitment since inception, but will introduce an IPL-style auction for the first time this year.
The change is the direct result of new ownership of the Hundred's eight franchises, with external investors buying stakes in men's and women's teams last year and subsequently pushing for a change in model. It was approved by the Hundred's playing working group, then ratified by the tournament's board.
Who are the new investors?
The eight teams were owned by the ECB for the first five seasons of the tournament. Early last year, the board sold 49% of its stake in each team to external investors and handed the remaining 51% to the relevant host counties (or MCC, in the case of London Spirit). Some host counties then sold further shares to the same investors. Click here for the full rundown of who is involved.
What else has changed?
Three teams have been renamed for the 2026 season: Oval Invincibles, Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers have become MI London, Manchester Super Giants and Sunrisers Leeds respectively, reflecting their new IPL owners and co-owners.
Several teams have also rebranded. Southern Brave have changed their colours from green to navy and red; the Super Giants will play in red-and-blue stripes; Sunrisers will play in orange with black trim; and London Spirit have introduced some MCC bacon-and-egg to their branding.
How many players did the teams retain?
This is set to be an IPL-style mega-auction, flagged as a "reset" moment by managing director Vikram Banerjee, which means all change. Each team has only pre-signed a maximum of four players before the auctions, which can include players who have never previously played for the franchise. Click here for a full list of pre-auction signings.
Have the coaches changed too?
You guessed it. There has been a tournament-wide overhaul in coaching staff, with only two of the 16 men's and women's teams retaining the same coach as last season: Michael Hussey (Welsh Fire men) and Ali Maiden (Birmingham Phoenix women).
Several franchises have aligned their off-field staff with their other teams around the world: for example, the GMR Group has appointed both Delhi Capitals head coaches - Hemang Badani (men's) and Jonathan Batty (women's) - to the same roles at Southern Brave.
Does new investment mean pay rises?
Absolutely. The men's salary cap has risen by 45% from last year to £2.05 million per team, while the women's salary cap has doubled to £880,000 per team.
Top salaries have also ballooned. Harry Brook's contract at Sunrisers Leeds is worth £465,000, while Lauren Bell and Nat Sciver-Brunt have signed £140,000 deals with Southern Brave and Trent Rockets respectively.
How much do the teams have left to spend?
The eight women's teams have spent either £310,000 or £360,000 of their purse, depending on whether they have pre-signed three or four players. It means they have either £570,000 or £520,000 remaining to spend at the auction and the subsequent wildcard draft.
The men's teams have all used £950,000 of their purse, leaving £1.1 million remaining.
How many players do they have left to sign?
Each team must have between 14 and 16 players in their squad by the end of this week's auctions, and will add two more in the 'wildcard' draft before the start of the tournament. The final two signings will be made at base price: £15,000 (women's) and £31,000 (men's).
Who is up for sale?
Nearly 1000 players registered for the auction, at which point teams were asked to nominate 75-100 names who they were interested in signing. Based on those, the ECB whittled the auction player pool down to 247 men and 178 women.
How many overseas players can teams sign?
Each team is allowed to pick a maximum of four overseas players, both in their squad and the playing XI. Every franchise has already signed two men's and two women's overseas players.
What's going on with Pakistan players?
The ECB and the eight franchises released a joint statement last month to say that selection would be based on "cricketing performance, availability, and the needs of each team" after the BBC reported that teams with IPL links were unlikely to bid on Pakistan players due to geopolitical tensions with India.
There are 14 Pakistan men's players and two women's players in the auctions, including Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan. Nine Pakistan players have featured across the first five seasons of the Hundred - all in the men's competition - and there are some doubts around their availability due to a clash with a men's Test series against West Indies and uncertainty over No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the PCB.
How does the auction work?
There are 10 marquee players in each auction, whose names will be read out first, followed by Tier 1 and Tier 2 players categorised by playing style - batters, bowlers, allrounders and wicketkeepers. Teams will bid against one another in set increments until there are no further bidders.
After a break for lunch, teams will nominate up to 25 players each who will then be ranked and bid on, which can include players who have already gone unsold. The third and final stage will see individual teams invited to nominate players, with each nomination effectively acting as a base-price bid.
Who might be the top buys?
In the women's auction, leading domestic players could include Dani Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Davina Perrin and Linsey Smith. Top overseas names in the auction include Nadine de Klerk, Beth Mooney, Sophie Molineux, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh.
Candidates in the men's auction include: Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jordan Cox, James Coles, Tom Curran and Adil Rashid among domestic players. Overseas players like Aiden Markram, Finn Allen and Trent Boult are also expected to attract significant interest.
How do the contracts work?
Like they do in the IPL. With the exception of wildcard picks, who will sign one-year deals, the teams will have the right to retain players for the 2027 and 2028 seasons at the same fee they sign them for in 2026. As a result, expect signings to skew young, with franchises keen to lock players in for three years.
How can I follow the auction?
ESPNcricinfo will run a live blog on both days of the auctions and bring you the latest news and interviews from Piccadilly. The auction will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and live-streamed on the Hundred's channels.
When does the actual cricket start?
The tournament starts on July 21, with a double-header between MI London and Sunrisers Leeds, and runs until the finals at Lord's on August 16.