Pollard taken first pick of Hundred draft; England's Beaumont joins Fire

Kieron Pollard was taken with the first pick of The Hundred men's draft, while England Women's opener Tammy Beaumont joined Welsh Fire as their new captain as teams boosted their playing squads ahead of the 2022 tournament.

The 2022 men's draft saw a total of 585 players registered, but there were only 42 remaining spots to fill across the squads for the second season of the 100-ball tournament. This is due to over 150 men's and women's players from 2021 having already been retained by their teams on 'Deadline Day' in February.

The Spirit had the coveted first pick of the men's draft as a result of finishing bottom of the standings last year and selected Pollard at the highest reserve price of £125,000. Notable names that went unpicked include Australia's David Warner, Pakistan's Babar Azam - the No 1 ranked T20 batsman in the world - and legendary West Indies opener Chris Gayle.

New signings for the women's competition, which does not have a draft system, were also unveiled on Tuesday, with Australian World Cup winners Meg Lanning, Rachael Haynes, Alana King and Megan Schutt, along with New Zealand's Amelia Kerr, South Africa's Mignon du Preez and West Indies' Deandra Dottin among the new overseas signings announced.

Lanning and King team up again with Trent Rockets, along with Du Preez, Haynes joins Beaumont in Wales, while Schutt lands at Lord's with London Spirit, as does Kerr. Dottin, meanwhile, moves from the Spirit to Manchester Originals for the 2022 tournament.

In the men's draft, as the first round continued, fellow Windies stars Andre Russell landed with the Originals, Dwayne Bravo with Northern Superchargers and Sunil Narine re-signed with Oval Invincibles. Australia's Matthew Wade and South Africa's Quinton