The Hundred 2023 news: Stirling joins Invincibles for Hundred final

Oval Invincibles have signed Paul Stirling on a one-match contract, specifically for Sunday’s men’s final at Lord’s. Stirling was the Player of the Match in the inaugural final, hitting 61 off 36 as Southern Brave beat Birmingham Phoenix to clinch the title.

Invincibles have lost four overseas players to international duty and other commitments over the course of the tournament, with Sunil Narine (CPL), Heinrich Klaasen, Spencer Johnson and Adam Zampa (all international duty) unavailable for the final. They will field only two overseas players in the final, in Stirling and James Neesham.

Stirling, who looks set to bat at No. 3, played eight games for Brave across the first two seasons of the Hundred, averaging 30.14 with a strike rate of 161.06. He has also hit several short-form half-centuries at Lord’s, where he played for Middlesex for a number of years.

Zaman Khan will stay with Manchester Originals for the knockout stages of the men's Hundred, with Ashton Turner leaving to join up with Australia's T20I squad in South Africa.

Zaman has played Originals' last three games as cover for Josh Little, who will return for Saturday's eliminator after playing for Ireland against India in a T20I series earlier this week.

But Zaman's deal has been extended for the knockouts, and he will now replace Turner in their squad.

The ECB have changed the regulations around players’ eligibility to play in the knockout stages of the Hundred in order to ensure that teams have 15 players available to select from.

In the first year of the Hundred, Tim David played a crucial role for Southern Brave in the men’s final after signing as a replacement specifically for the knockout stages. The regulations were then tweaked, requiring players to have been registered for a group game in order to be eligible for the knockout stages.

However, with several teams suffering from injuries and with several overseas players leaving for Australia’s white-ball tour to South Africa, the ECB have removed that stipulation from the player selection regulations with immediate effect.

As a result, Oval Invincibles men will now be able to sign replacements for Adam Zampa and Spencer Johnson, if they can find them at short notice, while Manchester Originals men will be able to sign cover for the departing Ashton Turner.

With Usama Mir picked in the Pakistan side for the men’s Asia Cup, starting August 30 in Multan, Manchester Originals have called up Calvin Harrison as replacement. Harrison, the 25-year-old Nottinghamshire legspin-bowling allrounder, will be available immediately, Originals said in a statement.

Southern Brave have called up Leicestershire allrounder Colin Ackermann as a permanent replacement.

Ackermann initially joined Brave as a temporary replacement following “exceptional circumstances” within the men’s team prior to their match against Welsh Fire on August 12. But Warwickshire wicketkeeper-batter Alex Davies has since been ruled out of the competition through injury.

South Africa allrounder Nadine de Klerk will replace the injured Dane van Niekerk in the Oval Invincibles women’s squad, while batter Graham Clark comes in for Jordan Cox in the men's squad.

While Clark will be good to go from today, de Klerk will likely join in time for the match against Southern Brave on Saturday.

Both van Niekerk and Cox were ruled out of the tournament due to finger injuries.

Jordan Cox has been ruled out of the rest of the Hundred after fracturing his finger during Oval Invincibles’ defeat to Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston. Cox was struck on the bottom glove by an inswinger from Adam Milne and retired hurt after receiving treatment from a physio.

"It's not looking good for Jordan,” Tom Moody, Invincibles' coach, said on Sunday night. “He has gone to hospital to get it looked at properly but he's definitely out of the tournament. He's more than likely going to have surgery either this evening or tomorrow morning.”

The news is a significant blow for Cox personally, and for Invincibles. He has batted at No. 3 this season and is the leading run-scorer in the men’s competition with 168 in five innings, averaging 56 with a strike rate of 143.58.

Invincibles hope to have Tom Curran and Gus Atkinson available for their fixture against London Spirit on Tuesday night after shoulder niggles. Adam Zampa is also due to play instead of Sunil Narine, who is leaving for the Caribbean Premier League.

Tammy Beaumont, Welsh Fire's captain, has criticised the BBC on social media for their coverage of the Hundred. Fire, Northern Superchargers and London Spirit's women will not feature live on the BBC - the tournament's free-to-air broadcaster - unless they reach the knockout stages.

The BBC are due to show four women's group matches and nine men's group matches. They will also show both knockout games in the women's competition, and the final of the men's competition. The BBC were contacted for comment.

The ECB were forced to change the Hundred's regulations on Saturday after Southern Brave's men's fixture against Welsh Fire was briefly threatened by an availability crisis. Colin Ackermann, the Leicestershire allrounder, was signed for that fixture alone after James Vince went down with illness, though did not end up featuring.

With Jofra Archer already ruled out for the season with his elbow injury - and illegible for replacement as a centrally-contracted player - Brave were also missing Alex Davies and Chris Jordan through short-term injuries, but opted not to replace them as they are due to be available again soon.

The ECB said: "We are required to make an amendment to the Men’s Player Selection Regulations with immediate effect as follows: We will add in the following wording as per point (d) of the Temporary Replacement Event definition: 'Such other exceptional circumstances as are approved by the Competition’s Technical Committee'

"The amendment to this regulation is related to a current situation with Southern Brave men’s team who have illness and injury (but such injuries do not merit permanent replacement events) that threatens their ability to field a fit XI today [Saturday], therefore threatening the integrity of the competition.

"The temporary replacement player is Colin Ackermann (Leicestershire) who will be available for Southern Brave Men today. This temporary replacement is granted for today’s match only at this stage. We will assess the situation ahead of Southern Brave’s next match and communicate accordingly."

Jonny Bairstow will play his first game for Welsh Fire in over two years on Saturday, when he is due to make his first appearance of the 2023 season against Southern Brave.

Bairstow captained Fire to victories in the first two games of their existence back in 2021, hitting half-centuries in both, but missed the rest of the tournament on England duty and pulled out of the Hundred last summer in order to manage a busy workload.

He will miss Fire's game away at Birmingham Phoenix on Thursday but a Fire spokesperson confirmed: "Jonny Bairstow is scheduled to arrive in Cardiff on Saturday and is available for selection for our match against Southern Brave."

Tim Southee will get his first taste of the Hundred later this month, having signed for London Spirit as a partial replacement for Nathan Ellis.

Ellis will miss Spirit's final group game on August 24 against Birmingham Phoenix - and the knockouts, should Spirit qualify - in order to link up with Australia's T20I squad in South Africa. Southee will replace him, and since he will be registered for a group fixture, he would also be eligible for the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, the ECB and NZC have confirmed ESPNcricinfo's story that Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson will replace Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf at Welsh Fire for their last two group games and the knockouts, should they qualify.

We've seen Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in action - now Joe Root is set to become the latest England men's player to join up with his Hundred side post-Ashes, ahead of Trent Rockets' home game against Northern Superchargers on Wednesday.

Five Australian players look set leave the men’s Hundred early after being named in the national team’s T20I squad to tour South Africa.

Matthew Short (Northern Superchargers), Tim David (Southern Brave), Nathan Ellis (London Spirit), Spencer Johnson and Adam Zampa (both Oval Invincibles) all feature in the 14-man touring squad.

The first T20I takes place on August 30, three days after the Hundred’s final, and the squad is due to reach South Africa seven days in advance.

Brave have already announced that Mitchell Santner will replace David for their final group game on August 23.

In order to be eligible for the knockout stages of the Hundred, players must first have been registered to their team for at least one group game.

Glenn Maxwell was pulled out of the Hundred at short notice by CA but made a surprise appearance at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday, linking up with his London Spirit team-mates. Maxwell played four games for Spirit in 2022, but CA want him to be "physically refreshed" ahead of the World Cup later this year.

But he joined up with Spirit in Manchester - where he was on holiday anyway - and helped them with their preparation for their game against Manchester Originals. "He was really keen to join up with the lads and be around the group while we were all in the same city," a spokesperson explained. Maxwell is not expected to play any further part in the tournament, in either a playing or coaching/mentoring capacity.

Chris Jordan anticipates missing around a week of the Hundred after injuring his calf during Southern Brave's win over Welsh Fire at the Ageas Bowl on Friday night. He made a match-winning 70 not out but hurt the muscle while batting and spent most of the run chase off the field, not bowling a single ball.

“I came out to field initially but with one of the quick twos I think I tweaked my calf," Jordan said afterwards. "The medical team advised against going back out and it could have made it worse and turned seven days out to three weeks. I definitely won’t play on Sunday but then we will see after that."

Brave's squad includes two bowlers who did not feature in their first two games: Matthew Fisher, the seamer who made his England Test debut in early 2022, and the Yorkshire legspinner Jafer Chohan. Alex Davies and Joe Weatherley are the other options who could replace Jordan, if they opt to change their balance.

Jonny Bairstow will take a short break from the game with his young family before returning to play for Welsh Fire in the Hundred “at some point”. Bairstow revealed in June that he and his girlfriend had “welcomed Edward Bairstow into the world”.

Bairstow missed the 2022 edition of the Hundred entirely to manage his workload and has not played for Fire since their second-ever game in July 2021. “I’ll be playing in the Hundred at some point. I think I’ll be having a week or so off,” Bairstow said after The Oval Test.

“I think after the last 11 months of toil if you like, going through what I have done and then to end the series 2-2 here is something I just need to reflect on,” he added. “[I will] spend a bit of time with my family and enjoy just a little bit of time away before the Hundred kicks off – and then the England [white-ball] games, and then the World Cup to come.”

Luke Wells hailed Shaheen Shah Afridi's match-winning contribution on his Welsh Fire debut as he took two wickets with his first two balls in the Hundred, straight off the plane from Pakistan. "Shaheen was amazing," Wells said. "It was incredible because he only arrived last night, straight out of the airport, a few hours sleep and into his work.

“Everyone knows what he will do, there is no mystery, but it is phenomenal skill, pace and swing so you may know it’s coming but it still gets batsmen, early on especially. It was the dream start - probably the reason why we ended up winning and defending that score in the end."

The BBC has spoken to presenter Chris Hughes after he made a comment that “was not appropriate” to Southern Brave’s Maitlan Brown in a sideline interview during the opening game of the Hundred.

Brown, the Australian allrounder, was asked by Hughes – a former Love Island contestant who has worked for the BBC throughout its coverage of the tournament – about how the team had bonded ahead of the tournament.

“We watched Barbie the other night, all together, and it was really good team bonding and the group is gelling really well together,” Brown said. “That is the key to success, I think, in tournaments like this: how well and how quickly you can gel as a group.”

Hughes responded by saying, “You’re a little Barbie yourself, aren’t you, with your blue eyes”. When Brown laughed, Hughes added, “She’s blushing now” – evoking Chris Gayle’s comments in a controversial interview with Mel McLaughlin in the Big Bash seven years ago.

The interview was widely criticised on social media. A BBC spokesperson said: “We have spoken to Chris and explained that his comment was not appropriate.”

Ihsanullah, the Pakistan fast bowler who broke into the national team after a brilliant PSL season, has been ruled out of the Hundred through injury. He was due to play for Oval Invincibles after he was signed in March's draft.

Spencer Johnson, the Australia left-arm seamer, will replace him at Invincibles. Johnson has been playing for LA Knight Riders in MLC and Surrey Jaguars in the Global T20 Canada. "Spencer's availability will be confirmed in due course," an Invincibles spokesperson said.

Eve Jones has been announced as the new Birmingham Phoenix Women's captain, replacing Ellyse Perry in the role after Perry's withdrawal due to injury.

Tess Flintoff, the 20-year-old Australian allrounder, has signed for Phoenix as Perry's replacement in the squad.

Jones said: “I feel honoured to represent Birmingham Phoenix as captain,” said Jones. “Edgbaston is my home ground, and as a local girl, it will be a privilege to lead out the side.”

Ben Sawyer, Phoenix Women's coach, said: “I’m excited to see Eve take on the captaincy role as I know she’s a perfect fit. Having been Coach part of the group since the very beginning, Eve is a leader and a strong presence within the dressing room, especially with her experience with Central Sparks."

A huge blow for the men's competition: Rashid Khan has pulled out of the Hundred citing an undisclosed injury, on the eve of the opening night and less than 24 hours after he took 3 for 9 in the inaugural MLC final.

Full story.

The ECB have confirmed a number of replacements on Friday morning, as follows:

Birmingham Phoenix
Tanveer Sangha replaces Shadab Khan, from 14 August onwards
Ellyse Perry withdrawn through injury, replacement TBC

London Spirit
Dan Worrall replaces Olly Stone

Manchester Originals
Ben Raine replaces Fred Klaassen
Zaman Khan replaces Josh Little, from 16 August onwards (Little will return for the Eliminator and Final if Originals qualify).

Northern Superchargers
Jemimah Rodrigues replaces Heather Graham
Phoebe Litchfield replaces Alyssa Healy

Oval Invincibles
Jimmy Neesham replaces Heinrich Klaassen, from 20 August onwards
Hannah Rainey replaces Beth Langston

Southern Brave
Mitchell Santner replaces Tim David, from 20 August onwards

Trent Rockets
Ish Sodhi replaces Rashid Khan, from 10 August onwards

Welsh Fire
Ben Green replaces Ollie Pope
Chloe Skelton replaces Georgia Davis

Lauren Bell and Sophia Dunkley will miss the first week of the Hundred after discussions with England’s management.

Bell (Southern Brave) and Dunkley (Welsh Fire) have both had busy schedules this year, playing for England across formats and also featuring in the inaugural Women’s Premier League in India.

They will each miss their respective teams’ first two fixtures and are due to be available from August 6.

The rest of England’s women’s squad are due to be available throughout the tournament, which runs from August 1-27.