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Feature

Powerplay spinners and death hitters: ten overseas players to watch in The Hundred draft

Alex Carey, Hasan Ali and Fabian Allen could be bargain picks at Sunday's draft

Matt Roller
Matt Roller
18-Oct-2019
Aside from the obvious stars in The Hundred draft who will inevitably be first-round picks - think Andre Russell, Rashid Khan, and Glenn Maxwell - there are plenty of overseas players with lower reserve prices who could be picked up for bargain sums on Sunday. Here are ten of the best-value candidates …
Alex Carey (reserve price £40,000)
While he has spent most of his T20 career at the top of the order, Alex Carey's ability against spin means he will likely be considered as an option to keep things moving in the middle overs. He impressed at No. 4 for Sussex in the Blast, and strikes at 141.3 while averaging 38.0 against spin over the course of his career. Throw in his ability with the gloves, and he would be a steal at £40,000.
Hasan Ali (£40,000)
The leading wicket-taker in the Pakistan Super League this year, Hasan Ali comes with international pedigree as well as franchise experience. He is competent in each phase of the game: for Pakistan, he is frugal in the Powerplay and a wicket-taking threat in the middle overs, while for Peshawar Zalmi this season 13 of his wickets came in 15.1 death overs.
Shimron Hetmyer (£40,000)
It is easily forgotten that Shimron Hetmyer is only 22, and his T20 numbers are perhaps surprisingly unremarkable, in part due to an underwhelming return in this season's recently concluded Caribbean Premier League. But he already boasts a strike-rate of 180.0 in the death overs, and his brilliant ODI record at the back-end of an innings suggests he could be used effectively slightly lower down the order than the No. 3 role he has been given for most of his T20 career to date.
Fabian Allen (no reserve)
If a team is willing to hold its nerve until a late round to fill an overseas slot, they could pick up the bargain of the draft in Fabian Allen. This year, only Rishabh Pant scores at a faster strike-rate than his 219.2 in the final five overs of an innings; he is useful against spin, but he completely destroys fast bowlers. Throw in an ability to bowl cheap overs in both the Powerplay and the middle overs as well as his superhuman fielding, and it is clear that Allen is quite the all-round package.
Chris Green (no reserve)
Chris Green has become a specialist new-ball spinner, and reads the game better than most on the global T20 circuit. He goes at just 6.04 runs per over in the Powerplay, bowling nearly half his overs in that phase, and is a superb outfielder to boot. His rise to prominence - via Guyana, Toronto, Birmingham, Lahore and Sydney, but not, as yet, via international cricket - has been remarkable and unlikely.
Adam Milne (no reserve)
While his regular injury problems are a concern, Adam Milne is an outstanding short-form bowler who goes at under 8 runs per over in each phase of the game. He excels in the Powerplay, but he is a brilliant death bowler too, with an economy rate of just 7.66 in the last five overs of an innings over the last two years.
Imad Wasim (£50,000)
Ranked by the ICC as the second-best T20I bowler in the world behind Rashid Khan, Imad Wasim is an unspectacular bowler, but was a vital cog in the Pakistan side that dominated in T20Is for so much of the past three years. He goes at 6.58 runs per over in the Powerplay, and just 5.57 in the middle since January 2017, and is a useful hitter at the end of an innings.
Nicholas Pooran (£60,000)
Good against pace but superb against spin, Nicholas Pooran is perhaps the perfect man to keep things moving in the middle of an innings before exploding at the death. His strike-rates against spin (149.3) and pace (146.7) over the past two years are superb, but his record in the T10 league in Sharjah last year - 324 runs off 132 balls at a strike-rate of 245.5 - shows just how effective he can be when he opts for all-out attack.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman (£60,000)
Another Powerplay specialist with experience around the world, Mujeeb Ur Rahman excelled for Middlesex with the new ball in the Blast this summer, and nobody has bowled more in the first six overs than him in 2019 (he has bowled 73.3 Powerplay overs this year). While teams have occasionally got after him up front on English wickets, he is just as capable in the middle overs, and his economy rate in T20s in England is a miserly 7.15.
Ben Cutting (£40,000)
While he struggles against spin, Ben Cutting is a remarkable hitter of pace, with a strike-rate of 166.5 against seamers around the world over the last three years. He is perhaps unlikely to be picked up given the number of top-quality finishers in the draft pool, but if he does get a gig, he could happily turn games with a 10-ball cameo against a fast bowler at the end of an innings.

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @mroller98