Fatima Sana will be the first woman from Pakistan to play in the Hundred after Birmingham Phoenix picked her up in Thursday’s wildcard draft. The move, announced on the ECB’s draft feed this morning, fills the franchise’s fourth overseas slot, left open when Australia withdrew teenager Lucy Hamilton for workload reasons.
The all-rounder, who also captains Pakistan, comes in on the tournament’s minimum salary of £15,000 – roughly 5.6 million Pakistani rupees – and may be available only in patches because Pakistan are due in Sri Lanka from 23 July to 4 August. Even so, Phoenix felt it worth the gamble. “When someone can win you a match with bat or ball, you find space,” head coach Ben Sawyer said during a short call with local media.
Sana certainly showed that range on Wednesday at Edgbaston, the ground she will now call home. Coming in at No. 8, she belted 55* from 38 balls, then removed three South African batters for 16 runs; Pakistan still lost by two wickets, but the performance was hard to miss. “I like the extra bounce here,” Sana told reporters afterwards. “It lets me hit my areas with the ball and frees my hands when I’m swinging.”
Her signing means three Pakistan players hold Hundred contracts this summer. Usman Tariq is already with Phoenix men, while mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed joined Sunrisers Leeds for £190,000 in March, cooling fears – whispered since private investment arrived – that Pakistani talent might be brushed aside by new Indian money. As one agent put it, “The shadow-ban theory never stacked up if you looked at how franchises actually need value.”
Elsewhere in the women’s wildcard round, two Scotland openers landed maiden deals: Darcey Carter (Sunrisers Leeds) and Katherine Fraser (Southern Brave). Both count as local picks under the competition’s eligibility rules. Phoenix also added teen seamer Mary Taylor.
The men’s draft had a similar feel – low-risk punts on quicks and all-rounders. London Spirit went for Sussex seamer Henry Crocombe, fresh from time in England’s Test bubble, while MI London opted for teenage speedsters Eddie Jack and Sebastian Morgan. Southern Brave carried on the theme with Manny Lumsden, part of the recent Under-19 set-up. “If they bowl 90 mph, we’re listening,” Brave analyst Nathan Leamon quipped on X.
This is the first Hundred season under the part-ownership model finalised early last year. Private investors have taken stakes in every side, trimming ECB control and, in theory, loosening purse strings, though the wildcard slots remain pegged to £31,000 for men and £15,000 for women.
The competition runs from 21 July to 16 August, squeezed between the T20 Blast and England’s white-ball series against Australia. For Phoenix, the immediate question is how often they will actually see Sana. Sawyer admitted it is “a juggling act” but argued the upside outweighs the admin: “If she plays five games and wins two, that could be our season right there.”
Men’s Hundred wildcards – £31,000 each
Welsh Fire: Jordan Clark, Dillon Pennington
Southern Brave: Manny Lumsden, Saif Zaib
Manchester Super Giants: James Sales, Adam Finch
London Spirit: Henry Crocombe, Kiran Carlson
Birmingham Phoenix: Tom Helm, Sean Dickson
MI London: Eddie Jack, Sebastian Morgan
Sunrisers Leeds: Matty Revis, Charlie Allison
Trent Rockets: Ben Raine, Ben Sanderson
Women’s Hundred wildcards – £15,000 each
Birmingham Phoenix: Mary Taylor, Fatima Sana
Welsh Fire: Niamh Holland, Georgia Davis
London Spirit: Trudy Johnson, Liv Barnes
Trent Rockets: Amu Surenkumar, Eve Jones
Manchester Super Giants: Mia Rogers, Beth Langston
MI London: Kate Coppack, Francesca Sweet
Southern Brave: Naomi Dattani, Katherine Fraser
Sunrisers Leeds: Darcey Carter, Sophia Turner
Sana will arrive after a short break at home in Karachi. She admitted her schedule is “hectic but exciting”, adding, “I grew up watching videos of Edgbaston’s atmosphere. Now I get to feel it.” For Phoenix fans hoping for another late-order rescue, that will do nicely.
