ECB set to offer incentives to lure England stars into playing The Hundred 

Mady Villers and Lauren Winfield-Hill during The Hundred 2022

In a bid to lure top England cricketers, the England and Wales Cricket Board is planning to add additional funds to offer as incentives for featuring in The Hundred Men's 2023 competition. Stars like Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow opted out of the 2022 edition, owing to workload management, with England's series with South Africa on the horizon. 

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the board as a part of their new system for centrally-contracted men's players will offer all-format cricketers £125,000 to play a full season, or pro rata basis if they play for a certain portion of the 2023 competition.

This falls in line with the recent contracts offered to the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith in the Big Bash League by Cricket Australia.

The upcoming 100-ball league will take place between a fixed four-week window from August 1 to 27, post The Ashes 2023. 

According to ECB's retention policy, each club must sign one all-format player, and so far eight players  — Joe Root (Trent Rockets), Sam Curran (Oval Invincibles), Chris Woakes (Birmingham Phoenix), Mark Wood (London Spirit), Jonny Bairstow (Welsh Fire), Jos Buttler (Manchester Originals), Ben Stokes (Northern Superchargers) and Jofra Archer (Southern Brave) — have been retained for the next edition.

The retention window closes on February 14, with clubs being allowed to retain 10 players, who had contracts in 2022, apart from one centrally-contracted player. 

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