Hundred under the hammer – Richard Madley teases ‘historic moment for UK sport’

The Hundred’s landmark player auction could go down as an “historic moment for UK sport”, according to the man responsible for bringing down the hammer on every deal.

Auctioneer Richard Madley will oversee the bidding in what is a first for any professional sport in this country and knows exactly what it means to be there at the start of a new chapter.

As well as being known for his role in daytime television favourite Bargain Hunt, Madley was the frontman for the inaugural Indian Premier League auction in 2008 – a watershed moment for the game that peaked with MS Dhoni fetching a then unthinkable 1.5million US dollars from Chennai Super Kings.

“I said that was the day that cricket changed forever and I stick by it. When I brought the hammer down on Dhoni, things were never the same again,” Madley told the Press Association.

“I’ve got a feeling about this one too. It’s an historic moment for sport in the UK. Once people realise what is happening, that we are selling athletes on the open market, it could be a day that is remembered as setting a blueprint for the future.

“It could become a feature on the sporting calendar here. I have been approached to work in golf, in rugby and heaven forbid if football caught on to it.”

The women’s auction takes place on Wednesday, followed by the men’s teams on Thursday, with both events taking place at Piccadilly Lights in central London and a total of 425 names in the hat.

And while the numbers will not hit IPL levels of excess, the involvement of new private investors has seen a considerable leap in available funds. Women’s squads now have a total of £880,000 to spend, with the kitty swelling to £2.05million for the men’s teams.

The biggest earners have already taken a chunk of that as direct signings – Harry Brook leading the way with a £465,000 deal at Sunrisers Leeds, while Nat Sciver-Brunt and Lauren Bell have negotiated £140,000 contracts with Trent Rockets and Southern Brave, respectively.

But Madley believes there is plenty of intrigue around how teams choose to deploy their resources, with major overseas stars available alongside leading English names including Joe Root, Adil Rashid, Tammy Beaumont and Davina Perrin.

“I’ve seen some of these guys are the bidding tables in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Cape Town and the UAE. There’s a lot of noise in the run-up, I hear the whispers, but I think you can read the room and anticipate who’s up for it,” he said.

“Could we see a player earning £350,000? Indeed. But it’s a high-risk strategy and you end up with egg on your face if you get to the end and you’ve run out of cash or you can’t find £50,000 for a player.

“I’ve got a job to do and it’s not about generating the highest prices, it’s making sure the teams leave with a complete squad.”

Madley recalls with fondness the time Andrew Flintoff bought him a beer after securing a bumper payday with CSK in 2009 and is happy to continue as the face of cricket’s free market frontier.

“The antiques market is on the wane and cricket is still on the way up, so I prefer selling cricketers,” he said.

“We’ve also introduced total transparency. We disclose the base prices, who is bidding, how much much for and who against. That never happened when I sold impressionist art at Christie’s.”