All-rounder Moeen Ali will not be part of the upcoming auction for The Hundred despite a last-minute request to be included in the final bidding pool. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that none of the eight franchises included the experienced all-rounder in their shortlist of initial players.
The 38-year-old cricketer previously led Birmingham Phoenix during four seasons. He missed the last edition to play in overseas leagues but has recently made himself available again with a base price of £75,000. However, teams overlooked him, leading to discussions about his price tag and age.
ECB rejects Moeen Ali’s last-minute entry for The Hundred auction
The final list of players for the auction was released on Monday, but Moeen’s name was not in it. Teams were required to submit their preliminary lists of 75 to 100 players last week. No franchise selected him during this window, and he was automatically excluded from the final auction register.
After the list was released, informal inquiries were made to see if the ECB would make an exception for the former Phoenix captain. However, according to a report by ESPNCricinfo, the board strongly rejected the request.
He said that allowing a player to enter the auction retrospectively would compromise the integrity of the draft system. The ECB made it clear that each team has a chance to nominate players, and allowing late inclusion of players would set a dangerous precedent for future tournaments.
Moeen Ali’s reserve price and age are being considered the reason for the failure in the auction.
The report said that franchise insiders have pointed to obvious cricketing reasons for handing over Moeen Ali. A team official said that the £75,000 reserve price was too high for the current market.
Teams are managing limited budgets and likely felt that allocating so much money to a single player was a risky move for their long-term team plans.
The second big reason was his age. Moeen will turn 39 by the time the new season starts in July. He had previously stepped away from English domestic cricket to secure no-objection certificate for tournaments such as the Global Super League and the Caribbean Premier League.
Moeen Ali awaits wildcard entry amid Pakistan shadow-ban debate
Although his auction hopes are over, Moeen’s playing days in The Hundred may not be completely over. He still has a chance to earn one of the tournament’s wildcard spots. Each franchise will be offering two contracts worth £31,000 in June, with players who perform exceptionally well in the T20 Blast being rewarded.
Moeen Ali has been actively speaking out against IPL-backed franchises potentially banning Pakistani players in the draft. He praised the ECB for taking recent steps to deal with the situation.
In a Sunday Times interview, he revealed that he was in talks with the board on the issue, saying, “The teams came together a few days ago and made a statement, and I think that’s a great start.”
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