IPL-linked Sunrisers Leeds sign Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000
All-rounder James Coles, 21, fetches auction-high £390,000 from London Spirit
Welsh Fire sign Jordan Cox and Joe Root for £300,000 and £240,000
Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst
Birmingham Phoenix add yet another all-rounder to their side in the form of Jordan Thompson.
He joins Mitchell Owen, Jacob Bethell, Donovan Ferreira and Rehan Ahmed to make it five multi-skilled players in their line-up alongside wicketkeeper Joe Clarke.
Jordan Thompson has featured for Northern Superchargers, London Spirit and Trent Rockets in The Hundred but will be playing for Birmingham Phoenix this season in a £60,000 deal.
The 29-year-old all-rounder has 145 runs and 22 wickets from 25 matches in The Hundred.
Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst
New ball specialist Craig Overton is a key buy for Trent Rockets - the right-arm quick has taken 23 wickets inside the first 25 balls of the innings in the Hundred at an average of just 17.
He'll compliment left-armer David Payne up front with the ball at Trent Bridge.
Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst
Benny Howell could be a good value pick up for Sunrisers Leeds at just £50,000.
He has taken 40 wickets at an average of 20 with an economy rate of just 1.23 runs per ball across his Hundred career.
He's also striking at 130 with the bat.
Image source, Getty ImagesAll-rounder Craig Overton is up next.
He is sold for £120,000 to Trent Rockets.
HIs twin brother Jamie Overton, meanwhile, will play for London Spirit in the 2026 Hundred.
Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst
Manchester Super Giants complete their overseas contingent by picking up Tim Seifert - the Kiwi opener averaged 46 during the T20 World Cup while striking at 166 and adds yet more firepower to the batting line-up at Old Trafford, alongside Jos Buttler, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen.
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer Birmingham Phoenix all-rounder Benny Howell has joined Sunrisers Leeds for £50,000.
Sunrisers have been busy this morning and have less than £200,000 left in their bank now.
Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst
Southern Brave add left-hander Ben McKinney to their top order, a second left-hander in the order alongside David Miller.
McKinney has played just 17 T20 innings to date, averaging 14 while striking at 125 - the Durham opener did however impress against the Pakistan Shaheens with quickfire 20s and 30s at the top of the order.
There were no takers for Tim Seifert when he came up in the hero players auction.
But Manchester Super Giants secure the signature of the explosive New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter for the base price of £100,000.
Ben McKinney is next among the ranked players with a base price of £31,000.
The 21-year-old opener, who played for Manchester Originals last season, is eventually sold to Southern Brave for £45,000.
And off we go again!
Jordan Clark is the first player up for grabs in the ranked players auction.
And bit of an underwhelming start to it though as the all-rounder goes unsold!
Having wrapped up the hero players auction in the morning, we will now move on to the ranked players auction.
After the conclusion of the morning session, the eight Hundred teams would have nominated 25 players each and the most popular from those nominations will be classed as ranked players and come up for bidding next.
These can consist of any players from the auction longlist as well as hero players who were not signed in the first round.
There's still plenty to work out this afternoon. Here's some key numbers:
Here's how many slots and what purse each of the eight teams has remaining.
Image source, The Hundred
Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport cricket correspondent at The Hundred Auction
Image source, Getty ImagesSpinner Abrar Ahmed was bought by Sunrisers Leeds in the men's Hundred auction to allay concerns that Pakistan players would be ignored by franchises affiliated to the Indian Premier League.
BBC Sport reported in February that the four Hundred franchises linked to the IPL would not consider Pakistan players, mirroring a ban that has been in place in India since 2009.
Abrar, 27, was bought for £190,000 by Leeds, the franchise entirely controlled by the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad and based at Headingley.
Elsewhere, uncapped 21-year-old James Coles outstripped more established names to fetch £390,000, the biggest price of the auction. The Sussex spin-bowling all-rounder was signed by Lord's-based London Spirit.
The huge fee commanded by Coles was a further sign of the new financial might of the Hundred, after stakes in all eight teams were sold to investors last year.
Other significant moves included leg-spinner Adil Rashid joining Southern Brave for £250,000 and Joe Root moving to Welsh Fire for £240,000 in the first sale of the day. Fire also spent £300,000 on England white-ball batter Jordan Cox.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe are resuming the live coverage of The Hundred auction just as the room settles down again after the lunch break.
We have plenty more in store as the next wave of players are set to go under the hammer in London.
So follow along for more twists, turns and big moves.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe’re hitting the pause button on our live coverage now as The Hundred auction takes a lunch break.
But there is still plenty more to come with the ranked players and nominated players phases up next and we will be back when the action resumes at 14:30 GMT.
The big news from the morning session was 21-year-old all-rounder James Coles going to London Spirit in a record £390,000 deal.
Welsh Fire also landed two big names in Joe Root and Jordan Cox while Adil Rashid headed to Southern Brave for £250,000. IPL‑linked Sunrisers Leeds, meanwhile, swooped for Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed.
Still plenty more talent in the pool and plenty more drama to come too - so we hope to see you again when we return.
Southern Brave
Sunrisers Leeds
Trent Rockets
Welsh Fire
Birmingham Phoenix
London Spirit
Manchester Super Giants
MI London
Image source, The HundredSo here's how the eight Hundred franchises have fared in the men's auction today.
Sunrisers Leeds have been active off late getting Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 as well as Matthew Potts and Dan Lawrence from the Tier 2 list of players.
Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst
Sunrisers Leeds pick up spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 - a high price but worthwhile considering his strong record.
In 63 T20s since the start of 2024, he's taken 87 wickets at an average of 19 while conceding at just 1.18 runs per ball.
The Pakistan international is nicknamed 'the magician' thanks to his reputation as a mystery spinner, bowling a mixture of leg breaks, carrom balls and googlies and his signing will no doubt please skipper Harry Brook, who is renowned for his leniency towards bowling spin throughout the innings in white-ball cricket.