Smith, Warner the most expensive players in England's 'The Hundred'

Australian duo Steve Smith and David Warner have turned out to be the most expensive players of England's new cricket league, 'The Hundred'. Both of them reportedly carry a reserve price of 125,000 pounds which is the highest in the league. Their fellow Australian cricketer Mitchell Starc, West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga and South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada are sharing the spot of the highest-paid players with a worth of 125,000 pounds in the new draft of October 20. The tournament is expected to be held in the month of July with eight city-based franchise teams. 

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Australian duo involved in a scandal

The most expensive players of the new English cricket league, Steve Smith and David Warner were involved in a ball-tampering scandal in the year 2018 which is popularly known as Sandpapergate scandal. The incident occurred during the third test match between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town where Australian cricketer Cameron Bandcroft was caught on cameras attempting to roughen up a side of the cricket ball using sandpaper. The Australian caption at that time, Steve Smith and the Vice-Caption David Warner were found guilty by Cricket Australia, which is a governing body for cricket in the country. Both the cricketers were handed a ban of one year in International cricket. The former Australian skipper in a press conference at that time broke down while apologizing for the ball-tampering scandal. Smith and Warner returned to cricket on March 29 this year in a match against Pakistan in UAE. Smith returned to the ground with bash by some really good performances but Warner has thus far been unable to do so. In the recent Australia's tour of England, Smith again continued to shine whereas Warner did not have a really good series. 

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Auction to take place on Sunday

Apart from the six highest-paid cricketers, the draft also includes Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir and New Zealand’s speedster Trent Boult along with some other foreign players. All three of them will carry a reserve price of 100,000 pounds. The first auction of the new English cricket league will take place on Sunday. The tournament will be played by both men’s and women’s teams, that will include players from England along with international cricketers. 

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(With inputs from agencies)