Paige Scholfield on the shocks, surprises and ‘ridiculous money’ of The Hundred auction

It arrived on British shores for the first time last month. Much beloved by the Indian Premier League (IPL), the first player auction for the Hundred kicked off on a Wednesday in Piccadilly with the eight women’s franchises.

Despite this brave new world, there were few women in the room itself on the day. A bumper England squad of 30 players was touching down in South Africa for a training camp to prepare for the home World Cup which begins in June. Discussion had been flying around the team about what prices players might go for, prices which would also be the players’ salaries for the three and a half weeks of cricket taking place in July and August.

The first player on the block was 19-year-old batter Davina Perrin, who last season hit the fastest century ever in the women’s competition. From a base price of £37,500 she was sold for £50,000 to Birmingham Phoenix. All-rounder Dani Gibson became the first woman to receive a £100,000 bid, eventually going for £190,000 to the renamed Sunrisers Leeds. Dutch batter Sterre Kalis, 26, had the unfortunate title of being the first player to go unsold.

Paige Scholfield’s name came up 29th. She was with Em Arlott and Alice Capsey as the auction was going on. Capsey had already been signed by Birmingham Phoenix prior to the auction for £130,000. As more players went unsold, the nerves were building for Scholfield. She had gone back and forth with her agent for weeks about what her base price should be. Eventually they settled on £37,500 but she was worried that was too high.

“I was sat there thinking, ‘I just want to be sold’,” says Scholfield. “It is such a weird feeling. And the auction just kept going. I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t watch. Eventually, Em told me what I went for.”

Scholfield is 30. She has been playing domestic cricket for 14 years. She has played only eight times for England. When she was first making appearances in the Kia Super League, she was delighted to be making £3,500 for four weeks’ work. When Arlott told her the final price, she found out she had been sold for more than 32 times that. The Manchester Super Giants paid £115,000 for her. “This amount of money, it’s ridiculous,” says Scholfield.

Scholfield ended up being the sixth most expensive player overall, and third most expensive English player. The £105,000 for 18-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman and £130,000 for 23-year-old Issy Wong attracted the headlines but Scholfield’s price was proof that franchise cricket had arrived. With an exceptional strike rate against pace bowling as well as almost 100 wickets across ODI and T20 formats, she has the versatility teams want.

Yet for every moment like Scholfield’s, there was a one like Emma Lamb’s. The 28-year-old ended up having her salary all but halved after she was sold for £27,500. She had received £50,000 from Birmingham Phoenix for her services in 2025. It is worth remembering that the best paid players will earn 14 times more than the lowest paid.

“It’s an uncomfortable thing to be part of,” says Scholfield. “There were a lot of surprises. No one had any idea what players were going to go for. I’m not complaining, but I was quite surprised what I went for, having looked at other players who had gone for a little bit less than we thought they would. There were quite a few shocks and surprises.

“Cricket is the only sport where they actually publicly announce what your salary is for the competition. That doesn’t bother some people, but for people who are a bit more private, it can be uncomfortable. I guess it’s part of the job now.”

Scholfield believes that despite the pay discrepancies, the Hundred is hugely beneficial for the overall development of the women’s game.

“This is the first proper auction we’ve had in the women’s game. There’s going to be teething problems. Coaches and investors need to figure out what they believe is going to work. In the IPL, they’ve had a couple of auctions now and they’ve figured out where players sit. But it also comes down to the make-up of the team. There are so many external factors, especially in an auction.

“It’s not like before where you could negotiate with coaches and you had salary bands. But if you look at the development of the game and how much opportunity this auction brings for the younger girls and bringing world-class players in, it outweighs what the pay is. At the end of the day we play the game because we love it and we want to develop it for future players.”

Scholfield began her domestic season in imperious form this week, scoring 89 from 42 balls for Surrey as they beat Yorkshire in the opening match of the One Day Cup. Before the Hundred comes round, she is still holding out hope of making England’s T20 World Cup squad.

“A home World Cup would be unbelievable to play in,” she says. “It’s something that every English player wants to be involved in. Whether I’m involved or not, I can’t wait to watch it.”

Photograph by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for Surrey CCC