AUSTRALIAN Aaron Finch was the headline signing for Headingley-based Northern Superchargers at The Hundred draft last night as they welcomed 14 new players.

Chosen from a 570-strong player pool, the former Yorkshire overseas star batsman was the first player picked by the Leeds-based outfit, with Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Australia’s Chris Lynn also signed from the international player pool.

Head coach Darren Lehmann quickly snapped up Yorkshire players Adam Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who will link up with fellow White Rose team-mates Adil Rashid and David Willey, who were already selected in the first stage of the draft process earlier this month along with England international Ben Stokes.

Lehmann said: “I know that next summer at Headingley is going to be amazing. I’ve selected a great team, and I have no doubt Ben, Adil and the rest of the squad are going to throw everything at the competition to kick The Hundred off in style and get even more people watching cricket.”

Other notable player selections on the night included Rashid Khan for Trent Rockets, Andre Russell for Southern Brave, Steve Smith for Welsh Fire, Sam Billings for Oval Invincibles, Imran Tahir for Manchester Originals, Mark Wood for London Spirit and Liam Livingstone for Birmingham Phoenix.

Northern Superchargers also announced the signing of Alyssa Healy to join the women’s team as a marquee player. Healy’s signing represents the first announcement of the second stage of the player selection process within the women’s competition. She will join England stars Lauren Winfield and Linsey Smith, who were unveiled in stage one of the process earlier this month.

Hundred team squads (CC = England central contract player; o = overseas player; i = local icon)

Northern Superchargers: CC Ben Stokes, 3 Aaron Finch (o), 14 Mujeeb Ur Rahman (o), 19 Chris Lynn (o), 30 Adil Rashid (i), 35 Adam Lyth, 46 David Willey (i), 51 Richard Gleeson, 62 Ben Foakes, 67 Tom Kohler-Cadmore, 78 David Wiese, 83 Nathan Rimmington, 94 Brydon Carse, 99 Ed Barnard, 110 John Simpson.

Trent Rockets: CC Joe Root, 1 Rashid Khan (o), 16 D'Arcy Short (o), 17 Lewis Gregory, 32 Alex Hales (i), 33 Nathan Coulter-Nile (o), 48 Harry Gurney (i), 49 Steven Mullaney, 64 Matthew Carter, 65 Luke Wood, 80 Tom Moores, 81 Dawid Malan, 96 Ben Cox, 97 Luke Fletcher, 112 Luke Wright.

Southern Brave: CC Jofra Archer, 2 Andre Russell (o), 15 David Warner (o), 18 Liam Dawson, 31 James Vince (i), 34 Shadab Khan (o), 47 Chris Jordan (i), 50 Tymal Mills, 63 Ross Whiteley, 66 Delray Rawlins, 79 Ollie Pope, 82 George Garton, 95 Alex Davies, 98 Max Waller, 111 Craig Overton.

Welsh Fire: CC Jonny Bairstow, 4 Mitchell Starc (o), 13 Steve Smith (o), 20 Colin Ingram (i), 29 Tom Banton (i), 36 Ben Duckett, 45 Ravi Rampaul, 52 Simon Harmer, 61 Qais Ahmad (o), 68 Liam Plunkett, 77 Ryan Ten Doeschate, 84 David Payne, 93 Ryan Higgins, 100 Danny Briggs, 109 Leus Du Plooy.

Oval Invincibles: CC Sam Curran, 5 Sunil Narine (o), 12 Jason Roy (i), 21 Sam Billings, 28 Sandeep Lamichhane (o), 37 Rilee Rossouw, 44 Tom Curran (i), 53 Reece Topley, 60 Hardus Viljoen, 69 Fabian Allen (o), 76 Alex Blake, 85 Will Jacks, 92 Chris Wood, 101 Nathan Sowter, 108 Laurie Evans.

Manchester Originals: CC Jos Buttler, 6 Imran Tahir (o), 11 Dane Vilas, 22 Phil Salt, 27 Tom Abell, 38 Matt Parkinson (i), 43 Saqib Mahmood (i), 54 Dan Christian (o), 59 Wayne Madsen, 70 Wayne Parnell, 75 Mitchell Santner (o), 86 Joe Clarke, 91 Marchant De Lange, 102 Ed Pollock, 107 Ed Byrom.

London Spirit: CC Rory Burns, 7 Glenn Maxwell (o), 10 Eoin Morgan (i), 23 Mohammad Nabi (o), 26 Mohammad Amir (o), 39 Roelof Van Der Merwe, 42 Mark Wood, 55 Joe Denly, 58 Dan Lawrence (i), 71 Mason Crane, 74 Kyle Abbott, 87 Adam Rossington, 90 Zak Crawley, 103 Jade Dernbach, 106 Luis Reece.

Birmingham Phoenix: CC Chris Woakes, 8 Liam Livingstone, 9 Moeen Ali (i), 24 Kane Williamson (o), 25 Ravi Bopara, 40 Benny Howell, 41 Tom Helm, 56 Shaheen Afridi (o), 57 Pat Brown (i), 72 Adam Hose, 73 Cameron Delport, 88 Henry Brookes, 89 Adam Zampa (o), 104 Riki Wessels, 105 Chris Cooke.