Mark Butcher has defended auctions as a franchise selection method, following criticism from players over disparities between the highest and lowest paid cricketers in the Hundred.
Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, Butcher asserted that auctions were "the purest form of selection" and that the big sums of money the highest players are bought for make cricket more attractive to supporters.
At the inaugural Hundred auction last week, uncapped all-rounder James Coles was bought for a record-breaking £390,000, while Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney were picked up for £210,000 in the women's auction. Those mark considerable salary increases from last year, when a draft system was used to select players, with the highest paid men's player being paid £200,000 in 2025, and the highest-paid women's player being paid £65,000.
However, there was some criticism over the auction model, with three-time Hundred winning captain Sam Billings saying: "Auction will always only benefit a few and probably deserved for those few players. However the disparity is too much. The draft structure was clearly far better from an overall player stand point! As players we did feed this back!"
In response to the criticism, Butcher said: "If you don't like that idea then don't put your name forward, no one is forcing you to. You can have the month off or go and play some 50-over cricket. I don't have any sympathy with that argument at all.
"I don't have a problem with the large sums of money at the top, simply because in any venture, whether it be a sporting venture or being a plumber or whatever it is, the advertisement of being able to earn vast sums of money is not something that makes any gig less popular. In terms of throwing out the idea that cricket can be a very glamorous, a very well paid profession, and then the excitement that goes along with the idea that you could become a star and you could be very well paid and all the rest of it, is a good thing for the popularity of the sport.
"Therefore these big sums of money the players are getting for three and a half or four weeks of work, is something that advertises the game as being absolutely worth being into, worth wanting to play and also wanting to support."
Butcher also countered the criticisms of the disparity between the highest paid players and the lowest paid players. The lowest paid female players were bought for £15,000 – almost £200,000 less than the most expensive – and the lower paid men's players were sold for £31,000.
"I still believe that auctions, in terms of these tournaments, are the purest form of selection," said Butcher. "If you have a price on your head, or there is a price that people are willing to pay for you for what you are capable of achieving on the field, there is very little of that by reputation or by name only or by future promise that goes into these large numbers coming out of the pack.
"You've got a three-year option to retain the players that you have bought at auction the first time around. Guys who are in their early 20s, you're likely to get hopefully the best out of them over the upcoming years. You don't have to retain them, they can go back into the pot again, or there will be more senior players who have gone for an amount of money that they're not particularly happy with, that might do their best to be let go after the first year or the second year, or whatever. So there is movement possible."
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
