Ahmed and Parkinson Retained for The Hundred

Leicestershire spin duo Rehan Ahmed and Callum Parkinson have both been retained by their respective The Hundred franchises.

18-year-old Ahmed will remain with 2021 champions Southern Brave, while Parkinson is set for a third stint with Northern Superchargers.

Both players’ participation for 2023 was confirmed on Thursday morning as part of the ‘deadline day’ style format, which allows franchises to retain up to 10 players before the draft stage, which takes place on Thursday, 23 March.

Before taking the Test arena by storm with England in December, Ahmed starred in his maiden Vitality Blast T20 campaign for the Foxes, taking 19 wickets at 20.25.

The all-rounder featured one five occasions for Southern Brave in 2022 during his inaugural Hundred campaign, averaging 34 with the bat and claiming a best of 2/20 with the ball.

Slow left-armer Parkinson stands as Leicestershire’s all-time leading T20 wicket-taker, with 90 scalps to his name, including 20 at 20.3 in the Vitality Blast last summer.

The 26-year-old has taken four wickets at an average of 19.25 for Northern Superchargers.

Leicestershire T20 skipper Colin Ackermann has not been retained by Manchester Originals, meaning he will be eligible for March’s draft ahead of the third iteration of the tournament which begins on 1 August.