• Asia’s richest family, the Ambanis, in three-way battle
• New names, bigger budgets and star players on horizon

The ECB has been accused of “selling the family silver and cricket’s soul” rather than taking “strategic decisions” by one of the bidders in the Hundred auction, which begins on Thursday.

The Oval Invincibles is the first franchise up for grabs when the final round of bidding starts with a live online auction at 1.30pm, with Birmingham Phoenix to be sold via sealed bids later in the day.