Old Cricket Club Chair takes part in Hundred Auction

Declan Ryan, Chair of Old Cricket Club in Northamptonshire was invited by the ECB to take part in the Women’s Auction for the 2026 Hundred Competition last week, read what he got up to below:

“You’re going on stage with Richard and drawing the next 25 names” – That was the moment I realised that Old Cricket Club was going to be broadcast to the world for the next 50 minutes. This was a landmark moment for English Cricket and they trusted me to be Richard Madley’s right-hand man on the auctioneer’s stage. If you’ve never been on telly, I can tell you that you will over think what to do with your arms, particularly when your main instruction is to ‘stand still and don’t say anything.’ Fortunately, I had The Hundred Draw Box to weld my hands too.

How did I end up here? The opportunity seemingly dropped into my lap, well my inbox to be precise, a week earlier. The ECB Volunteer Lead ,who I had been interviewed by for their Cricket Collective Volunteer Action Plan a few months earlier, asked if I was available on Wednesday 11th to be part of The Hundred Auction. A quick shift around of work meetings and an annual leave request, and ‘yes I am available.’

I arrived at 09:00, was handed a coffee, and introduced to the floor management and presenters. I’m sure they were all stressed to pull off this bit of cricket history, but they all took the time to introduce themselves, talk us through proceedings, and have a chat. They were brilliant at making us feel welcome and comfortable. 10:00 arrives. I’m sat behind the camera, watching Charles Dagnall talk the world through the current squad lists. His co-host, Kenzie Benali, is sitting next to me, scrolling through her script on the iPad. Alex Hartley was on a roof somewhere keeping social media up to date on the latest sales. Meanwhile, the production team scattered around us had pages and pages of player names, carefully listening to Richard conduct the auction, noting the sale amount and the winning team.

It’s 11:10, the first block of players have been sold, and now its my moment. Whilst Kenzie introduces me on camera, I’m caught between reading her teleprompter, listening to her say the words, and wondering where the hell to look. Anyway, I survive and make my way up on stage to join Richard, who gives me a warm smile and reassuring wink to remind me that we had practised this and I will be fine. Yes, nothing was left to chance. I had to rehearse passing those cards to Richard.

The first card comes out, Sterre Callis. ‘Any bids? I can’t sell the player if I don’t have any bids.’ Oh no, my first player goes unsold, I’m off to a flyer. Alas, momentum builds and a few sales then follow. As the bids come in, I start to take stock of the cricketing royalty in the room. Anya Shrubsole, Meg Lanning, Sarah Taylor, Jon Lewis to name a few. The first 20-minutes pass as I’m living in the moment, then the reality hits that me and Old CC are at the centre of unchartered waters in UK sport. Of the 5,704 clubs, and 70,000+ volunteers the ECB could have asked, they asked us. We couldn’t be more grateful and proud. I try not to smile like a Cheshire Cat at the realisation, while another player goes unsold in front of me.

I may have been the one on stage, but it was all about celebrating Old CC. So many people have given their time, passion, expertise, and sponsorship to grow the club to the position it is now. And to be part of The Hundred Auction felt like a massive recognition of all the hard work of our community. I’ll be forever proud and grateful to represent our club and county on the world stage. Thank you Michael for lending me your Old CC shirt!

The morning auction finishes, my work is done, I head out into the London streets. Rounding the corner, I bump into Toby and Jack from Cricket District. Have a quick chat, exchange numbers, and walk off towards the Tube wondering if our next club adventure will be a Village vs Pro or CDXI match feature on their channel. Let’s see if that phone rings.

A massive thank you to the ECB, and to Jim at the Steelbacks Foundation for introducing me to the ECBs staff in the first place. We hope you all enjoyed our behind the scenes videos on Instagram and Facebook. We can’t wait to welcome you to Old in the summer!”