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.

The Guardian has been told that there are 11 bidders left in the race to buy the eight franchises, although with losing bidders permitted to re-enter and make offers for another franchise the ECB is hopeful there will be sufficient competition to raise around £500m, which will be allocated to the counties and grassroots cricket.

Several Indian Premier League owners withdrew following the first two rounds of bidding, however, while some of those still involved have misgivings over the process. Franchises will be sold to the highest bidder irrespective of the wishes of the host venue, who could end up disappointed with the identity of their new partners.

“It feels like the ECB are selling the family silver and cricket’s soul for a quick financial hit, rather than taking strategic decisions,” said a source involved in one bidding team. “Some of the smartest and wealthiest investors in the world have spent three months talking to the counties to try to build relationships and create a partnership, but in the end it will just come down to who bids most. It’s insane.

“We should all be working together for the long-term benefit of English cricket, but that’s not happening. The whole process is a lottery.”

The ECB defended what the governing body described as a “thorough and rigorous process”, and claimed it was not simply a case of the highest bidder winning, as some of the more lucrative offers in the opening two rounds of bidding were overlooked.

A source in another bidding team was also more philosophical, saying that while the process had been lengthy and complex, they expected it to result in eight good new owners and unparalleled riches for English cricket.

The ECB is selling off 49% stakes in the eight Hundred teams to the highest bidder, with the remaining 51% to be given to the host venues, who may then choose to sell it on.

The two London franchises based at Lord’s and the Oval have attracted the most interest and the biggest names. Manchester United and Chelsea part-owners, respectively Avram Glazer and Todd Boehly, are among four different groups bidding for London Spirit, while Asia’s richest family, the Ambanis, are in a three-way battle for Oval Invincibles.

Valuations of the eight franchises vary considerably after the host venues finalised their shortlist of bidders and the ECB is operating a two-speed auction. Those franchises which have attracted more than two final-round bids will be sold via a live online auction, whereas prospective franchise owners left in a two-horse race will be asked to submit their best offer in a sealed bid.

The Oval Invincibles auction will be competitive, with the Ambanis up against private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and a Silicon Valley consortium including the chief executives of Google and Microsoft, Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella.

Sources at the Oval have indicated that they would prefer to partner with the US tech group in the belief it would enable them to able to retain control of the cricket operation. In contrast it is perceived that the Ambanis would be hands-on, as they already run the hugely successful Mumbai Indians global franchise, but in the end it will come down to the highest bidder.

In a sign it may be hedging its bets, CVC is also interested in Birmingham Phoenix, which will also be sold on day one. Birmingham City’s owners, Knighthead Capital, are also expected to bid.

The centrepiece of day two on Friday will be the sale of London Spirit which, based on non-binding bids placed in the first two days, will be the most expensive franchise, with a valuation of up to £150m.

As regular visitors to Lord’s, the Ambanis were involved in the early rounds of bidding, but following discussions with the Marylebone Cricket Club they did not make the shortlist, a significant surprise which may be explained by the MCC’s desire to retain control.

Instead the MCC shortlisted four groups: Glazer’s Lancer Capital, which owns the Desert Vipers in the UAE’s International League T20; Cain International with funding from Boehly and his fellow Chelsea director, Jonathan Goldstein; Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka and the Silicon Valley group, as long as it does not buy Oval Invicibles the previous day.

Day two will conclude with the auction of Welsh Fire, who despite poor performances on the field and disappointing crowds in Cardiff during the first five years of the Hundred have attracted two bidders, Indian investment firm Capri International and Sanjay Govil, owner of the Washington Freedom franchise in Major League Cricket. Wrexham’s owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, held talks with the ECB but have not followed up their initial interest.

The ECB and its financial advisers, the Raine Group, deliberately opted to stage the auction over a weekend after running through different scenarios, giving losing bidders time to regroup in the hope they will bid again next week when Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Trent Rockets and finally Southern Brave go under the virtual hammer.

The Ambanis and Lucknow retain an interest in Old Trafford-based Originals and are likely to bid again if they are unsuccessful in London, while Washington Freedom are also in for Trent Rockets, along with IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The Sunrisers’ prime target is thought to be the Northern Superchargers, while it is viewed as an inevitability that Southern Brave will be bought by Delhi Capitals’ part-owners GMR Group, who completed a 100% takeover of host venue Hampshire last year.

The Southern Brave auction is the one that has caused most problems for the ECB due to concerns it will be sold on the cheap, and has been held back until last in an attempt to drive competition.

While news of successful bids is likely to emerge over the next few days the ECB is not planning to make any formal announcements until the process is concluded.

Completing the partnership agreements between host venues and the new investors is expected to take several months, so there will be no noticeable difference in the Hundred this summer.

From next year, however, new team names, kits and most significantly bigger budgets and more star players will all be on the agenda.