The Hundred (cricket)

The Hundred is the title of a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament in England and Wales run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Originally scheduled to start in the summer of 2020,[1] it has been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

The Hundred
Countries England
 Wales
AdministratorEngland and Wales Cricket Board Ltd
Format100-ball cricket
First edition2021
Tournament formatRound-robin league and Playoffs
Number of teams8

Origins

One-hundred-ball cricket was first proposed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in September 2016, following discussions between the 18 first-class counties, the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) also and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), with a vote of 16–3 in favour of the format.[3]

On 26 April 2017, 38 members of the ECB voted to approve the proposal of a city-based competition. Each county is guaranteed at least £1.3m per year. Essex, Middlesex and Kent were those who did not vote in favour. Thirty-eight votes was above the threshold of 31 which was required for approval. Essex had aired concerns over the how the reduced number of sides would focus in the competition on certain areas of the country, Middlesex would not have benefitted from the use of Lord's, because, unlike other counties, the club does not own its home ground, and Kent chose not to vote.[4]

Format

Originally envisioned as a Twenty20 tournament, concerns over the relevance of the current competition structure and the opportunity to attract new fans prompted the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to propose a shortened format. On 19 April 2018, the ECB announced the creation of 100-ball cricket, in which there would be 15 traditional six-ball overs and a final 10-ball over.[5] Other mooted changes include removing the LBW law.[6] The plan drew significant opposition but was supported by England captain Joe Root.[7] On 21 February 2019, the ECB confirmed revised playing conditions in which there would be ten 10-ball overs with bowlers delivering five or 10 consecutive balls.[8]

One-hundred-ball cricket is a form of limited overs cricket, played by two teams each playing a single innings made up of 100 balls.[9]

The format of the game is:

  • 100 balls per innings[10]
  • A change of ends after 10 balls[10]
  • Bowlers deliver either five or 10 consecutive balls[10]
  • Each bowler can deliver a maximum of 20 balls per game[10]
  • Each bowling side gets a strategic time-out of up to two and a half minutes[10]
  • A 25-ball powerplay start for each team[10]
  • Two fielders are allowed outside the initial 30-yard circle during the powerplay[10]
  • Teams will be able to call time-outs, as has been the case in the IPL since 2009[11]
  • A simplified scoreboard is also proposed[12]

Reaction

Some experts have stated that proposals for the new format outlined by the ECB are, at worst, nothing more than a small step further down "that alley",[13] whereas others are appreciating it as a brilliant innovation.

England's current Test captain, Joe Root, welcomed the ECB's plans for its new team format in 2020. According to Root, it will attract a completely new audience.[14] ODI and T20 captain, Eoin Morgan, had a similar opinion about this format.[15] Former T20 captain Stuart Broad said he was hugely optimistic about the new format.[16] Michael Vaughan also echoed with Broad and stated that it will be a more appealing concept to broadcasters. Michael Atherton shared that a T20 match was to be completed in a 3-hour window and this can be achieved with the proposed format.

New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham was bemused on this move, asking why the England and Wales Cricket Board was trying something different when the current format was already so successful.[17] Current limited overs specialists Dawid Malan and Mark Wood shared that in spite of the new format, T20s will still remain as the preference.[18]

Former MCC chief Keith Bradshaw called the 100-ball tournament an innovation for innovation's sake, reasoning that the main reason behind this thought process is that the ECB couldn't exploit the T20 boom.[19] The England and Wales Professional Cricketers' Association shared that, overall, players were open to this new idea.[20]

India captain Virat Kohli raised a few concerns about the commercialisation of cricket and was not entirely in favour of this new format.[21]

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has no plans to tinker with its existing Big Bash League.[22] It also shared a concern that the introduction of shorter formats is further ignoring Test cricket.[23]

In October 2019, after the teams and branding had been announced, anti-obesity groups criticised the sponsorship from snack food company KP Snacks.[24]

During the player draft on the 20 October 2019, the Twitter hashtag "#OpposeThe100" began trending from a vocal section of cricket fans dismayed at the format of the competition, particularly fans of counties whose home grounds are not among the eight represented city franchises.

Tournament structure

There will be eight city-based teams competing for the title over a 38-day period during the school summer holidays, which run from mid-July to early September. Each team will play four matches at home and four matches away (thereby playing their closest rival twice in a format similar to the Big Bash League), which means there will be a total of 32 games in the league that precedes the play-offs.

The play-offs will include the top three teams at the conclusion of the league stage. The top team will progress directly to the final. The second and third teams will meet in a semi-final. The semi-final and final will be played at the same venue on the same day.

Teams
Venues in England and Wales

Before the eight teams were confirmed, it was reported that they would carry a different identity to the current county teams and would not be named after cities, counties or venues.[25][26] In May 2019, the details of the team names were revealed to be:[27]

Team Men's Venue Women's Venue(s) Men's Coach Women's Coach Ground
Manchester Originals Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Old Trafford, Manchester Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Old Trafford, Manchester
Sedbergh School, Sedbergh, Cumbria		 Simon Katich
Northern Superchargers Headingley Cricket Ground, Headingley, Leeds York Cricket Club
South Northumberland Cricket Club		 Darren Lehmann Danielle Hazell
Birmingham Phoenix Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Edgbaston, Birmingham New Road, Worcester Andrew McDonald Ben Sawyer
Trent Rockets Trent Bridge, West Bridgford, Nottingham County Cricket Ground, Derby
Grace Road, Leicester		 Stephen Fleming Salliann Briggs
Welsh Fire
(Welsh: Tân Cymreig)		 Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna, Cardiff Bristol County Ground
County Ground, Taunton		 Gary Kirsten Matthew Mott
London Spirit Lord's, St. John's Wood, London County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford
County Cricket Ground, Northampton		 Shane Warne Lisa Keightley
Oval Invincibles The Oval, Kennington, London The County Ground, Beckenham Tom Moody Lydia Greenway
Southern Brave Rose Bowl, West End, Hampshire County Cricket Ground, Hove Mahela Jayawardene Charlotte Edwards

Squads

Each team is to be made up of 15 players, of whom a maximum of three may be overseas players. Players will be signed using a draft system common in other franchise leagues. Two of the 15 players will come from players who performed well in the T20 Blast.[25] At least one England Test player will be signed to each of the eight men's teams competing in The Hundred.[28]

On 3 October 2019 the first players to be allocated to teams were announced.[29] They were as follows:

TeamEngland women's central contracted playersEngland men's central contract playerLocal icons
Birmingham PhoenixAmy Jones, Kirstie GordonChris WoakesMoeen Ali, Pat Brown
London SpiritHeather Knight, Freya DaviesRory BurnsEoin Morgan, Dan Lawrence
Manchester OriginalsKate Cross, Sophie EcclestoneJos ButtlerSaqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson
Northern SuperchargersLauren Winfield, Linsey SmithBen StokesAdil Rashid, David Willey
Oval InvinciblesLaura Marsh, Fran WilsonSam CurranJason Roy, Tom Curran
Southern BraveAnya Shrubsole, Danni WyattJofra ArcherJames Vince, Chris Jordan
Trent RocketsNat Sciver, Katherine BruntJoe RootAlex Hales, Harry Gurney
Welsh Fire (Tân Cymreig)Katie George, Bryony SmithJonny BairstowTom Banton, Colin Ingram

The draft took place on 20 October 2019 at Sky Studios in Osterley.[30] Sky Sports and BBC Sport showed the event live.[31][32]

Broadcasting

All games will be televised by Sky Sports, with the BBC also simul-casting 10 men's and 8 women's games free-to-air.[25][4]

gollark: Why would there be a release in just a week?
gollark: Probably should have gotten two while they existed.
gollark: At least I managed to grab one of the current ones before they went away.
gollark: I suppose we'll see in... actually I have no idea when the names are released or whatever.
gollark: That seems plausible.

References
  1. "ECB unveils plans for tournament with 100-ball format and 10-ball special over". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  2. "The launch of The Hundred moved to 2021". www.ecb.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  3. "T20: English counties vote for new eight-team competition". BBC Sport. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  4. "City-based Twenty20 tournament featuring eight teams gets approval for 2020". 26 April 2017.
  5. "ECB presents 100-ball domestic game for men and women". ECB. 19 April 2018.
  6. Marks, Vic (1 May 2018). "Introduction of 100-ball cricket makes one hark back to golden days of 2002". The Guardian.
  7. George Dobell (24 April 2018). "The Hundred 'will bring new people to cricket' - Root". ESPNcricinfo.
  8. "Playing conditions for The Hundred confirmed". ECB. 21 February 2019.
  9. "100-ball cricket: New short-form competition confirmed by ECB". BBC Sport. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  10. "The Hundred: ECB confirms playing conditions for new format". BBC Sport. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  11. Mark Hughes; Elizabeth Ammon (15 February 2019). "Strategic timeouts to be feature of The Hundred". The Times. (subscription required)
  12. Elizabeth Ammon (26 April 2018). "100-ball scoreboard may be simplified to lure new fans". The Times. (subscription required)
  13. George Dobell (19 April 2018). "Fast-food cricket is coming, whether we like it or not". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  14. George Dobell (19 April 2018). "The Hundred 'will bring new people to cricket' - Root". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  15. Andrew Miller; Alan Gardner (19 April 2018). "Eoin Morgan declares himself a 'big fan' of ECB's 100-ball plans". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  16. "Mixed reaction to ECB's '100-ball' format". Cricket.com.au.
  17. "Mixed reaction to ECB's '100-ball' format". Cricket.com. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  18. "Malan, Wood raise concerns over 100-ball tournament". Cricbuzz. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  19. Andrew Miller (27 April 2018). "Former MCC chief Keith Bradshaw queries ECB innovation for innovation's sake". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  20. Rob Johnston (8 May 2018). "Players remain open-minded about ECB's 100-ball proposal". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  21. "Virat Kohli raises concerns over 100-ball format". Cricinfo. ESPN. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  22. Jon Pierik (20 April 2018). "CA offers straight bat to 100-ball format". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  23. Michael Vaughan (21 April 2018). "100-ball game can prove a winner but Test cricket ignored once more". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  24. "Cricket tournament criticised over snack deal". 4 October 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  25. "A new T20 competition proposed for 2020". ECB. 27 March 2017.
  26. Ammon, Elizabeth (2 January 2018). "T20 teams will not be tied to cities". The Times.(subscription required)
  27. Wigmore, Tim (29 May 2019). "ECB decide team names for the much-derided Hundred tournament: all hail the scooby doos". The Telegraph.
  28. "The Hundred: At least one England Test player to be in each men's team". BBC. BBC. 2 September 2019.
  29. "|First players named| in The Hundred men's & women's teams". www.ecb.co.uk.
  30. "The date of The Hundred's first ever men's player draft announced". ecb.co.uk. The England and Wales Cricket Board. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  31. "The Hundred: Who were the big winners from the draft at Sky Studios?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  32. "Watch: The Hundred Draft - Live". BBC Sport. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
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