The Hundred is a professional Cricket league in United Kingdom. The Hundred is the only cricket league in the world that played in 100-ball format. It is organised by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) every year in month of July and August. The Hundred is one of the "Big Four" major cricket tournament organised by ECB, others three are County Championship, One-Day Cup, and T20 Blast. The Hundred comprises 8 teams, with 7 in the England and 1 in Wales.
The format was invented with the expectation that each match would last around two-and-a-half hours.[1] The BBC showed free-to-air broadcasts of the competition, while all of the women's matches and some of the men's matches were available to stream for free on Sky Sports' YouTube channel.[2][3]
Almost all matches take place as back-to-back double-headers at the same venue on the same day. One ticket gives access to both the men's and women's games. The men's salaries are four times higher than the women's, but the tournament prize money is equal.[4][5][6]
The idea of switching the competition from the established Twenty20 format to an entirely new type of cricket was first proposed by Sanjay Patel, the ECB's chief commercial officer, in a private October 2017 meeting with senior cricket officials. He argued that the hundred ball format would be simpler to understand for new audiences that the competition wants to attract.[9]
Former England player and Northern Superchargers head coach Dani Hazell stated that the tournament would help with investment into the women's regional structure and the tournament would be an important learning experience for domestic players.[10]
The profitability of The Hundred has been a subject of debate. In 2016, a report produced by Deloitte had predicted the tournament would make about £27m profit per year. The ECB reported in 2022 that The Hundred had made an £11.8m profit. A report produced in 2023 by Fanos Hira, a chartered accountant, and assisted by ECB chairman Richard Thompson, showed a loss of £9m in its first two years. These figures do not include the £24.7m promised to the counties and Marylebone Cricket Club. The ECB's chief executive Richard Gould said he expected the tournament was "here to stay" beyond the current deal with Sky Sports, which runs until 2028.[12]
For the third season of The Hundred, it was announced that the 100-ball cricket competition would be collaborating with Marvel Comics. A selection of Marvel's characters, such as Hulk, Iron Man and Black Panther featured in digital content with players from across all eight teams to introduce the competition to new audiences.[13]
Format
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.[14] Games last approximately two and a half hours.[15]
there are two innings, each normally lasting 65 minutes separated by a 15-minute interval
if the first innings is completed before the scheduled time of the interval, the interval takes place immediately
if the first innings is delayed or interrupted, the interval is shortened to 10 minutes
Law 12 (Start of play; cessation of play):
each team shall bat for 20 overs unless all out earlier
the fielding side is entitled to take one 90 second strategic time-out (but not during the first 25 balls of the innings)
Law 13 (Innings):
a match consists of one innings per side, each limited to a maximum of 20 overs
no bowler may bowl more than four overs in an innings
Law 17 (The over):
an over consists of five balls
two overs shall be bowled from each end alternately. Batters shall not change ends between overs
a bowler shall be allowed to change ends as often as desired
a bowler shall not be allowed to bowl more than 2 consecutive overs
Law 21 (No ball):
the penalty for a no ball is two runs
the delivery following a no ball shall be a free hit
Law 28 (The fielder):
there shall not be more than 5 fielders on the leg side
for the first five (powerplay) overs, no more than two fielders are permitted to be outside the 30-yard circle
Law 40 (Timed out):
an incoming batter must be ready to receive the next ball within 60 seconds after the dismissal or retirement of the preceding batter
in the event of the above requirement not being met, the umpire shall issue one warning
if the above requirement is not met for a subsequent time in the same innings, five penalty runs shall be awarded to the fielding side
if the batter is not ready within 80 seconds, they will be timed out
Tournament structure
Eight city-based teams compete during the school summer holidays. All men's and women's matches are held on the same day at the same grounds. In total there are 32 matches in the league stage of the tournament. Each team plays four matches at home and four matches away, This includes one match against every other side and then a second bonus match against their nearest regional rivals.[17]
The team that finishes top of the league progresses straight into the final. The teams finishing second and third compete in the Eliminator (or semi-final), with the winner progressing into the final.[18]
Reaction
The decision to create an entirely new format of cricket, with teams based in just seven major cities, has split opinion amongst cricket fans [citation needed].
Some current England players have been positive about The Hundred. England's Testcaptain at the time, Joe Root, welcomed the ECB's plans, believing it would attract a completely new audience to the game.[19] ODI and T20 captain Eoin Morgan expressed a similar opinion.[20] Former T20 captain Stuart Broad said he was hugely optimistic about the new format.[21]Michael Vaughan echoed Broad's comments, believing that it would be an appealing concept to broadcasters, and Michael Atherton stated while a T20 match was rarely completed in a three-hour window, this can be achieved with the Hundred.[22]
However, former MCC chief Keith Bradshaw said he hoped the 100-ball tournament would not be "innovation for innovation's sake", and voiced his concern that the new format would mean that the ECB could not exploit the T20 boom.[23] The England and Wales Professional Cricketers' Association announced that, overall, players were "open-minded" about the tournament.[24] FormerIndian captain Virat Kohli cited concerns about the commercialisation of cricket and was not entirely in favour of the new version of the game.[25]
After the teams and branding was announced, anti-obesity groups criticised the sponsorship from snack food company KP Snacks.[26]
Social media reaction has also been split. During the player draft on the 20 October 2019, the Twitter hashtag "#OpposeThe100" began trending,[27] with 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 used by city franchises. Wisden noted that the response on Twitter and Facebook "has usually been cutting" but there has been less negativity on Instagram which is "mainly used by a younger age group".[9]
Women's cricketers have been particularly enthusiastic about the new format and the decision to run both competitions in parallel, with the same prize money, allowing many to turn professional for the first time.[28]
At the conclusion of the inaugural season, it was revealed that 55% of tickets were bought by people who had never bought one before, and that several records were set with regards to television viewing and match attendance figures, particularly for the women's matches. Former England women's captain Charlotte Edwards said that the tournament had "single-handedly changed women's cricket in this country".[29]
At the conclusion of the second season it was announced that ticket sales had remained relatively stable at 500,000 but that viewing figures from broadcast had dropped by around 2 million compared to the inaugural season, from just over 16 million to 14 million.[30]
The format of the tournament may be changed to T20 format as English cricket continues to debate the tournament's future following top-level discussions over the prospect of opening it up to private investment.[31]
Before the eight teams were confirmed, it was reported that they would carry a different identity from the long-established county teams and would not be named after cities, counties or venues.[32][33] In May 2019, the team names were revealed to be:[34]
Each team is made up of 15 players, a maximum of four of whom can be overseas players. Players are signed using a draft system common in other franchise leagues. At least one England international player is allocated to each franchise in both the women's and men's competitions. The salary cap for each team for the 2022 season was £1,000,000, rising from £800,000 in 2021.[38]
These totals only include completed innings. They also exclude innings where the number of balls to be bowled is reduced, usually because of rain. Successful low scoring run-chases are also excluded.
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