The 100
Countries
  • England
  • Wales
AdministratorEngland and Wales Cricket Board
Format100-ball cricket
First edition2021
Latest edition2023
Tournament formatRound-robin league and Playoffs
Number of teams
  • 8 (women's)
  • 8 (men's)
Current champion
Most successful
2023 season of The Hundred

The Hundred is a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament involving eight men's and eight women's teams located in major cities across England and Wales. The tournament is run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and took place for the first time in July and August 2021.

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]

History

A new city-based cricket Twenty20 competition similar to the Indian Premier League was first proposed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in September 2016. Following early discussions between the 18 first-class counties, the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) they voted 16–3 in favour of developing the competition.[7] On 26 April 2017, members of the ECB voted by 38–3 to push ahead with the new competition.[8]

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 tournament was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

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]

The Laws of Cricket apply in The Hundred, with major exceptions:[16]

  • Law 11 (Intervals):
    • 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 .

Some current England players have been positive about The Hundred. England's Test captain 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] Indian 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]

Teams

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.[31][32] In May 2019, the team names were revealed to be:[33]

Team name Home ground Linked counties Women's captain[34] Men's captain[34]
Birmingham Phoenix Edgbaston (Birmingham, West Midlands) Warwickshire, Worcestershire Evelyn Jones[35] Moeen Ali
London Spirit Lord's (St John's Wood, Greater London) Essex, Middlesex, Northamptonshire Heather Knight[35] Dan Lawrence[36]
Manchester Originals Old Trafford (Stretford, Greater Manchester) Lancashire Sophie Ecclestone[35] Jos Buttler
Northern Superchargers Headingley (Leeds, West Yorkshire) Durham, Yorkshire Hollie Armitage[35] Wayne Parnell[37]
Oval Invincibles The Oval (Kennington, Greater London) Kent, Surrey Dane van Niekerk[35] Sam Billings
Southern Brave Rose Bowl (Southampton, Hampshire) Hampshire, Sussex Anya Shrubsole[35] James Vince
Trent Rockets Trent Bridge (West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire) Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire Nat Sciver-Brunt[35] Lewis Gregory
Welsh Fire / Tân Cymreig Sophia Gardens (Cardiff, South Glamorgan) Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Somerset Tammy Beaumont[35] Tom Abell

Squads

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]

Finals

Women's finals
Season Date Venue Winner Winning margin Runner-up
2021 21 August Lord's, London Oval Invincibles Won by 48 runs Southern Brave
2022 3 September Lord's, London Oval Invincibles Won by 5 wickets Southern Brave
2023 27 August Lord's, London Southern Brave Won by 34 runs Northern Superchargers
Men's finals
Season Date Venue Winner Winning margin Runner-up
2021 21 August Lord's, London Southern Brave Won by 32 runs Birmingham Phoenix
2022 3 September Lord's, London Trent Rockets Won by 2 wickets Manchester Originals
2023 27 August Lord's, London Oval Invincibles Won by 14 runs Manchester Originals


Broadcasting

All games are televised by Sky Sports, with the BBC also showing 10 men's and 8 women's games free-to-air.[31][8]

In Germany, Sky Sport streamed the initial tournament on their website. They used the signal from Sky Sports UK.[39]

Records and statistics

Team records

Highest totals

As of 26 August 2023

Lowest totals

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.

As of 21 August 2023

Batting

Most runs

List of centuries

ScorePlayerTeamOppositionVenueDateRef.
101* Will Smeed Birmingham PhoenixSouthern BraveEdgbaston10 August 2022[49]
108* Will Jacks Oval InvinciblesSouthern BraveThe Oval14 August 2022[50]
118 Tammy Beaumont Welsh FireTrent RocketsSophia Gardens14 August 2023[51][52][53]
105* Harry Brook Northern SuperchargersWelsh FireHeadingley22 August 2023[54][55]
  • Source: CricInfo[56]

Bowling

Most wickets

List of hat-tricks

BowlerTeamOpponentFiguresVenueDateRef.
Imran Tahir Birmingham PhoenixWelsh Fire5/25 Edgbaston9 August 2021[62]
Alana King Trent RocketsManchester Originals4/15 Old Trafford13 August 2022[63]
Shabnim Ismail Welsh FireBirmingham Phoenix3/31 Edgbaston10 August 2023[64]
Tymal Mills Southern BraveWelsh Fire4/13 Sophia Gardens12 August 2023[65]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ECB announces Hundred will start in July with women's match at Oval". The Guardian. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Hundred must show it can 'grow the game' to be a success – ECB". The Guardian. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "The Hundred: All women's matches available for free on Sky Sports' YouTube channel". The Cricketer. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Hundred - The Hundred: Women's salaries will more than double and men's salaries to rise by a fifth in 2022 edition". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "The Hundred - women fixtures 2021: Full schedule, dates". The Cricketer. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Men's and women's competitions to have equal prize money". England and Wales Cricket Board. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "T20: English counties vote for new eight-team competition". BBC Sport. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  8. 1 2 "City-based Twenty20 tournament featuring eight teams gets approval for 2020". 26 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 "The Birth Of The Hundred: Bitterness, Betrayal & Accusations Of Bullying". Wisden. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "The Hundred and women's cricket: A search for equality with a little way to go | The Cricketer". www.thecricketer.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "The launch of The Hundred moved to 2021". www.ecb.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Hundred has made loss of £9m, says new report". The Times. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "MARVEL TEAMS UP WITH THE HUNDRED THIS SUMMER". The Hundred. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "100-ball cricket: New short-form competition confirmed by ECB". BBC Sport. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  15. ↑ "The Hundred: Your guide to cricket's new quickfire competition". Sky News. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  16. ↑ "Playing Conditions – 100 balls per side" (PDF). England and Wales Cricket Board. 1 March 2023.
  17. ↑ "The Hundred 2021 Schedule: Full List Of Men's & Women's Fixtures". Wisden. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "The Hundred: Your essential guide to the new 100-ball competition". skysports.com. Sky UK. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  19. ↑ George Dobell (19 April 2018). "The Hundred 'will bring new people to cricket' - Root". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  20. ↑ Andrew Miller; Alan Gardner (19 April 2018). "Eoin Morgan declares himself a 'big fan' of ECB's 100-ball plans". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "Mixed reaction to ECB's '100-ball' format". Cricket.com.au.
  22. ↑ "Mixed reaction to ECB's '100-ball' format". cricket.com.au.
  23. ↑ Andrew Miller (27 April 2018). "Former MCC chief Keith Bradshaw queries ECB innovation for innovation's sake". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  24. ↑ Rob Johnston (8 May 2018). "Players remain open-minded about ECB's 100-ball proposal". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  25. ↑ Press Trust of India (2018), Virat Kohli hits out at 100-ball format: Commercial aspect hurting quality of cricket, Hindustan Times, archived from the original on 31 May 2023, retrieved 31 May 2023
  26. ↑ "Cricket tournament criticised over snack deal". BBC News. 4 October 2019.
  27. ↑ "'Oppose The 100' Protestors Asked To Remove T-Shirts At ECB Hearing". Wisden. 23 October 2019.
  28. ↑ "'The Hundred is going to be massive, not just for women's cricket but women's sport in general'". inews.co.uk. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  29. ↑ "ECB hoping to 'migrate' new audiences from The Hundred to other formats". Cricket365. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  30. ↑ Dixon, Ed (5 September 2022). "The Hundred attendance tops 500k but TV is down 12%". SportsPro. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  31. 1 2 "A new T20 competition proposed for 2020". ECB. 27 March 2017.
  32. ↑ Ammon, Elizabeth (2 January 2018). "T20 teams will not be tied to cities". The Times.(subscription required)
  33. ↑ Wigmore, Tim (29 May 2019). "ECB decide team names for the much-derided Hundred tournament: all hail the scooby doos". The Telegraph.
  34. 1 2 "Beaumont and Abell lead Welsh Fire in The Hundred". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sinha, Shivangi. "The Hundred 2023: Everything you need to know about the squads". www.womenscriczone.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  36. ↑ "Lawrence to captain London Spirit in The Hundred". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  37. ↑ ANI (18 July 2023). "South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell to captain Northern Superchargers in Hundred". Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  38. ↑ "England stars to receive Hundred salary boost for 2022 tournament".
  39. ↑ ""The Hundred" - das Cricket-Turnier der Extraklasse - live auf Sky". Sky Sport (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  40. 1 2 "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2021 team match results Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  41. 1 2 "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2022 team match results Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  42. 1 2 "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2023 team match results Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  43. 1 2 "The Hundred Men's Competition Trophy team match results". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  44. ↑ "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2021 batting most runs career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  45. ↑ "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2022 batting most runs career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  46. ↑ "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2023 batting most runs career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  47. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  48. ↑ "The Hundred Men's Competition Trophy batting most runs career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  49. ↑ "BP-M vs SB-M, The Hundred Men's Competition 2022, 8th Match at Birmingham, August 10, 2022 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  50. ↑ "SB-M vs OI-M, The Hundred Men's Competition 2022, 14th Match at London, August 14, 2022 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  51. ↑ "WF-W vs TR-W, The Hundred Women's Competition 2023, 20th Match at Cardiff, August 14, 2023 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  52. ↑ "Beaumont hits first women's century in The Hundred". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  53. ↑ "The Hundred: Tammy Beaumont hits highest score in tournament history with 118 from 61 balls as Welsh Fire move top of table". Sky Sports. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  54. ↑ "Brook hits sublime century for Superchargers against Fire". BBC Sport. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  55. ↑ "NSC-M vs WF-M, The Hundred Men's Competition 2023, 30th Match at Leeds, August 22, 2023 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  56. ↑ "The Hundred Men's Competition Trophy batting list hundreds". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  57. ↑ "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2021 bowling most wickets career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  58. ↑ "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2022 bowling most wickets career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  59. ↑ "The Hundred Women's Competition, 2023 bowling most wickets career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  60. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  61. ↑ "The Hundred Men's Competition Trophy bowling most wickets career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  62. ↑ "BP-M vs WF-M, The Hundred Men's Competition 2021, 23rd Match at Birmingham, August 09, 2021 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  63. ↑ "TR-W vs MO-W, The Hundred Women's Competition 2022, 3rd Match at Manchester, August 13, 2022 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  64. ↑ "Ismail hat-trick seals thrilling Fire win in last three balls". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  65. ↑ "WF-M vs SB-M, The Hundred Men's Competition 2023, 17th Match at Cardiff, August 12, 2023 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
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