Time to come clean: I really like the Hundred. This is the sort of view that normally makes people look at you as if you had just professed an admiration for Gary Glitter. But come on, this is a crisp little short-form cricket tournament, played out at the height of summer to largely packed houses. What really is not to like? Cricket is one of the few sports that works in different formats, so it beats me why the Hundred arouses such venom. It has done wonders for the women’s game, it doesn’t take long and it is all televised – much of it on terrestrial TV. Crucially, it has brought new fans to the sport, especially families and youngsters.
Crucially, it has brought new fans to the sport, especially families and youngsters
This year’s didn’t start too well: there were too many low–scoring matches and if a team are 70-odd for six off 75 balls, there’s not much doubt about the result in a 100-ball game. Big scoring matches were a rarity this edition, and the bowlers, especially pace bowlers, were usually on top. But even so the crowds were terrific, if slightly down on last year. In one remarkable game last week, Birmingham Phoenix, led by England’s Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith, hammered Manchester Originals in the tipping rain at Edgbaston, in a game reduced to 30 balls a side. What was striking is that thousands of fans braved the deluge to watch the last knockings.
At the same time the TV viewer could change channels and watch Test cricket in Guyana between the West Indies and South Africa, two of the biggest names in the game. It wasn’t a particularly interesting match, but there was almost literally no one in the ground. The attendance was pitiful. Test cricket, or at least vast swaths of it, appears to be in a death spiral, outside the big three of India, England and Australia. While the Hundred could not be further removed from Test cricket, the skills honed there – especially ball striking and fielding – apply equally to Tests. You don’t have to like the Hundred, but you must acknowledge it is doing a lot of good.
There have been some outstanding overseas players – Nicholas Pooran, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee for the men, and Meg Lanning and Heather Graham for the women – though certainly some of the best players in the world have made their excuses and headed elsewhere, doubtless feeling their wallets. Pat Cummins, for example, the top bowler in the world, has been coming in off his long run for San Francisco in the US’s Major League Cricket, alongside a few other fair-dinkum Aussies like Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head. It would be good to see them in the Hundred sharpish.
The whole thing could look very different next year, as complex changes in ownership are due. Owners of the ten Indian Premier League franchises are expected to bid, along with Wrexham boss Ryan Reynolds, if excited reports from the US are to be believed. Investment is coming, but then what? Certainly a few name changes if the IPL’s record is anything to go by. Could we be seeing the Northern Indians or the Southern Sunrisers? And it looks like that KP Nuts replica shirt might have had its day. But I hope the Hundred is here to stay.
Fans of traditional cricket should keep an eye on the scoreboards in the next few weeks. Somerset, perennial bridesmaids, are second in the County Championship and could take the title for the first time in their history this year. They will need to beat Surrey, however, who rather boringly look poised to win yet again. The men from Taunton, who are blessed with some big hitters like Will Smeed and Tom Banton, as well as Michael Vaughan’s son Archie, are also in the 50-over one-day final at Lord’s on 22 September, taking on Glamorgan. This used to be a highlight of the late summer, but now doesn’t get the attention it deserves. A great pity in my view.
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