Going by public opinion and expert views, it seems that ECB’s new project the Hundred has been facing a lot of criticism.
However, even though there are complaints, there are ample reasons why The Hundred can be a raging success.
The Hundred has got every potential to match up to the Indian Premiere League as a successful platform that produces fresh domestic talent. Plus there will be a profusion of incoming international quality, along with fresh English cricketing talent, and a willingness to learn from each other. Looking at the IPL it is clear that young Indian cricket players have improved their game because of the experienced, quality players they have there.
The Hundred is expected to be equally, if not more entertaining than the T20 format. Since its launch back in 2003, T20 also received a great deal of criticism from cricketing pundits. The most boring and common complaint was that T20 was a slogging game requiring limited skill. However, over the last few years, T20 has emerged as a highly skillful and practiced format, not to mention its mind-boggling entertainment factor.
Star players like MS Dhoni, AB de Villiers, and Jos Buttler have kind of reinvented the batting rules; while leg-spinners like Imran Tahir, Shahid Afridi, and Rashid Khan have proved how talented the best T20 bowlers can really be. All of this, and not to mention the remarkable death bowling of Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga.
Just because one innings in The Hundred will be just 20 balls shorter, there is no valid reason it will restrict the skills of the T20 players. On the contrary, the players of this new game are going to be even more adept in a brand new cricket format that inspires innovation.
If the accomplishment of the IPL has communicated to us anything solid, it is the fact that franchise cricket can never be a success with as many as 18 teams. But with The Hundred, the ECB is embracing the domination of franchise cricket by ensuring the format is presented through cities and not counties.
Besides, this format and the competition, launched by the ECB, is only after conducting widespread market research. It aims to attract a new audience to this format of cricket despite a threat from other forms of sports. Ever since all of the live England international matches moved to Sky Sports from Channel 4 back in 2005, millions of fans including one who cannot pay for a sports channel subscription –missed a chance to enjoy and love cricket from the comfort of their couch. But it was only IPL that was broadcasted live through free-to-air TV channels in the UK, over the last 14 years.
And now, with the BBC broadcasting 18 fixtures from the Hundred launched by the ECB, an entire generation of cricket lovers and youngsters can once again watch live cricket in their homes. Reaching millions of fans via television, irrespective of the format is itself a success and certainly a game-changer.
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