The Hundred

The Hundred

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Wikipedia - The Hundred (cricket)

The Hundred is a 100-ball cricket tournament involving teams in major cities across England and Wales run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which took place for the first time in 2021.

The format was invented with the expectation that each match would last around two-and-a-half hours. 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.

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.

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. On 26 April 2017, members of the ECB voted by 38–3 to push ahead with the new competition.

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.

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.

The tournament was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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.

The Hundred is a professional cricket league that was launched in 2021 in England and Wales. It is a unique format of the game that features 100 balls per innings, with each team playing 100 balls. The league consists of eight teams, each representing a different city in England and Wales. The teams are made up of both men and women players, with each team having a squad of 15 players. The league is played over a period of five weeks, with each team playing eight matches. The top four teams at the end of the league stage qualify for the playoffs, which consist of two semi-finals and a final. The Hundred has attracted some of the biggest names in cricket, including international stars such as Aaron Finch, Rashid Khan, and Jofra Archer. The league is broadcasted live on television and online, making it accessible to cricket fans all over the world.