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 een gloednieuw en spannend crickettoernooi dat exclusief in Engeland en Wales wordt gespeeld. Het toernooi is opgezet om de sport aantrekkelijker te maken voor een breder publiek, en het beschikt over een aantal innovatieve regels die het spel sneller en spannender maken.

Een van de belangrijkste kenmerken van The Hundred is het nieuwe formaat. De wedstrijden worden over 100 ballen per kant gespeeld, in plaats van de traditionele 50 of 20 over formaten. Dit snellere formaat zorgt voor non-stop actie en spanning.

Een andere innovatie in The Hundred is de regel waarbij elke bowler slechts 10 opeenvolgende ballen mag bowlen. Deze regel is bedoeld om de bowlers fris en scherp te houden en het spel spannender te maken.

The Hundred beschikt ook over een aantal nieuwe regels die speciaal zijn ontworpen om de toeschouwers te vermaken. Zo mogen teams bijvoorbeeld een "joker" powerplay gebruiken, waarmee ze hun run-rate kunnen verhogen. Er is ook een nieuwe "boundary catch" regel, die ervoor zorgt dat elke vang die over de grens wordt genomen als zes punten telt.

The Hundred is een spannende nieuwe toevoeging aan de crickethistorie en het belooft een geweldig toernooi te worden. Met zijn snelle formaat, innovatieve regels en getalenteerde spelers, is The Hundred het perfecte toernooi voor cricketfans over de hele wereld.