What is the Hundred? New cricket competition and draft explained
Cricket’s latest innovation is here — and Australians are involved at every level. Here you’ll find everything you need to know about The Hundred — including every Aussie’s asking price.
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Cricket’s latest attempt to engage the younger generation is here — and it comes in the form of an England innovation that will boast an Australian invasion.
But just what is The Hundred — and which Australians will be taking part?
We have all the answers ahead of Sunday’s inaugural international draft, that could see a host of Australian stars pocketing big coin for the 38-day tournament.
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What is The Hundred?
A new competition to run in the English summer aimed at providing an easily digestible version of cricket for time and attention poor men, women and children — especially women and children — who might find the three and a bit hours of a T20 match a bit of a drag.
Eight newly minted teams — both men and women’s sides — representing seven cities across England and Wales will play in a format of 100 balls each.
With no break between the two innings the whole thing should take something close to two hours and will be shown on free-to-air TV, an important pillar in the project which is designed to make the sport visible and inject youthful enthusiasm in to the game in the UK.
That’s the plan at least.
Hang on, 100 doesn’t divide by six, how does that work?
Well spotted. In short, overs will be five not six balls. Though bowlers can bowl 10 balls in a row if they so wish. Whether bowled by one or two bowlers, after each 10 ball spell there is a change of ends, so nine changes of ends in the innings.
A blower’s contribution is capped at 20 balls (so two, three or four ‘overs’, however you cut it) and there is a 25 ball powerplay to start each innings, with no more than two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle at that time.
Oh, and each bowling team is granted one time out of up to two and a half minutes for strategic reasons.
When will it happen?
Taking a leaf out of the BBL playbook, the inaugural tournament will take place between 17 July and 16 August next year — high summer in the northern hemisphere and, crucially, during the long summer school holidays.
Teams will play each other once (other than their paired ‘rivals’ whom they will play twice, home and away) making for 32 league matches in total, with the top three teams progressing to finals day.
The ladder toppers will play just once, in the Grand Final itself, while second and third will play off before that to decide who faces them.
What’s the Aussies involvement?
Considerable.
Eight of the 15 coaches so far named are Australian, with Shane Warne at London Spirit, Darren Lehman in charge of Northern Supercharges and current Australian Women’s National Coach Matthew Mott heading to Wales.
None of the male coaches are English.
And the players?
A raft of Australian players to have put their names forward for consideration, including:
Alex Carey, Aaron Finch, Chris Green, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Elysse Perry, Megan Schutt, D’Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Shane Watson and Adam Zampa.
Have the teams been picked yet?
The first wave, yes, but more to come.
Eight centrally contracted England players (Stuart Broad and James Anderson will not play in the event, though may have ambassadorial roles) were up for grabs, with franchises representing bunched together counties having first dibs on players from those teams.
Then each side could pick two ‘local icons’ to add to their marquee England player.
The headline from that process was the Leeds based Northern Supercharges having to pick between Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes — perhaps predictably selecting the hero of the English summer rather than its Test captain.
Bairstow travels south to Cardiff to join the Welsh Fire and Root to Nottingham and the Trent Rockets. Southern Brave, based in Southampton, got Jofra Archer.
Some of England’s non-contracted players — including some of its World Cup winners, Eoin Morgan picked by London Spirit for example — were also assigned to teams via the ‘icons’ picks, so three men and two female players know where they’ll be already (see full list below).
What about the rest of the squads?
This is where it gets interesting for the rest of us.
The women’s teams have already picked two centrally contracted England players. In the next rounds they will get to select another, pick over the rest of the domestic players and then draft in up to three overseas stars — when the Australians will be in high demand.
The men’s 15 man rosters will be rounded out by a draft on October 20, including those international players who have put their hands up for selection
In total 165 overseas players from 11 countries will enter the men’s draft in which each team is again allowed up to three overseas players.
Teams will have a budget of around 1 million pounds and players have set their own position in a choice of bands, ranging from £125,000 ($230,000) to £30,000 ($55,000).
Eight players have set their reserve price at the highest possible salary with Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Lasith Malinga and Chris Gayle joining Smith, Warner and Starc in the top bracket.
Seventeen overseas players have a reserve price of £100,000 ($180,000), including Maxwell, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Shahid Afridi and Dwayne Bravo.
Bargains down the list include Dale Steyn and Babar Azam at £75,000 ($137,000) along with Stoinis; Short and Mitchell Santner at £50,000 ($91,000); and Shimron Hetmyer and Carey available for £40,000 ($73,000).
Green and Turner are in a group of over 60 players with no reserve price.
Impressive. Any notable omissions?
The Indians, of course. Or those still available for selection for the national team, with the BCCI still forbidding its active players leave to play in competitions that are viewed as rivals to the IPL.
And AB De Villiers — or ‘Brisbane Heat’s AB de Villiers’ as he is now known — who is the highest profile non-India to decline the invitation.
How has it been received?
Mixed, is probably the kindest way to describe it. Traditional cricket fans, the counties and the UK press have given the whole project a lukewarm reception, questioning the need for yet another format of the sport, especially one that is so similar in form and tone to the established T20 leagues. One they believe will inevitably detract from the one-day game just when England have become world champions in that format for the first time.
Any other hiccups?
The whole competition is sponsored by a snacks company, with eight of its favourite chips and nuts brands on the front of the colourful uniforms. Some have questioned the ethics of that when the thing is being marketed towards kids.
Though with the most prominent shirt sponsors in other sports in the country either betting companies of alcoholic drinks producers that seems a lesser form of irresponsibility in truth.
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The Teams (and selected players so far)
Birmingham Phoenix
Venue: Edgbaston (Birmingham)
Representing: Warwickshire and Worcestershire
Men’s Players: Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Pat Brown
Women’s Players: Amy Jones, Kirstie Gordon
Men’s Coach: *Andrew McDonald
Women’s Coach: *Ben Sawyer
London Spirit
Venue: Lord’s (London)
Representing: Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire
Men’s Players: Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Eoin Morgan
Women’s Players: Heather Knight, Freya Davies
Men’s Coach: *Shane Warne
Women’s Coach: *Lisa Keightley
Manchester Originals
Venue: Old Trafford (Manchester)
Representing: Lancashire
Men’s Players: Jos Buttler, Saqid Mahmood, Matt Parkinson
Women’s Players: Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone
Men’s Coach: *Simon Katich
Women’s Coach: TBA
Northern Supercharges
Venue: Headingley (Leeds)
Representing: Yorkshire and Durham
Men’s Players: Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey
Women’s Players: Lauren Winfield, Linsey Smith
Men’s Coach: *Darren Lehmann
Women’s Coach: Danielle Hazell
Oval Invincibles
Venue: The Oval (London)
Representing: Surrey and Kent
Men’s Players: Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Jason Roy
Women’s Players: Laura Marsh, Fran Wilson
Men’s Coach: *Tom Moody
Women’s Coach: Lydia Greenway
Southern Brave
Venue: Ageas Bowl (Southampton)
Representing: Hampshire and Sussex
Men’s Players: Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, James Vince
Women’s Players: Anya Shrubsole, Danni Wyatt
Men’s Coach: Mahela Jayawardene
Women’s Coach: Charlotte Edwards
Trent Rockets
Venue: Trent Bridge (Nottingham)
Representing: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire
Men’s Players: Joe Root, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales
Women’s Players: Nat Sciver, Katherine Brunt
Men’s Coach: Stephen Fleming
Women’s Coach: Salliann Briggs
Welsh Fire
Venue: Sophia Gardens (Cardiff)
Representing: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset
Men’s Players: Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Colin Ingram
Women’s Players: Katie George, Bryony Smith
Men’s Coach: Gary Kirsten
Women’s Coach: *Matthew Mott
*Indicates an Australian coach
Originally published as What is the Hundred? New cricket competition and draft explained
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