Anyone who has heard of ‘The Hundred’ by the England and Wales Cricket Board will know how ridiculous it really is.
The ECB might as well say they are going to make a tournament where players bowl from a pitch twice as long as usual with a restriction on the speed bowlers can bowl – that would be more entertaining and less confusing than watching something that you can barely call cricket anymore.
For those who don’t know, The Hundred is the working title for the ECB’s proposed 100-ball cricket format. Each match consists of two innings of 16 overs each, with the final over comprising 10 deliveries, making 100 balls in total.
The tournament is scheduled to begin in the northern summer of 2020 alongside the UK’s top-tier Twenty20 Cup.
I get where the ECB is coming from when they say that they need something new because their T20 slam has been a massive flop, but I cannot understand what they mean when they say that it will make cricket more popular and bring new people to the sport since they will just get confused watching normal cricket.
The game is also completely different to every format that is played at the moment. Take a second to think about how that will affect the players who go back to playing first-class cricket and how they will have to adjust.
How will the aspiring Test batsmen who get sucked into this game hope to actually realise their dream of playing test cricket? If the incumbent group fail and/or retire who will be there to replace them? Certainly not the people playing this ‘new version’ of cricket.
The new format is said to bring in new fans, yet how will it bring in new people if the normal cricket supporters are not all that interested or just plain hate the idea of the new format, let alone all the legends of the game going around saying the very idea is utterly ridiculous. Those people certainly aren’t helping that ideal, are they?
To sum up, The Hundred is not only turning fans away, but it also probably won’t attract many new fans, and on top of all that it is going to affect the players who want to play the normal formats and those on the brink of international selection. The ECB’s The Hundred is the beginning of the end for cricket and it will do more harm than good.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
There's nothing wrong with T20 Cricket. The only thing that I'd entertain is 5 ball overs. That's it.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
I didn’t add the specifics of the format (the editors did). But this: “The ECB is now talking about 12 man teams with only 11 on the field and able to bat/bowl and the biggie is having twenty 5 ball overs, as opposed to the 16 overs and one 10 ball over you mentioned.” is sounding more and more like the lower levels in my local competition. It would also still be hard to change back to normal cricket if you played only this format for a while.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
I have no problem with the new T10 format being played in the UAE, it looked pretty exciting actually, but the 100 is just not cricket and soon people will be calling for a revamped first class and one-day game too.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
I played a game exactly like that today (since it was so hot) and it was not ideal for the batsmen, that's for sure. I guess it is just hard to restart and the momentum is lost after both teams have batted once.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
No that's not actually part of the rules. I was making a metaphor to show how ridiculous the concept is.
Niranjan Deodhar
Roar Pro
There is no problem in implementing something like a 100 ball match or even T10's that are played at different levels of cricket unless you don't alter the basic rules of cricket. Introducing something like 5 ball overs or last over of 10 balls or something fickle like this would just increase the complexity of the game not only for the fans to understand but also for players to adapt to. And the innovations or changes that we have come across so far have not come at the expense of changing the basic rules of cricket. Or if you really want to change a particular basic rule like number of bowls in an over, it would be wise to have that change implemented uniformly across all the forms of the game to make these changes more logical and simple for one and all. And I hope they don't bring into existence something like limiting the maximum speed of the delivery as that would be like killing the contest once and for all!
Niranjan Deodhar
Roar Pro
In many ways actually. Just as players have to restart each time the new session begins in Test match, players will need to start from scratch as the new innings starts. Just as we can have four totally contrasting innings in Test Cricket, the 4 innings in this new style of one-dayer can differ in variety of ways unlike the monotonous style of current one-day cricket. Also, having four innings like in Test cricket can add a sense of unpredictability or uncertainty unlike current ODI format where more often than not you can predict who the winner is going to be.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Test Cricket could be played over 4 days. 110 overs per day. Total of 440 Overs compared to today's 5 Day Tests with 90 overs per day (450 overs). A reduction of only 10 overs. In addition each team would be allocated 220 overs for batting at the start of the Test. In the first three innings - if a team fails to bat out its allocated overs those overs would be transferred to the next team batting in a cascading manner. If a team wants to bat through the 110 over mark in the first innings it must start using up overs from the 110 allocated for its second innings. Of course - if that team then dismisses the other team quickly it will gain these overs back - although truthfully it probably won't need them. Or sounds a little complicated but it actually isn't - how many teams bat through 110 overs anyway (or 220 for the match?). Alternatively you could reduce that figure to 100/400 overs.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Wow. I can't believe how shortsighted your are with this view. People who have grown up with Twenty 20 Cricket over the last 15 Years are now moving into their 20s & 30s. The cricketing authorities need to find a way to appeal to the next generation who have shorter attention spans then those in Generation Z (born 1995-2010) - what about the youngsters born since 2010? What game is there for them to enjoy? A shortened format is the way to go in a time constrained World in which kids don't have 3 hours to sit around watching an entire Twenty 20 game. They need something snappier and more immediate and not so drawn out. Frankly this new 'The Hundred' format sounds like an exciting new initiative to tap into new markets and drive the growth of the entire sport. Don't write it off so blithely.
Paul
Roar Guru
apart from the fact that the suggestion is played over 4 innings, how is this analogous with Test cricket?
Niranjan Deodhar
Roar Pro
Instead of implementing this obnoxious ideas which involve changing of basic rules of Cricket, how about we show a little innovation by trying Sachin Tendulkar’s idea which he mentioned a few years back involving 2 innings per side in an one-day international. However, I would like to suggest a slight modification by playing an ODI match of 40 total overs per side which would mean each side would play two innings of 20 overs each and we can have new ball for every innings. In this way, not only the playing time would be reduced from 8 hours to say 6.5-7 hours but also it would nullify those scenarios which involve an unfair advantage to the team winning the toss. And last but not the least, it would be analogous to T20 & Test Cricket simultaneously which totally can add a new dimension to the game like never before!
Paul
Roar Guru
Nothing has been decided, it's all conjecture at this stage.
Franctony
Roar Rookie
You mentioned that there will be restrictions on speed. Does that mean that they will cap the speed of a far bowler? If so this is absolute nuts. I read that they even contemplated doing away with lbw top make the game simpler! I reckon this is yet another example of "innovation" by non cricketing people inspired by baseball.
Paul
Roar Guru
You've gotten in way too early with this story. The ECB, right now, have decided they're going to have a series of trials in September for both female and male cricketers, with each group playing 3 games. The ECB is now talking about 12 man teams with only 11 on the field and able to bat/bowl and the biggie is having twenty 5 ball overs, as opposed to the 16 overs and one 10 ball over you mentioned. The Players Association made it clear over there if they weren't happy with the concept they wouldn't support it, hence the trials. In short, the jury's out till September.