The chairman of Lancashire thinks it would “make absolute sense” for the Hundred to switch to a Twenty20 format starting in 2025. This is in light of the fact that English cricket is still debating the tournament’s future after high-level talks about potentially allowing corporate funding.
The ECB has been holding meetings with counties this month to talk about the future of the Hundred, which achieved record attendance and ticket sales during its third season of competition. The ECB owns the eight teams, which are managed by boards made up of independent and county representatives. However, private investors may soon be able to purchase a stake in the teams.
Since The Hundred is a major component of the ECB’s TV rights agreement with Sky Sports, which extends until the end of the 2028 season, its survival is guaranteed for at least five more seasons. However, a new model would be in place before the 2025 edition according to the ECB’s roadmap for possible modifications to the ownership structures of the competition.
The ECB may offer host counties equity shares in their teams, according to a story published in The Daily Telegraph last week. They may also think about adding two more clubs, most likely from the north-east and the south-west, to increase the teams’ geographic distribution.
The Hundred’s 100-ball format was very contentious when it was first introduced. It was designed to set The Hundred apart from the counties’ T20 tournament, Vitality Blast, which has remained England’s second-tier short-form competition, as well as to appease the BBC, the team’s free-to-air broadcasters, who wanted shorter games.
Although the format hasn’t taken off globally, players have found it to be generally enjoyable, and it has resulted in games that are little shorter than the Blast. The chair of Lancashire, Andy Anson, stated on Wednesday that the Hundred should go to T20 in order to “fall in line” with franchise cricket as it is no longer in need of a special format.
“It would make perfect sense,” Anson said to Lancashire’s internal channel, LancsTV. “In my opinion, the format was created needlessly. Its purpose was to distinguish the Blast from the Hundred. I believe that is now in the past. It can continue to be referred to as the Hundred, so you won’t even need to modify its branding.
“I believe it ought to be Twenty20, simply to keep up with this incredible game. From the standpoint of a global audience, it is the greatest format for cricket. It does indeed spark a great deal of attention globally. I would just go along with it, and I definitely sense compassion for that mindset and the need for a change in behavior in the meetings I attend.”
In 2023, the highest salary in the men’s Hundred was £125,000. This amount was less for doing more work than what elite foreign players could have gotten in the first season of Major League Cricket in the United States, where IPL owners support four of the six teams.
Anson feels that the Hundred would need private financing to draw in the top talent in the globe. “If you are going to make the Hundred the second-best tournament after the IPL, you probably need to improve the amount of money going into player wages to get the better players coming in,” he stated.
“At the moment, the South African league [SA20] is paying more because of salary caps. There’s no doubt that the Middle Eastern league [ILT20] will pay more, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the US league [MLC] did as well. Furthermore, the Hundred will move down the social hierarchy, which is something we just can’t allow to happen.”
The MCC chair, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, who oversees London Spirit, would confer with members the following week to “discuss concepts… and seek a broad consensus” over the club’s stance on private investment in the Hundred.
Carnegie-Brown, who said last month that he will not run for reelection at the conclusion of the following season, sent a recent email to members stating, “At the moment the way forward is far from certain.” “What we do know is that change is coming.”
Anson emphasized that although the club is in debt of £30 million following its investment at Emirates Old Trafford, they are “not in any urgent need of capital or cash… the debt is sustainable” and said that Lancashire, the only county involved in managing Manchester Originals, will also confer with members.
He continued: “The opportunity that everyone is discussing is around the Hundred, and if the counties potentially have more ownership of the franchises in the Hundred… we have this discussion at the county chairs and CEOs meeting and I’d say the vast majority would like an injection of capital at some point in the near future.”
