Cricket
The Hundred could switch from 100-ball tournament to T20 format in future after huge investment from overseas; managing director Vik Banerjee says: “It would be slightly odd to bring all these great people in and leave it as is”; 2025 Hundred live on Sky Sports from August 5-31
Thursday 31 July 2025 14:48, UK
Change looks imminent for The Hundred following a bumper influx of overseas investment with altered team names and a switch to the T20 format all under consideration.
Stakes in six of the eight franchises have already been completed with deals for Trent Rockets and Oval Invincibles set to follow suit as over £500m pours into the game.
Each of the 18 first-class counties will receive a £400,000 down payment from Friday.
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The new team owners will officially take charge on October 1, with there then likely to be a radical overhaul ahead of the 2026 edition of the tournament.
Eventually, the 100-ball format – which is only played globally in this competition – could be replaced by the well-established T20 system.
That has skyrocketed since the advent of the Indian Premier League in 2007 and a number of IPL owners are now involved in The Hundred.
Lucknow Super Giants have aligned with Manchester Originals and Sunrisers Hyderabad with Northern Superchargers, while Invincibles are set to join Mumbai Indians’ MI stable.
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Vikram Banerjee, managing director of the Hundred, said: “It would be slightly odd to bring all these great people in and leave it as it is.
“There are things the tournament has done brilliantly that we want to hold on to, and the core DNA of the tournament will carry on, but we’ll look to supercharge it.
“You want to see innovation and growth in new things. Other people will have great ideas and I’m looking forward to seeing what they are.
“(Moving to T20) is one of the things that will be discussed. At the moment it’s the Hundred format and that will remain for now but let’s see where we get to in the long term.”
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ECB chief executive Richard Gould also made it clear that if a global Champions League gets off the ground, the governing body would be inclined to send the winner of the Hundred rather than a county from the Vitality Blast.
“There might be some pushback, but that’s a debate to be had,” said Gould.
“If there’s a Champions League format it would be a Hundred team going forward and of course we’d want to be involved at the earliest opportunity.”
Watch the 2025 edition of The Hundred live on Sky Sports from August 5-31.
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