The Hundred

swingdog

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 3, 2007
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Melbourne
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The main thing to remember with the Hundred is that this is all about a power play by the ECB to curtail the power of the counties.

It’s about reshaping the T20 competition into city-based franchises.

The cricket is secondary and the concept of the Hundred will be gone in a few years.
 
Oct 6, 2011
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Welsh Fire (Playing XI): Tom Banton(w), Ian Cockbain, Ben Duckett(c), Glenn Phillips, Leus du Plooy, James Neesham, Graeme White, Luke Fletcher, Qais Ahmad, Matt Milnes, David Payne

Trent Rockets (Playing XI): D Arcy Short, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Tom Moores(w), Steven Mullaney, Lewis Gregory(c), Samit Patel, Rashid Khan, Luke Wood, Matthew Carter, Wahab Ria



Rockets won toss and elected to field first
 

Santana

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 28, 2008
9,767
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........

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
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Victoria
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Gold Coast
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End of the tournament. Has this comp and format been a success? If crowds are anything to go for then it’s hands down been successful
 

swingdog

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 3, 2007
9,434
12,375
Melbourne
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West Coast
End of the tournament. Has this comp and format been a success? If crowds are anything to go for then it’s hands down been successful

Depends on your measurement.

In purely objective terms, has it increased the number of new people watching the game? Are there more people going to this than would have gone to T20 Blast games? That's not clear at all. Has probably increased TV audience but that's about being on free to air rather than just Sky.

Has it improved the game in England? No. It's ruined the schedule for first class and test cricket (still the primary measure of success) as the country with the shortest summer of all test playing nations tries to fit in another form of the game.

It has improved the game for women - that's a definite achievement. It has also brought in some innovations that will be adopted by T20.

However, the ECB has achieved its main measure of success. Take power away from the counties. The Hundred is not about any of those other metrics the ECB has been selling (new audience, higher profile for women). The Hundred is about breaking up the 18 country championship and getting rid of the six weakest.

Cricket is a niche sport in England, primarily driven by players coming out of the private school system. The size of the championship can't sustain the number of good players coming through. To lift quality, the ECB wants fewer teams. The Hundred is about achieving the fewer teams part. As soon as it has done that, it'll be dumped and they'll go back to T20.
 
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CliffMcTainshaw

Premiership Player
Apr 11, 2015
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Cill Chainnigh
As a player and follower of cricket for more than 60 years, my apologies for being unable to describe how I feel about the hundred.
I just cannot find the emoji for sticking my fingers down my throat.
 

A Pom

All Australian
Aug 1, 2019
918
415
AFL Club
Sydney
Depends on your measurement.

In purely objective terms, has it increased the number of new people watching the game? Are there more people going to this than would have gone to T20 Blast games? That's not clear at all. Has probably increased TV audience but that's about being on free to air rather than just Sky.

Has it improved the game in England? No. It's ruined the schedule for first class and test cricket (still the primary measure of success) as the country with the shortest summer of all test playing nations tries to fit in another form of the game.

It has improved the game for women - that's a definite achievement. It has also brought in some innovations that will be adopted by T20.

However, the ECB has achieved its main measure of success. Take power away from the counties. The Hundred is not about any of those other metrics the ECB has been selling (new audience, higher profile for women). The Hundred is about breaking up the 18 country championship and getting rid of the six weakest.

Cricket is a niche sport in England, primarily driven by players coming out of the private school system. The size of the championship can't sustain the number of good players coming through. To lift quality, the ECB wants fewer teams. The Hundred is about achieving the fewer teams part. As soon as it has done that, it'll be dumped and they'll go back to T20.

If the plan was to cull counties the ECB wouldn't be putting every single bit of profit from this tournament back to them.
 

swingdog

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 3, 2007
9,434
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Melbourne
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If the plan was to cull counties the ECB wouldn't be putting every single bit of profit from this tournament back to them.

They're not. Each county gets a dividend of 1.3 million pounds - this was to buy them off to have the event in the first place.

 

A Pom

All Australian
Aug 1, 2019
918
415
AFL Club
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They're not. Each county gets a dividend of 1.3 million pounds - this was to buy them off to have the event in the first place.


Which is equal to £23.4m annually. The projected profits before those payments is £11m. Like I said, every penny of it is going back to the counties (and more).
 
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A Pom

All Australian
Aug 1, 2019
918
415
AFL Club
Sydney
The profits aren't going to the counties, just the dividend.

The ECB make £11m profit from the tournament which goes into their bank. In return for being able to host the tournament that makes them that profit they then pay out 'dividends' of £23.4m to the counties from their bank. There's no kind of mental gymnastics that gets around that being the ECB paying all of the tournament's profits straight back to the counties.
 

swingdog

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 3, 2007
9,434
12,375
Melbourne
AFL Club
West Coast
The ECB make £11m profit from the tournament which goes into their bank. In return for being able to host the tournament that makes them that profit they then pay out 'dividends' of £23.4m to the counties from their bank. There's no kind of mental gymnastics that gets around that being the ECB paying all of the tournament's profits straight back to the counties.

You just said the profit is going to the ECB, not the counties.

The point is what the ECB is pushing towards is city-based franchises for both white and red ball cricket. The Hundred is a means to this end.
 
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