The Hundred is an entirely new format of cricket and was planned by the ECB to inject a new lease of life into the sport locally. The tournament will contain eight city-based franchises which have been designed to attract top overseas and domestic talent.
Like Twenty20 cricket before it, The Hundred is not without criticism from supporters of county cricket, and many other counties who have not been selected as host venues, feeling left excluded.
There will be eight teams based in seven different cities, consisting of a men's and a women's squad respectively. Each squad will be made up of 15 players with up to three overseas players allowed. These teams are Oval Invincibles from London, London Spirit from Lords, Welsh Fire from Cardiff, Northern Superchargers from Leeds, Manchester Originals from Old Trafford, and Southern Brave from Southampton. Northampton will be represented by Trent Rockets, while Birmingham will be represented by Birmingham Phoenix in the tournament.
Rules and Regulations
According to the rules of the game, each inning will consist of 100 balls only. One over will contain a spell of 10 balls with one bowler bowling either five or 10 consecutive balls. The decision to utilize one or two bowlers in the overlies with the skipper. The bowling ends will change, after every 10 deliveries.
There is a cap of a maximum of 20 balls for all bowlers in the match. Adding on, the bowling side can call upon a strategic timeout of up to two and a half minutes anytime during the match. The coach will be allowed to join in with players on the field to discuss the tactics during the timeout.
Throughout the tournament, a franchise will get a chance to lock horns with each of the seven others once, plus one extra match. Each team will play four home matches and four away matches. before the top three progress to the Finals at the end of the league campaign. In the finals, the teams at the second and third positions will meet in an eliminator, of which the winner will fight the top contender.
Tournament Schedule
The tournament is set to begin at The Oval when the Oval Invincibles take on the Manchester Originals on July 22nd, with the tournament summing up on August 21st. The Women's tournament also kicks off a day prior and will see the Women's team of Manchester Originals lock horns with Oval Invincibles, with games going on until August 21, to determine the winner of the title.
The stage is set.
— The Hundred (@thehundred) July 21, 2021
There's history to be made.
It's almost time! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/sJoGn7madf
Where and when to watch?
Indian stream: Fan Code
Timings: 18:30 Local (23:00 IST)
Double header schedule: 14:30 Local (19:00 IST) and 18:00 Local (22:30 IST)
Squads
Birmingham Phoenix
The Birmingham franchise will see Moeen Ali as captain, whose all-around capabilities will serve well in this format. Joining him will be one part of the Big Three Kane Williamson. Adding strength to the bowling department, the other teammates include Shaheen Afridi and Chris Woakes, with Adam Zampa bringing in the spin.
Men's squad: Moeen Ali (c), Shaheen Afridi, Henry Brookes, Pat Brown, Chris Cooke, Tom Helm, Adam Hose, Benny Howell, Liam Livingstone, Dominic Sibley, Kane Williamson, Chris Woakes, Adam Zampa, Tom Abell*, Daniel Bell-Drummond*, Miles Hammond
Women's Squad: Sophie Devine, Emily Arlott, Thea Brookes, Gwen Davies, Ria Fackrell, Phoebe Franklin, Ashleigh Gardner, Kirstie Gordon, Amy Jones, Evelyn Jones, Marie Kelly, Abthaa Maqsood, Isabelle Wong, Georgia Elwiss
Trent Rockets
The Northampton franchise poses a strong batting lineup with the explosive Alex Hales and world-renowned Joe Root. Adding on more steel is the inclusion of World No1 T20 batsman Dawid Malan. Also in their squad is ICC No1. T20 all-rounder Rashid Khan who has a spin companion in D'arcy Short with fellow compatriot Nathan Coulter-Nile adding to the all-rounder department.
Men's squad: Lewis Gregory, Matthew Carter, Joe Root, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Cox, Alex Hales, Rashid Khan, Dawid Malan, Tom Moores, Steven Mullaney, D'Arcy Short, Luke Wood, Luke Wright, Timm Van Der Gugten, Samit Patel
Women's Squad: Katherine Brunt, Kathryn Bryce, Abbey Freeborn, Sarah Glenn, Nancy Harman, Lucy Higham, Sophie Molineux*, Natalie Sciver, Annabel Sutherland, Elyse Villani
Oval Invincibles
Jason Roy is appointed captain and whose limited over experience could prove crucial, The Curran brothers, Sam Curran and Tom Curran add decent depth with destructive batting and bowling combined with spin duo Sandeep Lamichanne from Nepal and Sunil Narine from West Indies. The presence of Sam Billings could also prove to be lethal.
Sam Curran: "These can't be going out, are they?" 💬
— The Hundred (@thehundred) July 19, 2021
The Hundred: *Posts video* 😉 pic.twitter.com/noDHeBtDdz
Men's squad: Sam Billings, Alex Blake, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Laurie Evans, Will Jacks, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sunil Narine, Jason Roy, Nathan Sowter, Reece Topley, Saqib Mahmood*, Colin Ingram*, Brandon Glover, Jordan Clark
Women's Squad: Georgia Adams, Megan Belt, Sarah Bryce, Alice Capsey, Tash Farrant, Jo Gardner, Eva Gray, Marizanne Kapp, Rhianna Southby, Dane van Niekerk, Fran Wilson, Rachael Haynes*, Mady Villiers
Southern Brave
After struggling in the IPL, David Warner will look to the hundred to find his explosive touch and remind the world once more what he is capable of. Jofra Archer will also have a point to prove after missing out on the game owing to an elbow injury earlier this year. With Marcus Stoinis, Andre Russell and Chris Jordan added onto the squad, the management would be confident in the team's explosiveness in all departments.
Men's squad: Jofra Archer, David Warner, Alex Davies, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Craig Overton, Delray Rawlins, Andre Russell, Marcus Stoinis, James Vince, Max Waller, Ross Whiteley, Danny Briggs
Women's Squad: Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Amelia Kerr, Fritha Morris, Tara Norris, Sonia Odedra, Carla Rudd, Paige Scholfield, Anya Shurbsole, Stafanie Tayor, Sophia Dunkley*, Danni Wyatt
London Spirit
Eoin Morgan will skipper the London Spirit side, with the ability to produce a burst of runs in the middle order of the batting innings. We would also see the return of Mohammad Amir who has retired from international cricket. Glenn Maxwell and Mohammad Nabi add experience and level-headedness in the all-around department, with Zak Crawley and Mark Wood further strengthening the local player's pool.
Men's squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Mohammad Amir, Mason Crane, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Jade Dernbach, Dan Lawrence, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Nabi, Luis Reece, Adam Rossington, Roelof van der Merwe, Mark Wood, Ravi Bopara*, Chris Wood
Women's Squad: Heather Knight (c), Amara Carr, Aylish Cranstone, Naomi Dattani, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Deandra Dottin, Danielle Gibson, Hannah Jones, Sophie Munro, Susie Rowe, Chloe Tyron, Tammy Beaumont
Manchester Originals
Jos Buttler would look to carry his IPL form being one of the leading run-scorers of his franchise. Steven Finn and Nicholas Pooran should bring enough firepower into the batting lineup while Kagiso Rabada possesses the talent to terrify batsmen around the world. Shadab Khan from Pakistan adds depth to the batting and bowling department.
Men's Squad: Jos Buttler, Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rabada, Harry Gurney, Phil Salt, Matt Parkinson, Joe Clarke, Jamie Overton, Shadab Khan, Tom Lammonby, Wayne Madsen, Steven Finn*, Colin Ackermann, Richard Gleeson*, Tom Hartley
Women's Squad: Georgia Boyce, Natalie Brown, Danielle Collins, Kate Cross, Mignon du Preez, Alice Dyson, Sophie Ecclestone, Cordelia Griffith, Alex Hartley, Hannah Jones, Emma Lamb, Lizelle Lee, Ellie Threlkeld
Northern Superchargers
The Leeds franchise has appointed Aaron Finch as captain, whose cricketing expertise could serve well in leading the side. He will find an able companion in Ben Stokes and Chris Lynn who has proved their usefulness on occasions more than one can count. Adil Rashid and Mujeeb Ur Rahman will add to the star power of the squad.
Men's squad: Ben Stokes, Aaron Finch, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chris Lynn, Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth, David Willey, Olly Stone, Matthew Potts, Matthew Fisher, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Harry Brooks*, Brydon Carse, Callum Parkinson, John Simpson
Women's squad: Hollie Armitage, Nicola Carey, Alice Davidson-Richards, Helen Fenby, Alyssa Healy, Bess Heath, Beth Langston, Katie Levick, Linsey Smith, Lauren Winfield-Hill
Welsh Fire
In Johnny Bairstow and Kieron Pollard, The Welsh franchise has players who could single-handedly change the tide of a game. Leading their bowling will be BBL 2021’s top wicket-taker Jhye Richardson. Ollie Pope, Liam Plunkett, and Ryan Higgins. will add decent expertise and experience to the local talent pool.
Men's squad: Qais Ahmed, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Ryan Higgins, David Payne, Liam Plunkett, Ollie Pope, Kieron Pollard, Jhye Richardson, Jake Ball, Ian Cockbain, Josh Cobb, Matthew Critchley, David Lloyd
Women's squad: Laura Filer, Katie George, Amy Gordon, Alex Griffiths, Georgia Hennessy, Sophie Luff, Natasha Wraith, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Bryony Smith
With the tournament set to begin on the 21st of July, the cricket fans would be eager to see how the all-new format of the game pans out to be. What do you think about this brand-new format of the game? Which team do you think is the mightiest?
Cover Credits: TheHundredofficial
