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Layth’s Take The Hundred is set to be a hit, but at what cost?

Many see cricket’s newest, shortest form as a brash upstart that is surplus to requirements. Its opening games have proved its appeal, but the threat it poses to beloved forms of the game – particularly county cricket – must not be forgotten, writes LAYTH YOUSIF

HOW’S your week been? I mostly spent it watching cricket, the Hundred to be precise: 100 balls each, or 16.4 overs — although don’t mention that four letter word in this brave new world. 

I was there to see first ever women’s and men’s games, between the Oval Invincibles and the Manchester Originals, on Wednesday and Thursday at the Oval. 

It’s a new format finally launched after a tortuous three years in the making. For someone like myself, and many others, who prefer the longer forms of the game – Test cricket and county cricket – the Hundred is seen as a brash upstart that is simply not needed. Not when you have T20.

It is also seen as a threat to the county game and, by extension, struggling counties. 

There is also a genuine fear that, once started, the move away from the traditional focus on counties to city-based franchises (and how I hate that word when it comes to sport) will become an irresistible juggernaut. 

As it is, the ECB handout of £1 million per county is a lifeline that is quite literally keeping certain of them alive. 

There will also be tough discussions to be had over the coming years when the powers that be seek to maximise revenues further while cutting out the “deadwood,” as they see it. Even if that supposed deadwood consists of unprofitable county cricket clubs that have been in our communities for more than 100 years, in many cases. 

As an eternal optimist, I would hope that every single county will be able to continue in existence despite the intense financial pressures afflicting many. Who knows, the traditional counties might even gain a few marketing tips in terms of bringing more punters through the door for their games — even if the budget for the dramatic fireworks on both nights this week would surely have exceeded most counties’ marketing expenses for the summer. 

I’m certainly not one to despise a new format simply for the sake of it and, quite honestly, I enjoyed both nights. But then I enjoy T20 too, very much in the way I enjoy fast food: as a treat, not something to gorge on daily. 

One thing is clear: the Hundred will further accelerate improvisation, innovation and higher standards of athleticism, which will surely filter through to the four- and five-day game. 

Certainly, anyone who was at the Oval will appreciate the spontaneity of the outrageous “nutmeg” played by Tom Curran (the Natmeg, as it should always be called, after women’s cricketer Nat Sciver created the shot in 2017).

For a display of destructive hard hitting, the Hundred beats even T20. The new, shorter format could also prompt an increase in tactical innovation and strategy. 

Thursday’s aficionados would have also appreciated Sam Billings’s 49 off 30 balls, having come in at 32-3, finding gaps against the spin while cutting and pulling well against seam. But it was his captaincy that caught the eye when shuffling his pack, not to mention a well-timed strategic time-out with the game in the balance.

It was also instructive to watch Billings snaffle the prize wicket of Jos Buttler. With the powerful batsman having hit a reverse sweep, captain Billings immediately put a fielder back — forcing Buttler to go over extra cover, where he was promptly caught. 

The crowd for the women’s game was less partisan and had more families and children. It was also great to see, when the big screens decoded cricketing terms and nuances, that this was done in an intelligent yet inclusive way, refusing to dumb down (garish colours aside). The enterprise was rewarded with plenty of youngsters looking on intently. 

Anything that promotes the game of cricket and encourages a new generation to play and watch has to be a good thing. However, among many at the men’s game, it simply felt like a marginally shorter T20 game. Alcohol was consumed in large measures but never prompted menacing behaviour. And is a DJ booth an innovation or a gimmick? 

Yet, even as a purist, I think the Hundred will be a hit — though I would be more inclined to take my three kids to a women’s game than a men’s match. 

Affordable, family-friendly,with a more equal gender divide in the crowd (if not yet in pay), the women’s and the men’s formats will benefit hugely from being shown on terrestrial TV, while they will be commercially attractive by dint of being the quickest format to finish. And cash now flows to franchise leagues. 

But something’s got to give. I just hope it’s not the longer forms of the game I love — Test cricket and the county game. And why should the ODI game suffer? Don’t forget, England are still world champions in that form.

The Hundred is the ECB’s baby and it is going all-in to make it a success. Yet after all the razzmatazz dies down, you can’t help thinking it’s not so much a revolutionary new format as a shorter version of T20. 

Crowds of 18,126 for the men and 7,390 for the women left us wanting. Maybe they should invent a game that gives them more. Perhaps an extra 3.2 overs more.

Rugby league letdown

I used to go and watch rugby league games when I lived and worked in Sydney, Australia, as it’s a religion in New South Wales and I wanted to sample their sport. 

I also went to an Australia vs NZ test at the “Aussie Football Stadium” at Moore Park, not to mention the 2003 NRL Grand Final between the Sydney Roosters and the Penrith Panthers, one of the all-time classic showpiece games, among 80,000 passionate and knowledgeable aficionados at the former Olympic stadium in Homebush. 

Having seen the intensity, skill and quality, even all those years ago, I just can’t see how a Rugby League World Cup can take place without the two nations. Which is a shame, as I wanted to go and watch a game or two during this autumn’s World Cup over here. 

I’m genuinely not sure that it will be worth it now. Not when two of the three best teams in the tournament won’t be there.

Layth has joined Substack. If you’d like to read more of his in-depth daily musings on sport, life, music, travel and perhaps a little politics, search for Layth’s Take on substack.com and add your email. It’s free.  

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