The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that the launch of ‘The Hundred’ will now take place in summer 2021.
The decision was taken after a meeting dedicated to the subject concluded that the competition could not be staged due to a number of reasons ranging from operational challenges due to ongoing lockdown and the antithetical idea of cricket behind closed doors.
The Hundred, a project proposed by ECB in 2018, aims to attract a broader audience through the unique event. The much awaited project of ECB, involves eight city-based teams competing for the title over a 38-day period.
No point in hosting the game behind close doors.
According to ECB’s official website of ECB, the decision was taken on Wednesday after a meeting of ECB members where it was concluded that Launch of “The Hundred” would not be possible.
The members at the meeting believed that a behind closed doors competition directly contradicts the competition’s goal to attract a broader audience through a unique event experience for viewers and spectators.
The ECB Chief Tom Horrison commented, “Whilst we are naturally disappointed that we won’t get to realise our ambitions this year, The Hundred will go ahead in 2021 when we are safely able to deliver everything we intended to help grow the game.
The Hundred would be more needed post COVID-19
Commenting further, Horrison said that the format has the capacity to generate a huge revenue and so would be more needed post the COVID-19 when everything would get back to the normal.
“The Hundred will create millions in revenues for the game, through hosting fees, hospitality and ticket sales, as well as delivering £25m in annual financial distributions to all First-Class Counties and MCC.
Its role in driving participation alongside supporting the development of the women’s game will be material in generating take-up of our game across country-wide communities, said the ECB chief
“We would like to thank our broadcast partners, for their extraordinary commitment and support to get The Hundred to this point and our commercial partners for their ongoing support. We very much look forward to working with them as we build to the 2021 launch.”
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