The Hundred: Early discussions about changing the men’s The Hundred name to the English Premier League, increasing it to 18 teams, and introducing a new promotion and relegation system have put the existing competition’s future into disarray. With Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises looming large over English cricket and ECB-contracted players with their lucrative contracts, this step by the English Board was inevitable.
The new competition may become a Twenty20 tournament as per a number of radical proposals under discussion, aligning it with other short-format championships throughout the world and necessitating a change in nomenclature from its current one.
One of those schemes called for keeping the eight current club names while introducing ten new sides (based on cities rather than counties) so that each county had a team, potentially attracting private investment.
The Hundred: New Format?
In order to capitalise on the competition’s successes, particularly in the women’s game, a new 18-team system is being considered, with each county venue hosting a side. This would allow the competition to reach all regions of the country rather than just the eight host venues.
With promotion and relegation adopted, the competition would be split into two divisions, most likely with 10 teams in league One and eight teams in the top league, which may be called the English Premier League.
The ECB claims that The Hundred was developed to introduce a new audience to the sport. Its inaugural season, which was postponed by a year because of Covid-19, debuted in 2021 after years of painful deliberation, and is seen by insiders as a mixed success.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) Factor
The Indian Premier League owners, who invest in leagues worldwide and are known to be interested in the English game, may provide financial support if the Hundred is made open to private investment. Additionally, a private ownership component might attract financiers from the USA, the UAE, and even Saudi Arabia.
With several new T20 events debuting over the past 12 months, including Major League Cricket, an IPL-backed initiative in the United States this July, the speed of change in the cricketing world has been accelerating on a worldwide scale. English cricket used to enjoy an exclusive window during the summer in the northern hemisphere, but that advantage is eroding.
Notably, the ‘Times London’ have previously alleged that owners of prominent IPL teams are attempting to persuade up to six of England’s top players to forego playing for their country in international cricket in exchange for lucrative annual contracts worth up to £5 million and the opportunity to play in T20 tournaments all year long.
Nearly all the 10 IPL franchises have expanded into other leagues, such as the CPL in the West Indies, SA T20 in South Africa, Global T20 League in the United Arab Emirates, and the upcoming Major League T20 in the United States.
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