‘TikTok cricket’ - The Hundred is aimed at people like me so I went along to watch a match - here’s what I thought

Cricket seemingly has no time scale and from the outset looks old fashioned and male dominated, which has meant I ruled myself out of even engaging in the sport.

Matches seem to last forever and forever is a long time watching a game you don’t understand - especially one that appears to be elitist.

For those of us with little time to spare, who thrive off deadlines and jam-packed action (that’s me) this fills us with dread.

Fortunately, Twenty20 (T20) was invented to speed up play and confine a game to three and a half hours to make the sport more viewer friendly.

In recent times a newer concept has been launched by the ECB (England and Wales Board of Cricket) called The Hundred.

Based on 100 balls - and thus limiting the time to around two hours and 30 minutes - it simplifies the game and it has been branded to appeal to new audiences.

I tried my best to get my daughters into football and dancing but alas, I tried too hard and they are now cricketers.

Grassroots cricket is not what I thought it would be. Cricket’s new generation of teams have surprised me by how inclusive and down to earth they are - the exact opposite of how I see cricket.

However, that still didn’t inspire me to watch any cricket matches which didn’t involve anyone other than my own children.

They too had not expressed an interest in watching professional cricket being played after seeing snippets on TV. That was until they saw The Hundred being advertised.

Youthful, colourful and action-packed is not what I would normally have associated with cricket but The Hundred rebrands the sport as we know it.

For one ticket, you get to see a range of regional teams play which are made up of cricketing stars, some who play for England. Better still you see both the men’s and the women’s teams who both compete in back to back games.

During the summer I took my daughters to see The Hundred at Headingley Stadium.

As we arrived it felt like a mini-Olympics with the ‘changemakers’ directing everyone in and around the stadium, except they were friendly staff from The Hundred. There were foam hand props and signs for people to hold up - all free.

I noticed there were lots of families of all ages entering. It felt busy but not hectic like a lot of sports matches I normally go to.

People buzzed around testing out some of the street food stalls - which cost a fair packet - but that said it is brilliant food on offer and all from independents, meaning the kids could choose everything from stone baked pizzas to Yorkshire pudding wraps.

A fair few people had also brought picnics, including us, to prepare for the long day ahead. Much to my relief, there were plenty of water refill stations too.

Tickets for The Hundred start at £5 which give you two matches to watch containing 100 balls per innings. Whoever scores the most runs wins.

Each match lasts around two-and a half hours opposed to T20 which lasts an hour longer and costs more money. Test Cricket? Well for me that just seems far too long.

After finding our seats, I couldn’t believe how many people of all backgrounds were there.

The buzzing atmosphere and crowd entertainment felt more like ice hockey than what I had expected from straight-laced cricketers.

It was great that the women played first, giving the women’s game and players as much chance as possible to gain exposure.

Despite the drizzle there was lots of colour and I quickly caught on to the rules. Thanks to all the posters and display screens I even started to understand what star players were called.

It was really quite incredible having watched my own daughters play that morning for them to sit watching and being inspired by female professionals. For me it was great to see such a huge crowd watching -11,061 to be exact - women play professional sport.

Granted there’s still a long way to go for women’s sport to be compensated equally but this certainly puts a spotlight on them. Part of the fun for the kids was getting autographs on the mini cricket bats we bought, making it feel even more accessible although a bit more costly.

There had been a planned break of 30 minutes between the women’s game ending and the men starting but with the rain, this latest an hour.

This gave us time for a comfort break, refuelling and time to buy some more merchandise.

My daughters had now decided they wanted to play professionally too - which was amazing - but in my cloud of enthusiasm I bought them both the full kit.

I won’t share the cost as I’d rather not remind myself. I told myself - as I do with a lot of impulse purchases - it was ‘an investment.’

The stadium filled up even more for the men’s match but the atmosphere still felt family focused. Despite it getting late and people heading to the bar and the Pimms ball, there still wasn’t that unsafe vibe I often feel if I’m out in the evening watching sports.

While for me it was a long time with a baby on my lap, I felt at ease going for walks, clapping to the music and dare I say it I found myself engaged in the high speed play.

The Hundred isn’t geared up for orthodox cricket fans but more for the likes of our family who are relatively new to cricket.

I’d liken test cricket to consuming a full comprehensive website of articles, compared to the T20 which is more like Facebook, while The Hundred feels like a TikTok version of the best bits of the sport.