Adam Lyth sees chance to entertain in The Hundred with Northern Superchargers

The Yorkshire batsman is part of the Northern Superchargers franchise based at Emerald Headingley.

The Superchargers are one of eight newly-created teams who will play games of 100 balls per side during a five-week window starting in July.

The competition is the brainchild of the England and Wales Cricket Board and designed to encourage more people to watch the sport/safeguard its future.

However, most existing cricket fans consider a fourth format unnecessary and potentially damaging in terms of quality/scheduling to the County Championship, the 50-over Cup (with which The Hundred directly clashes) and the T20 Blast.

Some 85 per cent of readers polled by The Cricketer magazine are opposed to the concept, while seven in eight respondents polled by the Cricket Supporters’ Association have said that they will not attend games.

The competition will start amid an atmosphere of skepticism but Lyth believes fans will soon be bowled over.

“The players I’ve spoken to are really excited, and I can’t really see why anyone wouldn’t want to come down and watch some of the best players, if not the best players in the world playing in that competition,” he said.

“The crowds should be full every single game, so, as players, we’re really excited to play in that competition.

“It’s just a shame that there’s been some bad press about it, but I guess that’s generally the older generation, but it’s really exciting for us as players.

“I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait to get playing.”

If novelty value counts for anything, there is sure to be interest in the tournament despite the misgivings of the vast majority.

The ECB has said that it will be happy if 60-65 per cent of grounds are full for the inaugural edition, with hopes that free-to-air television coverage and the gradual integration into the calendar of the competition in the coming seasons will see crowd figures rise.

At present, there is a transparent divide between what most players/administrators want and what most cricket fans want, and it remains to be seen to what extent that gap can be bridged.

The ECB can hardly afford for The Hundred to flop – the legacies of chairman Colin Graves and chief executive Tom Harrison depend on it – in what is effectively a leap into the unknown.

What is beyond question is that some of the world’s best players will be taking part – not least at Headingley, where the Superchargers’ squad is, so to say, supercharged with quality.

In addition to Lyth and his Yorkshire team-mate Tom Kohler-Cadmore, coach Darren Lehmann’s squad includes England’s Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid and David Willey, plus the Australian overseas batsmen Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn, as well as the Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

“We’ve got a fantastic squad and some fantastic domestic players, but also three excellent overseas as well,” said Lyth. “Every team is very strong but ours, in particular, looks very, very strong.

“Everyone’s looking forward to it and can’t wait to get going.

“It’s a new comp, and I just think it’s going to be really exciting.”

Lyth does not expect tactics or styles to differ radically from the T20 format, in which he has proved himself a dynamic force in the Blast competition.

The 32-year-old left-hander – who this week signed a new two-year extension to his Yorkshire deal that will keep him at the club until at least the end of 2022 – believes it is essentially just a slightly shortened version of the 20-over game.

“I think it’s going to be pretty much similar to T20,” he said. “It’s just a bit of a shortened game really.

“I think skill-sets are still the same, to be honest.

“But I guess we’ll sit down as a team and discuss tactics nearer to the time.”

Tickets for Superchargers’ matches are said by Yorkshire to be going better than at any other venue outside of London pending release of official data by the governing body.

The Superchargers’ first game is against Manchester Originals at Old Trafford on Saturday July 18, with their first home fixture against Oval Invincibles two days later. Superchargers also host Birmingham Phoenix (July 26), Southern Brave (July 30) and Manchester Originals (August 5).