The Hundred tournament postponed until 2021

THE MOST derided competition in English cricketing history has been delayed until next summer.
Players, including Northern Superchargers' Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes, line up following The Hundred Draft in October last year. Picture: Christopher Lee/Getty Images.Players, including Northern Superchargers' Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes, line up following The Hundred Draft in October last year. Picture: Christopher Lee/Getty Images.
Players, including Northern Superchargers' Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes, line up following The Hundred Draft in October last year. Picture: Christopher Lee/Getty Images.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed that The Hundred - a competition which surveys show 90 per cent of existing cricket supporters do not want in any case - has been postponed due to coronavirus.

A concept designed primarily to appeal to a notional audience will be launched instead in 2021, with all the attendant financial risks.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Hundred - which features eight newly-created franchises, including the Northern Superchargers based at Emerald Headingley - was forecast to lose £7m this year and is not expected to break even for at least five years.

MATCH POSTPONED: Six of the eight coaches for The Hundred, including Northern Superchargers' Darren Lehmann, line up following The Hundred Draft in October last year. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesMATCH POSTPONED: Six of the eight coaches for The Hundred, including Northern Superchargers' Darren Lehmann, line up following The Hundred Draft in October last year. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images
MATCH POSTPONED: Six of the eight coaches for The Hundred, including Northern Superchargers' Darren Lehmann, line up following The Hundred Draft in October last year. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

It is thought that circa £10m will effectively be lost on this year’s non-event, which was scheduled to run from July 17 to August 15.

Yorkshire and their fellow counties had favoured a delay in launching the tournament, which the ECB said was “not possible” to stage for the following reasons:

Operational challenges caused by social distancing, alongside ongoing global travel restrictions, making the competition’s ambition to feature world-class players and coaches unattainable in 2020.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

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.

With significant furloughing across the partnership network of 20 venues, the logistics of delivering a brand-new sporting event, without a tried-and-tested delivery plan, would be incredibly challenging.

Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said: “The situation we find ourselves in as a country means that delivery of The Hundred will not be possible this summer.

“While 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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“As we emerge from the fallout of COVID-19, there will be an even greater need for The Hundred.

“Our survival as a game, long-term, will be dependent on our ability to recover financially and continue our ambition to build on cricket’s growing fan base.

“That need has not gone anyway, if anything, it is now more critical. 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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The Hundred is an important element of the game’s Inspiring Generations strategy, which has been debated and agreed upon across the whole game.

“While financially our plans may be impacted, our ambition, ‘to inspire a generation’ should in no way be diluted.

“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.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The ECB announced last week that professional cricket will not start until at least July 1. The board will prioritise international cricket and the T20 Blast in order to generate as much revenue from the season as possible.

Editor’s note: First and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you. James Mitchinson, Editor

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.