Sorry Chris Waters, I actually like The Hundred - and here's why
On a list of seemingly hopeless causes – defending the Hundred must be near the top of St Jude’s list.
Has there ever been a game seemingly despised by so many and loved by so few?
As a supporter of Leeds United, it brought to mind a conclusion drawn by my friend and former Yorkshire Evening Post colleague Phil Hay, who signed off from his excellent stint as United writer by saying: “An astonishing number of people despise Leeds United, or what Leeds United stand for. But this club was never made for them.”
I’m starting to feel the same way about The Hundred.
Another friend and colleague – well at least until he gets to the end of this! – Chris Waters, our brilliant cricket writer, is unequivocal in his dislike of the summer jamboree and judging by online and newspaper comments, he is not alone.
But you’d imagine the 14,714 who went to Headingley on Sunday and saw SunRisers Leeds and their star-laden men and women’s teams thrash Welsh Fire on their way to last night’s Eliminators, might have something to say about that.
Also, apparent opposition to the un-English, franchise-team tournament, where Every. Ball. Counts. has brought more people out supporting “real cricket”; but surely we should all rejoice that 20,000 people went out in the county to watch professional cricket last week.
I went to the first Hundred game at Headingley – back in the halcyon days of Northern Superchargers – with my sons William, then 13 and Charlie, nine.
Neither had seen a live professional cricket game before and as a lifelong, very traditional follower, I thought it might be an easier sell than a Test heading for a draw.
The Hundred, after all, was devised to attract a new generation of women and children in particular, to watch and play the sport in an age where so many things battle for people’s attention.
And so it proved. As a result of watching Hundred matches, Charlie started playing for the Pledwick club in Wakefield and his school, and while William no longer plays, he watches all three formats and both have been to the T20 Blast, too.
It is unlikely that Charlie will play for SunRisers, Yorkshire or England, but he and the boys and girls who play, some of whom also watch the Hundred, are the lifeblood and future of the sport. Some may play at a higher level, while others will take their families or pay to see live and TV cricket when they are older.
We go to a couple of games a season, most recently Old Trafford where nearly 10,000 saw Manchester Super Giants play Welsh Fire.
There the majority of the crowd wore their free team T-shirts – Leeds have done the same – and chanted “MSG” when fours and sixes were hit – including Jos Buttler’s six-sixes in eight deliveries – or a set and three balls in new money.
Charlie was at SunRisers with his mum on Sunday – another cricket convert – and youngsters in Leeds and Manchester seemed fully engaged in events, excitedly queuing to get mini-bats, 4/6 cards and fan shirts signed by their heroes.
Not all of the game appeals to me – the incessant music, mindless crowd challenges, the pyrotechnics – but the whole point is – they are not supposed to!
The Hundred has been rubbished from the outset but it has brought new people to cricket and though crowds, in my opinion, could be more diverse, it has given the women’s game a massive boost. The sale of franchises benefited cricket as a whole and Yorkshire in particular and even if it becomes an English T20 version of the IPL, it seems – like it or not – here to stay.