Former England international Derek Pringle has issued a stark warning about The Hundred 's place in the cricket schedule.
The tournament takes place at the height of the summer, when the weather is at its best and children are on their school holidays. It is the ideal time for a new competition which aims to 'grow the game' to be played.
However, The Hundred's detractors are concerned about the lack of red-ball cricket played in the same timeframe and the impact it could have on the England Test team and county cricket. Recent reports have claimed next year's Ashes will not feature a Test beginning in August for the first time in 139 years to allow England's top stars to play more Hundred matches.
And Pringle, who played 30 Tests and 44 ODIs for England, is among those concerned by the development, writing in a column for the Metro : "A hot August was once prime cricketing weather except that this year, and for the next five to come, it has been given over to something as yet impersonating this great game – the Hundred.
"It is even proposed that next year's Ashes will be completed by the end of July so this pampered child, a sort of T20-light with contrivances, can have the stage to itself. It is a reason to worry.
"The Ashes are cricket's holy grail. To risk all that seems an extraordinary act of self-harm by the England and Wales Cricket Board."
There are also rumours that the ECB's high performance review will recommend cutting the number of County Championship matches from 14 per side to 12 or 10 and Pringle believes such a reduction would be "dangerous" for England's Test future.
He continued: "Something will need to give for the Hundred to command its position with more ease and – from rumours surrounding the findings of Andrew Strauss' high performance review – it looks like first-class cricket will be the one to compromise, with a reduction in the current schedule of 14 matches to as few as ten.
"If true, a shrinking of red-ball cricket would be dangerous. Presently, Test cricket constitutes the main value to any broadcasting deals and first-class cricket is where future Test players are developed.
"Ten matches, especially if scheduled at either end of the season when the weather is least predictable, is simply not enough to build and improve a Test team. So, dilute it at your peril."
