A series of trial games for English cricket’s 100-ball tournament could be held in the United Arab Emirates before the end of the year as the architects of the proposed format look to set out its playing conditions in a live match situation.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has already turned down an offer from Surrey to test out The Hundred at the Oval this summer and will instead look to go overseas, with the UAE emerging as a possible destination before the Lions play there in November.
Of huge interest will be how the controversial 10-ball over is deployed. It was described by the tournament director, Sanjay Patel, as a “fresh tactical dimension” when the ECB announced the new format last month but has resulted in plenty of grumbling from the players.
The ECB originally planned for this to sit at the end of each innings after 15 traditional six-ball overs. But other ideas include one team using it as a “wildcard” option at the behest of the batting side, or possibly 16 overs with the extra four balls used tactically within them.
Ultimately the plan is to have the scorecard showing the number of balls going down in each 100-ball innings – regardless of how that number is reached – as the score goes up. One senior ECB official told the Observer this is intended “to help answer the age-old question of ‘who is winning?’” and thus simplify cricket for the uninitiated.
Among the concerns of the Professional Cricketers Association currently is that, with The Hundred replacing the women’s Kia Super League, women’s cricket will lack a domestic Twenty20 tournament to mirror the format played an international level. It is understood the ECB is looking into further augmenting the Women’s County T20 Cup to address this.
