Forget afternoon tea and spectators nodding off facedown in their cucumber sandwiches – cricket is about to go all rock ’n’ roll.
UK governing body the ECB has teamed up with BBC Music Introducing to add live music to new contest The Hundred.
Grounds will host artists including The Orielles, Jerub, Lady Sanity, Oscar Welsh and Coach Party.
It is a relief for bands and singers after the pandemic shut music venues for months.
And it will add some of the razzmatazz that helped make Twenty20 cricket such a hit.
Brummie rapper Lady Sanity, who will play at Edgbaston in a Birmingham Phoenix, game, said: “I’m excited to finally be on a stage. Especially in Birmingham. I can’t wait to get back to live audiences.”
Indie rockers The Orielles, who will be at Old Trafford at a Manchester Originals game, said: “It’s been far too long since we were on stage.”
The Hundred, which was delayed a year by Covid, features eight new city teams – each with a men’s and women’s 11 – playing matches of 100 balls a side for five weeks every summer.
Phoenix and the Originals will be joined by Northern Superchargers (Emerald Headingley), London Spirit (Lord’s), Oval Invincibles (Kia Oval), Trent Rockets (Trent Bridge) Southern Brave (Ageas Bowl) and Welsh Fire (Sophia Gardens).
Tickets, on sale at thehundred.com, start at £10, or £5 for under-16s.
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