The Hundred - English cricket's new thing starts in 2020

sammsky1

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https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...-maxwell-no-ab-de-villiers-main-hundred-draft

The Hundred - it is coming and there's no going back from here

Cricket's administrators love a good warehouse, don't they? From England's kit launch in the Tobacco Docks in May, to the arrival of the World Cup captains on the set of Dragons' Den later that month, and now back to that favoured hub of multiculturalism, Brick Lane, where the World Cup countdown had been set in motion back in 2018, the urban-chic metaphors were once again climbing the exposed brick walls as The Hundred took its most decisive step yet into existence.

Bedecked with funky lights and blocky fonts to fit the brutalist surroundings, the day's chosen venue was awash, quite literally, with snackable content. There were casually scattered team-branded helmets on the floors, and actual bowls of crisps and popcorn on every surface, as KP flexed its brand muscles and showed the gathered media that its sponsorship of the ECB's newest innovation wasn't merely a chance to have a very public giggle at one of the ECB's oldest betes noires.

But on this, the morning after the night before that was the PCA Awards dinner, England's icon players looked more in need of bacon than Butterkist - not least the heroically hungover Chris Woakes - as they rocked up to give their collective blessing to cricket's latest edge towards edginess.

The timing of this event was cruel but apposite for the players, for Woakes' eyes in particular bore testimony to the japes that had carried on into the small hours at the Roundhouse in Camden, where cricket's glitzy end-of-season bash had had more than your average summer to celebrate in 2019.

And thus, as he fronted up in his new team's garish orange-and-red kit - a "grower", as he obligingly put it - Woakes and his partied-out team-mates were already galloping gamely into the brave new world that awaits in the transformative summer of 2020.

The Hundred. It Is Coming. And that is a fact will continue to cleave the sport like a Brexit referendum. For some, this morning's unveiling was the opening of a new portal to hell; for others (mostly, but not exclusively, in the ECB high command) it was the most concrete development yet in a project that is as exciting as it is agenda-setting and, as some would claim, essential for the long-term health of the game.

That is not to say, however, that the animosity that already exists will be easily glossed over. I know colleagues who simply will never forgive the betrayal that has brought the game to this point, and as for the gaffe-ridden shambles that has been The Hundred's PR, it simply beggars belief that so many errors can be made so often by so few. Even Thursday's pre-announcement "sizzle reel" couldn't help but join the catastro-shambles, spluttering into three false starts like a petrol-starved Trabant as the assembled media arched those habitually cynical eyebrows once more.

But, once again, it's necessary to stop and breathe, and remember. It's not about us. It's not about people who will read this take of The Hundred's latest developments, and sigh. It's about people who don't yet know what they want from a game that has never previously appealed to them, and who won't instinctively know, for instance, that the Nathan Barley-esque hipster-wibble that screeches out of The Hundred's vapidly awful website is contrived nonsense.

Or is even that another observation that misses the point? Perhaps, as they announced on Thursday afternoon, Welsh Fire's "hunger will prove the haters wrong" (even those from Somerset and Gloucestershire?). Maybe Manchester Originals are able to "laugh in the face of limits", maybe Trent Rockets' "volume [is] up, ready for launch", whatever TF that means.

It's scary to look at such witterings objectively and realise that the sport has no option but to wish this new enterprise well, but it seems also that it is a vital part of the process. According to the American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, interviewed on the BBC's Politics Live show on Thursday morning, the world has become so polarised in the social media era that we will "never again" have a shared sense of what is good, bad or downright ugly.

And if Haidt's analysis had in mind global events rather more weighty than a salty-bar-snack-themed cricket competition, then the fury that The Hundred has generated is an interesting test case - and certainly a telling rejoinder to the sort of unequivocal joy that this country felt when Jos Buttler whipped off those bails at Lord's, or when Ben Stokes belted that drive through the covers at Headingley.

We can only hope to feel that sort of communion again, and we surely will given half a chance. But it will not happen if the sport's relevance in the interim dwindles to vanishing point. That is the point of The Hundred. You can disagree with the solution the ECB have come up with, but you can't fault the realisation that the status quo is unsustainable.

Well, obviously, you can… and you can point out until you are blue in the face the strategic errors that holed the sport beneath the waterline in the early 2000s, and left it relying on miracle matches to keep the sport's fires burning in the interim. But it's probably time to start gargling the kool-aid, and accepting that what will be will be. Because this is the chosen path to a brighter future, and there is genuinely no going back from here.
 

sammsky1

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https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...-maxwell-no-ab-de-villiers-main-hundred-draft

Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell but no AB de Villiers for main Hundred draft


Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell and Harbhajan Singh are among the 165 overseas players to have registered for the inaugural draft of The Hundred, ESPNcricinfo can reveal.

The first handful of overseas stars who have signed up for the tournament were released on Tuesday, and included many of the biggest names on the T20 circuit, including Rashid Khan, Chris Gayle, David Warner, Aaron Finch and Babar Azam.

The full list of overseas players ahead of the main player draft on October 20 includes players from 11 different countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland and Nepal.

The most notable absentee comes in the form of AB de Villiers, who had previously expressed his interest in playing in the competition. De Villiers said in January that he was open to playing in the tournament, but ESPNcricinfo understands that he has no plans to do so.

It is understood that de Villiers' primary concern is not about money - the top band of draft picks will be paid £125,000 for their involvement in the tournament - but instead scheduling, with each team's eight group games spread out over the course of a month rather than a shorter time period.

He is due to play in the Big Bash League this winter for Brisbane Heat, and remains one of the most sought-after figures on the global T20 circuit, so his non-involvement represents something of a blow to the competition.

As anticipated, India's white-ball stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah have not entered the draft, in line with the BCCI's refusal to allow active internationals to play in overseas domestic leagues that rival the IPL. Harbhajan is the only Indian player to have registered, and may have to announce his retirement from international cricket if he is picked up.

That said, the full list of overseas players still includes the vast majority of the world's top T20 players, and the tournament comes during a quiet period in the Future Tours Programme.

Eight players have set their reserve price at the highest possible salary of £125,000 (USD155,000). They are the Australian trio Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc and David Warner, South Africans Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada, and T20 legends Lasith Malinga and Chris Gayle.

Seventeen overseas players have entered with a reserve price of £100,000 (USD124,000), including Harbhajan, Russell, Maxwell, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard.

Players with a £75,000 (USD93,000) base price include Dale Steyn, Babar, Marcus Stoinis and Mohammad Hafeez. Nicholas Pooran, Martin Guptill, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi have £60,000 (USD74,000) base prices.

Imad Wasim, D'Arcy Short, Evin Lewis and Mitchell Santner headline those with a £50,000 (USD62,000) base price, while Thisara Perera, Alex Carey, Lendl Simmons and Shimron Hetmyer could get picked up for as little as £40,000 (USD50,000).

Sixty-seven players have not set a reserve price, meaning that they could be paid as little as £30,000 (USD37,000) for their involvement in the competition. Potential moneyball-style picks without a reserve price include Chris Green, Ashton Turner, Fabian Allen and Adam Milne.

Paul Stirling is the lone Irish representative in the longlist, as he now qualifies as an overseas player. Stirling is in an unusual situation as a British passport holder but an Ireland international, and recently told the Telegraph that he was "baffled" about the fact he would have to play as a non-local.

Each team will be permitted three overseas players in their squad and in their playing XI.
 

zing

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I will be supporting <insert team name>.
 

ha_rooney

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Forget the 100, I can’t wait until the 50 becomes a thing.
 

sammsky1

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Forget the 100, I can’t wait until the 50 becomes a thing.
I have a feeling this will take off. IPL and The blast are not comparable because draft doesn’t have the auction etc.

Changing my mind on this ... I’m quite excited about an English league auction.
 

ha_rooney

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I have a feeling this will take off. IPL and The blast are not comparable because draft doesn’t have the auction etc.

Changing my mind on this ... I’m quite excited about an English league auction.
I’d rather they revamped the T20 teams/format than create another format which is shorter.

I’ll probably watch but I’m not sold on the concept.
 

AshRK

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Rather than fixing and making their t20 league better they are just complicating things.
 

sammsky1

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I’d rather they revamped the T20 teams/format than create another format which is shorter.

I’ll probably watch but I’m not sold on the concept.
Rather than fixing and making their t20 league better they are just complicating things.
i would also have preferred that, but T20 has inherent issues specific to UK context wrt to attracting new and younger fanbase:

- T20 is too long for the 2 hour school sports afternoon. 100 is designed to fit in 2 hours, so more kids can play at school, hopefully then upgrade into longer formats.

- BBC free tv wont ever give T20 sufficient airtime. 100 designed to fit around these restrictions. New fans who enjoy can then upgrade into longer formats via satellite pay TV.

- The skill players used in 100 should be directly transferable into T20, so should not impact the golden goose format.

There will be an overlap issue in England is a few years time, but that can be tackled once game has a bigger and more stable financial platform.
 
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sammsky1

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School sports is 2 hours? Where?
Monday and Wednesday 2-4pm. That’s how it was at my school and still is now.

Universities have Wednesday afternoon off for sports and hobbies. That’s how it was at Manchester University when I was there and still the same now.

When do UK school football teams play each other in the government and comprehensive system?
 

Samid

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Title should say "Hundred", not "100". No wonder I didn't find this thread earlier.
 

Damien

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Monday and Wednesday 2-4pm. That’s how it was at my school and still is now.

Universities have Wednesday afternoon off for sports and hobbies. That’s how it was at Manchester University when I was there and still the same now.

When do UK school football teams play each other in the government and comprehensive system?
Ah okay. At my high school sports lasted an hour long - that was in about 2006/7, mind, so things might have changed since.
 

ArmchairCritic

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Some pretty decent players in this and I must admit that I'm seriously considering going to a few of these as a result.
 

starman

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I am watching this without having a clue of what's going on. How do the picks work? Is it mixed, given there are women there?
They also are not showing the pool of players to pick from
 

VP89

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I am watching this without having a clue of what's going on. How do the picks work? Is it mixed, given there are women there?
They also are not showing the pool of players to pick from
No. It's a man's game.
 

sammsky1

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I am watching this without having a clue of what's going on. How do the picks work? Is it mixed, given there are women there?
They also are not showing the pool of players to pick from
Yeah. They are doing a very bad job at making it understandable, even for experienced cricket fans like me!

IPL auction far more slick and informative. Surprised they didn’t use that as their template.
 

sammsky1

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Some pretty decent players in this and I must admit that I'm seriously considering going to a few of these as a result.
The new dynamics will make it interesting: eg back to back 5 ball overs from same end, speed with which captains have to make decisions, and many new player combinations.
 
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PoTMS

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Welsh Fire look far and away the best squad in this. The Oval team look shit.
 

JohnnyKills

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I am watching this without having a clue of what's going on. How do the picks work? Is it mixed, given there are women there?
They also are not showing the pool of players to pick from
Yeah that was my thought too. It was all a bit farcical. They should have showed the list of players as they were going along. And when they cut to the players in the studio they weren't even miced up.
 

JohnnyKills

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Not sure what Manchester were doing in the draft. They've paid top dollar for some fairly ordinary British players it seems. Can't see the strategy there at all.
 
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stepic

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how does someone like Steve Smith only get selected where he did? availability issues? some of the choices were really weird.
 

FlawlessThaw

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how does someone like Steve Smith only get selected where he did? availability issues? some of the choices were really weird.
How do you mean? I know he’s not the best T20 player and I would have picked Warner ahead of him but he just had a fantastic summer. Think he will be available for the full tournament as well.
 

CallyRed

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Not sure what Manchester were doing in the draft. They've paid top dollar for some fairly ordinary British players it seems. Not sure of the strategy there at all.
Think ive read something similar in the Manchester United Forum
 

stepic

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How do you mean? I know he’s not the best T20 player and I would have picked Warner ahead of him but he just had a fantastic summer. Think he will be available for the full tournament as well.
no, i mean i was surprised he wasn't picked earlier even. i mean, didn't Liam Livingstone get picked ahead of him?
 

FlawlessThaw

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no, i mean i was surprised he wasn't picked earlier even. i mean, didn't Liam Livingstone get picked ahead of him?
Ah yeah that was the Birmingham Phoenix strategy of picking overseas players later on at a lower price bracket while making sure you nab the best domestic talent earlier on. You’re only allowed 3 overseas players in the squad.
 

sammsky1

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I think the ECB missed a trick by not licensing football team names for each hundred franchise. Would have gotten alot more PR and initial following.

I'd love it if Manchester Originals (What a crap name) was actually named Manchester United Hundred CC, and played in a variation of our club strip.

Am sure suitable football club licenses could have been found for all the clubs.
 

Traub

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I think the ECB missed a trick by not licensing football team names for each hundred franchise. Would have gotten alot more PR and initial following.

I'd love it if Manchester Originals (What a crap name) was actually named Manchester United Hundred CC, and played in a variation of our club strip.

Am sure suitable football club licenses could have been found for all the clubs.
Problem with this is you’ll alienate fans who don’t want to support ‘rival’ teams e.g. city football fans won’t support a Manchester United team.