Everything you need to know about The Hundred in Manchester
| 16th October 2014
The summer of 2019 will live long in the memory of cricket fans in this country. After a scarcely believable conclusion to the World Cup final between England and New Zealand came six weeks of gripping Ashes action that ultimately ended in a 2-2 draw, with Australia returning Down Under with the little urn safely in their possession.
But could the summer of 2020 be even more spectacular? There’s no doubt that the limited overs game has evolved dramatically since the turn of the century, with the advent of 20-over cricket playing a huge part. Pitches have improved, cricket bats are more powerful than ever and the boundaries have got smaller – all of which has contributed to a more entertaining spectacle.
And next year, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is introducing The Hundred – an even shorter version of the game consisting of, you’ve guessed it, 100 balls per side. Manchester has been chosen as one of the host cities, but who will be playing for them? Who will be coach? And how does the competition work?
What is The Hundred?
A fresh tournament set up by the ECB with the aim of attracting young kids and families to get into cricket. The competition will be played between mid-July and mid-August next year, during the school summer holidays.
How does it work?
Eight freshly formed sides – each boasting a men’s and women’s team – will feature out of seven host cities – Manchester, London, Nottingham, Southampton, Leeds, Birmingham and Cardiff. Each team will play eight games (four at home and four away), with the top four advancing to the play-offs.
Each innings will comprise of 100 balls, with the fielding side changing ends after every 10 deliveries. A bowler can send down a maximum of 20 balls per innings and can bowl either five or 10 consecutively. Games are scheduled to last around two and a half hours.
Who will be playing for the Manchester Originals?
Lancashire regulars Jos Buttler, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson will have the comfort of playing in the familiar surroundings of Old Trafford after being chosen in the first phase of the draft process, which dealt only with England stars and ‘local icons’. The Originals will select the rest of their 15-man squad in the full draft on October 20th, when world superstars such as Chris Gayle, Steve Smith and Shahid Afridi will be made available.
Who will be coaching the Manchester Originals?
The Originals will be led by former Australia international Simon Katich, aided by current Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple and assistant Mark Chilton. Katich represented his country more than 100 times across all three formats between 2001 and 2010 and was the first coach in The Hundred to be announced. The former Lancashire player boasts a fine record when it comes to limited-overs cricket, having won successive Caribbean Premier League crowns with the Trinbago Knight Riders while he also captained the Perth Scorchers to Big Bash League glory in 2014.