The Hundred: How does England’s new cricket league work?

England’s all-new cricket league, The Hundred, was supposed to begin in the summer of 2020. Due to circumstances out of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s control, the debut season was postponed until next year. Still, the excitement over the new 100-ball format cricket league has grown since the announcement of the tournament. Cricket fans are anticipating the resumption of the T20 cricket season in the United Kingdom this summer. Fans can use the William Hill promo code to get a bet bonus prior to the next set of T20 fixtures to wager on the teams they predict will win.

So, with over 12 months to go until The Hundred’s first ball is bowled, here is a look at how the new cricket league will work.

The Format

The cricket tournament will become a yearly event starting in 2021 and join the sport calendar alongside the IPL and Big Bash League. Eight teams will make up the inaugural The Hundred season with each club based in a city around the UK. Fans will have more opportunities to watch and bet on cricket of the highest level when The Hundred tournament begins. With eight teams competing and with some of the best players from around the globe, it could be a tournament that rivals both the IPL and Big Bash League.

The Hundred’s format was designed to make the sport easier for new supporters to understand. With cricket’s decline in popularity and participation at certain levels, the ECB hopes The Hundred will bring new fans to the sport.

The league’s format will allow for games to be shorter, quicker, and to have more action. It will be similar to T20 but instead of each team having 20 overs, each side will face 100 balls, which equal just over 16 overs.

Bowlers are allowed up to 10 deliveries with a maximum of 20 in an innings. After each 10 deliveries, the teams change ends.

The Tournament

Eight teams will represent eight cities from around the UK. The Hundreds will include Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire. Although the ECB and cricket fans may not want to admit it, The Hundred, in theory, is a mash-up between Major League Baseball and T20 cricket.

Teams will play eight games in total facing the other teams once plus an extra match. The even number of fixtures allow for clubs to play four home and four away games. Overall, the tournament will last 38 days with teams playing matches every 4.75 days. Tournament games will take place throughout July and August making it possible for fans to attend matches during the summer holiday. The Hundred will also employ a playoff to crown a champion.

The top three teams from the eight-game regular season campaign will progress to the playoffs. There, the second and third-placed teams will play a semifinal with the winner advancing to play the regular season’s top club.

The Hundred isn’t just a men’s cricket competition as a women’s division was also created. Both divisions will play their The Hundred finals games in mid-August.