The Hundred will definitely remain a 100-ball tournament next year, England and Wales Cricket Board Chair Richard Thompson has confirmed.
It comes after a host of changes were mooted for the 2026 edition of the tournament, including a potential shift to 20 overs.
Thompson, though, confirmed that no such changes were coming in the near future despite major investment and changes in ownership in franchises for The Hundred ahead of next year’s tournament.
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The Hundred could look and feel dramatically different come the 2026 edition but the format of the tournament itself will not change
“I can categorically tell you it’s 100 balls next year,” he said, speaking to Sky Sports Cricket. “I don’t think anything would change in this [TV] rights cycle.
“Sky have bought The Hundred. Sky are not going to want to change that, but it’s up to the owners and ECB to decide what that might be in the future.”
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ECB chief addresses key issues about The Hundred
Thompson was quizzed further by Sky Sports Cricket about what the new investment – which will see wealthy overseas owners officially take charge of sides with over £500m being available to safeguard of the game – will mean in terms of the future of the tournament.
Of course, it’s been a great commercial success for the ECB. What can we expect to see from The Hundred next year? Is it going to be much different?
Thompson: “Well, I think within this TV rights cycle until 2028… I mean, the one thing is, we have owners who have very deep pockets. These individuals are very determined to turn this into the world-class tournament that it really will become now.
“We are the clear challenger brand to the IPL and the quality of people that have chosen to invest – not all IPL owners – have a real ambition to turn this into something incredibly special. I mean, we are very lucky to have the partner we have, in Sky, who effectively co-created this tournament with us.
“The impact it’s made on the women’s game has been profound. I think that will accelerate even further in terms of what we do there to ensure this parity over having men and women playing on the same day. I think you’re going to see Indian players coming into the into The Hundred faster as a result of this investment. Ultimately, we have something now that’s raised £1.1bn.
“We’ve managed to wipe off all of the debt within the game, which, you know, is something we didn’t think was possible, but we’ve managed to pull that off and leave hundreds of millions to invest in the game, to grow it, to ensure the game never has this level of debt again. This is a complete reset. It’s a moment we have to recognise as an endowment and use the funds that we’re getting into the game very smartly and very wisely.”
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Sky Sports Cricket pundits Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik discuss The Hundred’s future after the heavy overseas investment
There will be a lot of people watching who will be slightly fearful that you’ve sold off essentially a portion of the English summer to a bunch of investors who may not necessarily have the interests of English cricket at heart. What can you say to put their concerns?
Thompson: “Well, we chose not to sell the summer, so we didn’t sell the tournament. We sold ownership in the teams.
“If we had sold the summer, we would never get that back, so we still control the schedule. From that perspective, it’s unlike, say, the Six Nations deal that took place with rugby, it was very important that we took our investment the right way, and we took it in a way that the ownership structures and the owners think of themselves as custodians.
“If you think of Fenway Sports and their relationship with Liverpool, they’re custodians first. Regardless of who it is that owns this venue, they recognise their key stakeholders in the game now, so it’s a co-investment. The fact is, we, as ECB, still recognise we have to create annuity income for the game, and we can’t sell that off, otherwise we’ll never get it back.
“So this is not English cricket selling off the family silver. This is English cricket bringing in investors to enable us to have a tournament that could challenge the IPL.”
Is it going to be 100 balls next year? Or might it be a T20 game?
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The Hundred’s current 100-ball format is designed to appeal to families with its earlier finish times
Thompson: “I can categorically tell you it’s 100 balls next year. I don’t think anything would change in this TV rights cycle.
“Sky have bought The Hundred. Sky are not going to want to change that, but it’s up to the owners and ECB to decide what that might be in the future.”