Matt Maher: Hundred sets the stage for biggest shake-up in years

Tomorrow brings the final of The Hundred, that competition which has provoked so much debate and division since its inception, while behind the scenes counties continue to consult on Sir Andrew Strauss’s High Performance review, a document which would represent the biggest shake-up of the domestic game for decades.

Recommendations include a reduction in the number of days of cricket, a rescheduling of the 50-over competition and – most controversially – changes to the current championship structure which would see a smaller top division, perhaps consisting of just six teams.

The review was commissioned in the wake of England’s disastrous winter tours to Australia and West Indies and has been focused on creating an environment which develops players capable of excelling at international level. Further ideas include the creation of a new regional red-ball competition and creating more chances to play overseas, possibly through the expansion of the England Lions programme. County chairs will vote on the proposals on September 20.

Though it is too early to know precisely which ideas will be picked up and how things will pan out, some form of change is most definitely afoot.

There won’t, however, be a reduction in the number of County Championship matches following an outcry from county members and England Test captain Ben Stokes.

Another thing you can say for certain about 2023 is The Hundred will retain its prime place in the calendar. For the second year running it has dominated those prime school holiday weeks in August, with everything else fitted around it. Despite the Test team playing a series against South Africa and the Royal London Cup taking place at the same time, there have been occasions when any casual observer of the BBC’s cricket pages might have been forgiven for thinking it was the only show in town.

Whether the audience is quite so taken with it, however, is open to question. Yesterday it was reported viewing figures on the BBC had fallen by around 20 per cent compared to last year, numbers which will surely be of concern to the ECB, considering it has committed to spend £312million on the tournament over the first five years of its existence.

The counter point to that is attendances at grounds other than Cardiff – where the Welsh Fire franchise lost all eight of its matches – have remained strong. A record crowd watched last Sunday’s women’s game at Edgbaston between Birmingham Phoenix and Manchester Originals, with an official attendance of more than 21,000 given for the men’s match later in the evening. The number of orange shirts on show suggested the Phoenix merchandise has proven particularly popular. And yet there is, undoubtedly, a discussion to be had about the standard of cricket on show. When first launched in 2019, The Hundred promised to attract the biggest names in the sport but in the men’s competition its second edition has been lacking in genuine star quality.

Stokes opted to give it a swerve and the rest of the Test squad played only a couple of matches, while the best players Australia and India have to offer were engaged elsewhere. Top draft pick Kieron Pollard, selected by the London Originals at the highest reserve price of £125,000, meanwhile departed midway through due to the offer of another, bigger payday at the Caribbean Premier League.

Though some of the TV commentators might have you believe the cricket played has been at a level never seen before, the general consensus among more measured, seasoned observers is the standard was probably higher in the T20 Blast, the original short-format competition which helped revolutionise the sport but has now been shunted to earlier in the summer, with predictable consequences for attendances.

More than ever before, the white-ball dominates the season. The Blast began in late May and ran until mid-July, with just a two-and-a-half-week gap between Finals Day and the start of The Hundred, into which a couple of County Championship rounds were crammed.

In perhaps the most bizarre piece of scheduling, several counties have been given next week off before resuming their Championship campaigns on September 12. It could be quite a shock to those players called up for The Hundred but who, due to a clause in the contracts, were unable to appear in the Royal London Cup even if they weren’t required by their franchise. Warwickshire batter Sam Hain, to give just one example, has played just three games of cricket, facing just 36 balls, since July 28.

Most criticisms of The Hundred can be reserved solely for the men’s competition. The women’s competition, by contrast, attracted the best players in the world and has every chance of helping the game grow.

Yet it is in the men’s game where the debate over how best to preserve and strengthen the red-ball game rages. Though the Strauss review may well contain several smart ideas, implementing them effectively in a calendar already bursting at the seams will prove far from easy.