This new form of cricket has totally smashed it for six!
It seemed like a laughable idea when it was announced. Did we really need yet another form of cricket? What was wrong with 20/20? It was fast-paced and exciting. Could shortening it by 20 balls really make much difference? Well dear reader, it turned out that once again I was wrong.
I hadn’t paid much attention to the draft or the first few games of The Hundred, in fact I didn’t even realise it had started at first.
Sure I saw the articles starting to crop upon the BBC Sport app about the ‘exciting’ games, but my head was not for turning.
Until I visited my parents’ and my dad had The Hundred on.
My first impression was not a positive one, with the graphics used to denote scores and the number of balls left, looking garish in a mixture of fluorescent green and pink combined with black.
But how does that old saying go? Oh yes, that’s it, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
And it turned out that once I focused on the actual cricket I was utterly spellbound.
The marketing loudly proclaims ‘Every. Ball. Counts’ – and, as it turns out, on the whole this wasn’t just some false promise or collection of hollow words by the public relations people.
Both the men’s games and the women’s matcheshavebeentenseandexciting affairs on the whole, often coming down to the last couple of balls.
I have been practically glued to the games every night and from the large crowds it seems I am not alone.
The changes – such as five or 10-ball overs, instead of the usual six – and the time limit the bowling teams have to completetheoversorriskhavingfewer fielders allowed out in the deep, make it far more fast-paced.
You barely have time to catch your breath before it is over.
It is some of the most exciting cricket I have watched – and I hope it returns in 2022… if only so I can begin to execute my grand plan of converting my Spanish girlfriend to the church of cricket.
At least The Hundred is quick. Might have to build up to Test matches!