The Hundred will be massive even after this shambolic start

ECB still has time to win over fans and players to new format but it should not have been so tough

The early days of ‘The Hundred’ have been embarrassing and shambolic. It is in a total mess already. It has been launched without a strategic plan. Whenever something new and radical is suggested, there will be those lining up to criticise, so you must have all the answers at your fingertips.

You have to be able to say clearly and concisely, this is what we are doing, this is why we are doing it and here is how it will work. Do not pose more questions by being secretive. So far, we have had hardly any real information and the players were told at a meeting on Tuesday with the England and Wales Cricket Board that it was only a “concept”. I understand the competition is set in stone and will go ahead, but fans and players need winning over because they remain in the dark about so many aspects.

What is the ECB hiding from? It is not foreign policy or Brexit. It should not be that complicated or difficult to launch a new cricket tournament without causing this kind of upset.

The ECB must have known that, as soon as it presented it to the counties last month, it would be out in public within minutes. Tell anything to a county conference and you may as well put an advert in the national papers. What I do not get is why it did not go to the counties with a fully formed idea.

A month later, we still do not know what the strategic 10-ball over is about. We do not know what the eight teams are going to be called. The players do not know what the contracts will look like. It starts in two years. That is not long.

I am not against the competition. I like innovation. In 10 years, I am sure it will be the talk of our summer. The game needs a domestic tournament with a huge profile that reaches beyond our current cricket audience. But, at the same time, you have to take existing fans with you by giving them detail and information. Not alienate them.

If this is going to be the main tournament of the summer then we have to give it a four-week window. Crucially, it must not compete with Test cricket. Firstly, why would you not want Joe Root and Ben Stokes playing in the tournament? So far, we are being told they will not be available, but will be used for marketing purposes.

Surely the best way to promote cricket is through your best players being on the field, not just on a couple of posters trying to sell it. Kellogg’s would not put a famous face on the front of a box of Corn Flakes and say, by the way, he eats Shreddies.

Secondly, do not put this competition up to compete with Test cricket at a time when the long format is struggling. Separate them and use the four-week tournament, with its huge profile, to really promote the Test series that is happening afterwards.

Tell the young kids who are watching The Hundred, “You have seen Joe Root for the first time, now watch him in a Test match.”

I fear that if you put Test cricket up against this tournament it will be another hammer blow to the format. In time, this new tournament will be massive, and Tests will pale in comparison. An Ashes can compete, but not the lesser series, so organise the summer to give the new competition a window.

Why would you want a Test player playing in a series when they know all the focus is on the 100-ball tournament? He will sit there saying, “I wish I was playing

I fear if you put Test cricket up against this tournament it will be a hammer blow to the format

in that.” Yes, the ECB will point to the Big Bash and say that has been a huge success without its Test players. But when the West Indies were in Australia a couple of years ago, all the international players wanted to be in the Big Bash, rather than playing in a Test series that nobody was watching.

It is right the ECB has started to consult the players. It was wrong to leave them out until so late, but the players’ influence should only reach so far. Do not let them dictate. It is up to administrators to make the right decisions for the future of the game. The players are right to want to know their contracts and how much they will earn. But this is not about them. It is about the future of our game.

It is about the next generation of cricket fan and player. In the end, players just love playing the game in front of big crowds with a buzz.

My problem is not with the idea, just the way it has been executed. There is time to get it right, but already the ECB is facing a tough uphill battle of its own making.