Give 100-ball game a chance – Cook

CRICKET: Former England captain Alastair Cook has given his backing to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s controversial plans to introduce a 100-ball competition.

The governing body last week announced their proposal for a brand new format, featuring 15 regular six-ball overs and one 10-ball over, to be used in the new city-based tournament that is set to launch in 2020.

It had been expected the competition would be played using Twenty20 cricket rules, like the highly-popular Indian Premier League and the Big Bash League in Australia, and the ECB’s proposal came in for criticism from many quarters.

But Cook wants to see the format given a chance to see if it can thrive like T20 cricket.

“It’s obviously very interesting,” the 33-year-old said during a Chance to Shine event in Tunbridge Wells.

“If you went back to 2003 when the ECB first launched T20 cricket, if social media had been around then I’m sure quite a few people would probably have kicked up the same amount of fuss as they have here.

“It’s different, it’s exciting. How it all works with the County Championship and Test matches and when it’s played, a lot of that (planning) is still to be done.

“But I think it’s another interesting step for cricket.”

“Cricket has made huge changes over the years and since I’ve started in 2003 – T20 being one of them. Let’s see how it all pans out.”