10-BALL OVER SET TO BE SCRAPPED

Gimmick is doomed as players fight idea for climax to Hundred

CrIcKET’s governing body will almost certainly be forced to give up on including the gimmick of a 10-ball over in their controversial new Hundred competition.

The EcB have been told to think again by the players’ union as they attempt to go against convention and find a way of bowling 100 balls per innings in the new concept they are determined to introduce in 2020.

a delegation led by Pca chairman Daryl Mitchell told the EcB that the 10-ball over, which was meant to be bowled at the end of an innings, simply will not work.

‘There’s certainly strong opinion among the players that there shouldn’t be a 10-ball over,’ Mitchell told Sportsmail after the first meaningful talks between governing body and union since the EcB dropped their Hundred bombshell. ‘People who are going to bowl at the death are concerned about that because of the physical demands and mental well-being,’ said Mitchell (below).

‘I don’t think it would be possible to ask, say, Tymal Mills to bowl a 10-ball over at 92-93mph, especially if you throw in the odd wide or no ball.

‘Then it becomes 12 or 13 balls and I don’t think that’s good for the game or the bowler. You want the genuine quicks to come steaming in because that’s what people want to see, and six balls is enough for them.’

other ideas were discussed in the meeting between six players from different parts of the country with varying experience in the game and the EcB’s Hundred marketeers, sanjay Patel and Mike Fordham. ‘From what I hear I don’t think they want to go too far away from what cricket is now,’ said Mitchell, signalling a change in EcB direction for a format that is aimed at a non-cricketing family audience. ‘so they don’t want 20 five-ball overs. Maybe we could have eightball overs at the start and end of an innings to make up the 100. another idea we discussed was for the captain to be able to call time on an over after four balls. ‘If then, say, jos Buttler starts hitting someone all over the park the captain will be able to call a halt after four balls. That might add a tactical dimension. There’s not really an easy way to get to 100 balls and the fact it’s not divisible by six does cause a problem.’

Now the initial shock of an idea that seemed to come from nowhere has eased, Worcestershire batsman Mitchell reports opinions on the concept among England’s 400-plus professional players are still ‘mixed’.

‘It’s very difficult for us to say whether we like the idea or not when we still don’t know what it’s going to look like,’ said Mitchell. ‘There are very much a number of sceptics among our members.

‘The new competition needs us on board because it needs to fly and do very well. When the next broadcast deal comes around we have to have a vibrant domestic product as well as an England team doing very well.’

The bumper £1.1billion, fiveyear broadcasting deal which starts in two years has enabled the EcB to promise counties an extra £1.3million a year if they support the Hundred. and Mitchell made it clear that the players want to make sure they see their fair share of that extra revenue. To that end, the Pca put out a statement recently opposing proposed attempts by the EcB to avoid increasing county wages.

Mitchell said: ‘That statement was in response to the suggestion from county chief executives that the salary cap was not going to go up. From our point of view, that is not acceptable with the money coming into the game. It’s one of our non-negotiables. Nobody wants a repeat of the australian pay dispute in our cricket.’

Sportsmail understands that a ‘performance working group’, which will include respected figures from across the cricketing spectrum, will meet the EcB early next month to try to thrash out how the Hundred will work.

Those invited will include England assistant coach Paul Farbrace, head of women’s cricket clare connor, Lancashire’s director of cricket Paul allott andformer Hampshire captain and TV presenter Mark Nicholas.