English cricket chiefs want to see The Hundred become its equivalent of Wimbledon as the franchise competition heads for the biggest changes in its short history.
The Hundred board, comprising new investors, meets today to discuss next steps, with a change in financial distributions, commercial deals, team names and the titular format all on the table.
The goal is to make The Hundred appointment viewing for those who do not follow cricket the rest of the year, much like the SW19 Grand Slam is in tennis.
“It will be talked about in the same way that Wimbledon is,” The Hundred managing director Vikram Banerjee told The Telegraph.
“I’m not a massive tennis fan, except for two weeks of the summer when I know everything about [Novak] Djokovic’s forehand.
“It’s that kind of unmissable event that you go to for the summer school holidays. If you’ve got families, or if you’re a sports fan, you have to be around it.
“We’ll get people planning their holidays around The Hundred because it will be something that people can’t miss. I think that’s what we’ll get to.”
Embrace Hundred change, says Willey
The fifth season of The Hundred culminated at Lord’s on Sunday, where Northern Superchargers won a first women’s crown and Oval Invincibles made it three men’s titles in a row.
England bowler David Willey, captain of losing finalists Trent Rockets, has urged traditionalists to embrace the change that is being led by overseas investors, many of whom have helped turn the Indian Premier League into the world’s leading T20 competition.
“As English (people), with cricket we can get very protective over things,” said Willey.
“You probably only have to look at when the T20 Blast came in and everyone turned their nose up at that, so, I think it’s only going to grow and get better.
“Up to now it’s all been run by the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board]. Having different people come in who will probably have more control over sponsors, kits, helping with marketing, I think it is really exciting to branch out from just being cricket, cricket, cricket.
“There is a lot to be learnt from how other things are done in the world and not just cricket. I think it creates a great opportunity to grow the game, grow the tournament and hopefully to grow English cricket, which is a big part of it.”