The Hundred (*Non QPR) 18:14 - Aug 7 with 4354 views | thame_hoops | I know there are quite a few County members on this board, what do you think of the Hundred? Whenever somebody post about it on social media (pundits), it is met with lots of derision, nobody really wants it. The media seem to black out all of the noise. When it was launched, it was promised to be a competition with all the worlds top Stars. In reality, they all drop out and it is pretty much the same people who are in the blast. I went to several games in its first couple of years, including both finals. As a Middlesex member, I got very cheap tickets and took clients or friends. The only people who really enjoyed it were my kids but they also enjoyed the blast. What I find irritating is the amount of promotion the ECB are putting into it, whereas they ignore other tournaments, particularly the one-day cup which is running alongside it. It’s relegated it to a B team competition. I see on social media that lots of families are enjoying it, a lot of the comments are positive but it always breaks out into arguments between people who hate it and people who love it. There’s no in between it seems. As someone who lives alone, it’s great to have live sport on TV in the evening when I get back from work, particularly on terrestrial. So I do watch it, and I know that makes me a hypocrite. I do find it strange though, seeing grown adults in the new replica shirts. I don’t know why. edit- also, the numbers don’t seem to add up. Tickets are really cheap, for instance, front row Compton upper tickets for the final are £15 an adult and £5 a child. They have double the amount of players to pay and crowds are similar to the blast, especially at the London stadiums. Thoughts? [Post edited 7 Aug 2023 18:17]
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:33 - Aug 7 with 4272 views | stowmarketrange | It should be scrapped and the T20 played in August instead,but the ECB are too stubborn to admit that it’s running at a loss. I’ve had numerous discussions with supporters on FB about this needless competition but the people who like it tend to try and convince doubters that it will save cricket as there are new fans being brought into the game.But if they promoted the T20 and the 50 over games as much and played them when the kids were on school holidays it would be just as popular. One poster moaned about the 18 counties being elitist and out of touch with kids,but surely you would be more likely to watch your own team rather than 8 franchises that mean nothing to anyone outside of the big cities. The tv coverage does help and I don’t know how you’d get the other shorter formats on mainstream tv. I do watch it though but I’ve never been tempted to use my free tickets for it. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:49 - Aug 7 with 4238 views | Dorse | I've taken the family to see Manchester Originals a couple of times and it is a terrific event. The whole family (2 & 2), 2 x matches, internationals galore for £60 is tough to argue with. Neither my wife or daughter are big cricket fans but even they love it and ask to go back next season. BBCs coverage is a fcukload better than the reheated piss you get on Sky. Taking it for what it is, I like it (4.5 stars, would recommend). Viewed in a wider sense, I have questions, but to be honest they're the same questions I have about the 861 franchise tournaments that seem to be happening ad nauseum throughout the year. Coming soon on Sky Spurts Cricket 4: the Guatemalan Premier Super All-Star International League Of Champions, featuring the Karachi Spider-Crabs, Wollongong Wombats and the Swindon Shitehawks. *Edit - I actually prefer test cricket by a mile but I can't convince my family to watch me drink for 5 days [Post edited 7 Aug 2023 18:53]
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| 'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!' |
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:50 - Aug 7 with 4231 views | Rs_Holy |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:33 - Aug 7 by stowmarketrange | It should be scrapped and the T20 played in August instead,but the ECB are too stubborn to admit that it’s running at a loss. I’ve had numerous discussions with supporters on FB about this needless competition but the people who like it tend to try and convince doubters that it will save cricket as there are new fans being brought into the game.But if they promoted the T20 and the 50 over games as much and played them when the kids were on school holidays it would be just as popular. One poster moaned about the 18 counties being elitist and out of touch with kids,but surely you would be more likely to watch your own team rather than 8 franchises that mean nothing to anyone outside of the big cities. The tv coverage does help and I don’t know how you’d get the other shorter formats on mainstream tv. I do watch it though but I’ve never been tempted to use my free tickets for it. |
agree 100% | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:56 - Aug 7 with 4215 views | thame_hoops |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:33 - Aug 7 by stowmarketrange | It should be scrapped and the T20 played in August instead,but the ECB are too stubborn to admit that it’s running at a loss. I’ve had numerous discussions with supporters on FB about this needless competition but the people who like it tend to try and convince doubters that it will save cricket as there are new fans being brought into the game.But if they promoted the T20 and the 50 over games as much and played them when the kids were on school holidays it would be just as popular. One poster moaned about the 18 counties being elitist and out of touch with kids,but surely you would be more likely to watch your own team rather than 8 franchises that mean nothing to anyone outside of the big cities. The tv coverage does help and I don’t know how you’d get the other shorter formats on mainstream tv. I do watch it though but I’ve never been tempted to use my free tickets for it. |
At a Middx members forum, I asked the question that if one purpose was aiming to get a new audience, were each county given details of who purchased tickets, in order to add them to their mailing list? The answer is no. You would think that the ECB would want as many people going to other forms as cricket as a result of their experience but they seem to want to keep this as a closed shop. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 19:04 - Aug 7 with 4190 views | Dorse |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:56 - Aug 7 by thame_hoops | At a Middx members forum, I asked the question that if one purpose was aiming to get a new audience, were each county given details of who purchased tickets, in order to add them to their mailing list? The answer is no. You would think that the ECB would want as many people going to other forms as cricket as a result of their experience but they seem to want to keep this as a closed shop. |
That's just daft. The Hundred app mails me throughout the year, knows my local county (Lancs), even which team I 'play' for. Why Lancs haven't got this too boggles the mind! | |
| 'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!' |
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:00 - Aug 7 with 4111 views | MedwayR | I think it's been positive for the women's game but the men's game doesn't need it and it is probably to the detriment of the other forms of men's cricket. Therefore, keep it for the women with the coverage and publicity it gets and let the men go back to T20 only. | |
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:00 - Aug 7 with 4113 views | stowmarketrange |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:56 - Aug 7 by thame_hoops | At a Middx members forum, I asked the question that if one purpose was aiming to get a new audience, were each county given details of who purchased tickets, in order to add them to their mailing list? The answer is no. You would think that the ECB would want as many people going to other forms as cricket as a result of their experience but they seem to want to keep this as a closed shop. |
In my Surrey handbook it has all the attendance figures for all the games.I will list them if that helps. First figure is members attending,Second is public crowd and third is total attendance. Vitality blast Surrey v Glamorgan,4272,11363,15635 Surrey v Gloucester 3135,13794,16929 V Hampshire 3610,16592,20202 V Sussex 4150,11535,15685 V middx 4639,20801,25440 V Somerset 2123,5313,7436 V Kent 3854,20784,24638 V Yorkshire 4073,12932,17005 Hundred Invincibles v London spirit 3492,18811,22303 V northern supercharger 2624,18785,21409 V southern brave 2576,19612,22188 V Birmingham 3767,19532,23299 The totals for the T20 equals an average of 17871 per match and the hundred was 22399,but it depends on when the games were played last season. The figures show that less members attended the hundred rather than the T20 but more members of the public went to the hundred rather than the T20,but it isn’t a fair comparison if the ECB are subsidising tickets for one format of cricket over the other. I can’t really see how 20 balls less per innings can keep the kiddies more entertained than T20 where there are 18 counties to follow rather than a team that you might be miles away from and have no connection with. And if it’s such a wonderful format how comes no other country has tried it? [Post edited 7 Aug 2023 20:03]
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:15 - Aug 7 with 4079 views | CiderwithRsie | Not a County member, but Middx are my team. I like a lot of the marketing around it (e.g. men's and women's matches on same day) but I just don't see why it needs to be a new format instead of T20. Don't see the point of new terminology which IMO doesn't make much odds - I don't think an "over" is hard to understand, the hard stuff are things like styles of bowler, fielding positions etc, which no amount of coming up with new names will make any easier. I guess the other thing for County members would be the franchise system. I'm not really sure on that - I get the idea that they want to have a city-based structure with fewer sides and I don't really mind looking on, say, London Spirit as being a sort of Middx-Essex-Northants, but some of the names seem a bit naff to me. I can't read "Manchester Originals" without mentally substituting "Werther's", or "Freeez" into "Southern Brave" | | | | Login to get fewer ads
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:37 - Aug 7 with 4037 views | jeffranger | Can’t stand it & don’t watch it, too much hype about it & should be scrapped & more county or test matches to be played, doesn’t improve the county standard of players trying to get in the England side, love watching test matches at present especially England, as a Kent supporter another poor season for us just like Rangers | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:53 - Aug 7 with 4000 views | thame_hoops |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:00 - Aug 7 by stowmarketrange | In my Surrey handbook it has all the attendance figures for all the games.I will list them if that helps. First figure is members attending,Second is public crowd and third is total attendance. Vitality blast Surrey v Glamorgan,4272,11363,15635 Surrey v Gloucester 3135,13794,16929 V Hampshire 3610,16592,20202 V Sussex 4150,11535,15685 V middx 4639,20801,25440 V Somerset 2123,5313,7436 V Kent 3854,20784,24638 V Yorkshire 4073,12932,17005 Hundred Invincibles v London spirit 3492,18811,22303 V northern supercharger 2624,18785,21409 V southern brave 2576,19612,22188 V Birmingham 3767,19532,23299 The totals for the T20 equals an average of 17871 per match and the hundred was 22399,but it depends on when the games were played last season. The figures show that less members attended the hundred rather than the T20 but more members of the public went to the hundred rather than the T20,but it isn’t a fair comparison if the ECB are subsidising tickets for one format of cricket over the other. I can’t really see how 20 balls less per innings can keep the kiddies more entertained than T20 where there are 18 counties to follow rather than a team that you might be miles away from and have no connection with. And if it’s such a wonderful format how comes no other country has tried it? [Post edited 7 Aug 2023 20:03]
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I’ve heard that they do give away free tickets, and subsidising tickets is common. Add in the fact that I would assume concession sales are lower, especially beer as families will take picnics and not drink as much alcohol. There is no corporate side as far as I can understand because at Lord’s they are selling tickets in the upper mound stand to the general public, this is normally just for corporate. The numbers do not add up, I did read an article in the Telegraph earlier on in the year that they are heavily losing money. Agree with what somebody else said about the women’s game, it has elevated that and you can see how much they enjoy playing and they all hang around after their game and take photos/sign autographs and generally look like they are enjoying the experience and exposure. A double headed game is a long time for kids to sit and watch live. Much longer than the T20. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:54 - Aug 7 with 4000 views | Hunterhoop | The concept is a complete failure. And it was completely unnecessary. Kids and families went to the T20 already. If you subsidised T20 tickets, if you put it on during the school holidays, if you added gigs and a women’s game before, if you pumped this much into marketing, it would be as equal if not a bigger success because uou’d have taken county members with you, and made it accessible to 18 county’s not just 8 grounds. It’s been an absolute jobs for the boys con job. All the pundits like Vaughan with shares in sports agencies have made a killing from the pointless draft where the ECB are just handing out money to players and their agents. The consultancies involved have made a killing for themselves. The leaders within the ECB who implemented took their enormous bonuses for getting it off the ground even though it’s running at a loss and there is no evidence to say it is drawing in any new audience or one that couldn’t have been drawn in with far less wasted investment. It’s also completely ruining the whole cricket schedule both County and England. For what? It’s a dud and deserves to be canned. Sounds like next year will be the last one, won’t it? | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 21:55 - Aug 7 with 3907 views | Dorse |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 20:54 - Aug 7 by Hunterhoop | The concept is a complete failure. And it was completely unnecessary. Kids and families went to the T20 already. If you subsidised T20 tickets, if you put it on during the school holidays, if you added gigs and a women’s game before, if you pumped this much into marketing, it would be as equal if not a bigger success because uou’d have taken county members with you, and made it accessible to 18 county’s not just 8 grounds. It’s been an absolute jobs for the boys con job. All the pundits like Vaughan with shares in sports agencies have made a killing from the pointless draft where the ECB are just handing out money to players and their agents. The consultancies involved have made a killing for themselves. The leaders within the ECB who implemented took their enormous bonuses for getting it off the ground even though it’s running at a loss and there is no evidence to say it is drawing in any new audience or one that couldn’t have been drawn in with far less wasted investment. It’s also completely ruining the whole cricket schedule both County and England. For what? It’s a dud and deserves to be canned. Sounds like next year will be the last one, won’t it? |
The ECB took it on for 5 years - this is the third, so probably 2 more. I doubt it'll continue after that, so I'll enjoy it while it's here. Cheap to go, terrestrial coverage, raises the profile of the women's game. It is a good product for the punter. Compare that to the way the T20 / One Day game has been hived off behind Sky's paywall, put on when kids / families struggle to get there and no push to get Dynamos/ junior club players through the gate. No contest. I get it: we should be rightly pissed that the Hundred has drowned out the other short County formats but I would argue that this is not a bad thing in itself. It gives the Counties the opportunity to change their marketing and demand more from the TV companies and the ECB when the Hundred inevitably dies off. Perversely, the Hundred may end up being a benefit to the club game in the medium to long term. | |
| 'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!' |
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 22:16 - Aug 7 with 3866 views | Hunterhoop |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 21:55 - Aug 7 by Dorse | The ECB took it on for 5 years - this is the third, so probably 2 more. I doubt it'll continue after that, so I'll enjoy it while it's here. Cheap to go, terrestrial coverage, raises the profile of the women's game. It is a good product for the punter. Compare that to the way the T20 / One Day game has been hived off behind Sky's paywall, put on when kids / families struggle to get there and no push to get Dynamos/ junior club players through the gate. No contest. I get it: we should be rightly pissed that the Hundred has drowned out the other short County formats but I would argue that this is not a bad thing in itself. It gives the Counties the opportunity to change their marketing and demand more from the TV companies and the ECB when the Hundred inevitably dies off. Perversely, the Hundred may end up being a benefit to the club game in the medium to long term. |
It’s the ECB who decide whether cricket coverage is with Sky or free to air! They could easily make T20 free to air or a mix like the Hundred. Just do that. Nothing they have done with The Hundred couldn’t have been done with T20. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 22:41 - Aug 7 with 3841 views | YorkRanger | A needless competition, adds nothing to what the T20 brings and has been set up to the detriment of the county game and test cricket. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 23:04 - Aug 7 with 3812 views | plasmahoop | Personally I don't like it, and I resent how it's pushed the county game further down the pecking order. However, I think the logic behind it is its another thing other than international matches that the Ecb can own and make money off. They subsidise the counties, but by weakening the core county product they are probably going to end up subsidising them more. Unless the hundred is running at a loss, which would further damage all the finances. The good thing about it is that it's on terrestrial TV, but it would be much more preferable to have the T20 blast on terrestrial and sort the county scheduling out so county championship games were spread throughout the season | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 08:48 - Aug 8 with 3673 views | A_B_4 |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 22:16 - Aug 7 by Hunterhoop | It’s the ECB who decide whether cricket coverage is with Sky or free to air! They could easily make T20 free to air or a mix like the Hundred. Just do that. Nothing they have done with The Hundred couldn’t have been done with T20. |
Most of the T20 and County games are already free to air via YouTube. Clubs typically stream them with their own commentary teams, replays etc. I'm not sure on the specifics - by that I mean I'm certain there are blackouts for Sky selected games but I wouldn't want to assume the specifics and mislead anyone. Either way, in this day and age a free to view stream via YouTube is in my opinion essentially the same as traditional FTA content and tremendous for fans who can't make it to every game as life inevitably gets in the way etc | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 08:50 - Aug 8 with 3665 views | slmrstid | Living in Leicester I have no interest in The Hundred and don't see what it does that T20 doesn't. I went to a couple of Leicestershire Foxes games in the T20 this summer (now if you want to see terrible sporting performance, just see the Foxes T20 record this year...) Leicestershire are one of the smaller cricketing counties and there is a perception there that the likes of The Hundred exist to try and force small counties like the Foxes out of first class cricket, rightly or wrongly. Worth saying as far as free-to-air goes, a lot of the T20 group games were broadcast for streaming on YouTube for free with commentary picked up from local radio or club equivalents of Nick London and Andy Sinton. Obviously not Finals day, not sure about the knock-out games either as the Foxes interest in that ended long ago, but I saw a few of their group games on YouTube. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 08:52 - Aug 8 with 3662 views | toboboly | Never watched on tv or live. The fact there are no tests in August/September is awful and shoehorning in an unnecessary competition that only caters to 40% of the cricket world in England and Wales is scandalous. Btw any adults wearing hundred jerseys are as bad as adult MK Franchise fans. | |
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The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 09:48 - Aug 8 with 3597 views | robith | I don't like it, but as everyone says I don't get what problem it was solving? T20 is right there! Everyone loves it! | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 10:07 - Aug 8 with 3582 views | BlackAndGoldRanger | Another one against the whole thing, although I do think it has benefitted the Women's game and wouldn't mind if they kept it as a Women's only competition. T20 Blast is popular and good quality cricket and the crisp cup has added nothing except devaluing the county and 1 day cup (England still World Champions in 50 over format). The 50 over WC is this year and the players aren't playing any games until the middle of September. Never been to a game (even though it's included in my membership) and tried to watch it on TV but the graphics are horrible and I think more confusing than a standard scoreboard. Bin it and play test cricket in August (not that we've had the weather this year). | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 12:17 - Aug 8 with 3520 views | CiderwithRsie |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 22:16 - Aug 7 by Hunterhoop | It’s the ECB who decide whether cricket coverage is with Sky or free to air! They could easily make T20 free to air or a mix like the Hundred. Just do that. Nothing they have done with The Hundred couldn’t have been done with T20. |
Nothing they have done with The Hundred couldn’t have been done with T20. This. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 12:43 - Aug 8 with 3468 views | Superhoops2808 | So my take as a Kent Member and my perspective is this: Positives: Only one really, it has had a big impact on the women's game and that's a positive. That's why we turned the Aussies over in both white ball series during their Ashes series. Negatives: This far out weighs the it for me. The T20 now moved so that what was enjoyed by ALL the family is now limited because its during term time. No links to the counties - Its like Chelsea, Fulham, Brentwood and us all forming ONE team and playing at Stamford Bridge (Not aimed at you Thame) but all the counties that host these games making the big bucks while the other counties are squeezed. Yes the ECB give those clubs a 'handout' but the sales of merchandise etc on matchdays far offset that The one day game now reduced to the equivalent of reserve games. At least now, if a player is not involved in a 100 game they are released to play the one day game but that has become a farce. Last year when Kent won the RL one day cup, they declined to play all the so called 'big' players that had returned from the 100 and benefited from it. No red ball cricket throughout August. Anyway, that's my rant over... The 100 wasn't and isn't needed and doesn't fix anything and as was mentioned elsewhere that's why no one else has done it!! | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 21:15 - Aug 8 with 3326 views | DiggertheMole |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 18:33 - Aug 7 by stowmarketrange | It should be scrapped and the T20 played in August instead,but the ECB are too stubborn to admit that it’s running at a loss. I’ve had numerous discussions with supporters on FB about this needless competition but the people who like it tend to try and convince doubters that it will save cricket as there are new fans being brought into the game.But if they promoted the T20 and the 50 over games as much and played them when the kids were on school holidays it would be just as popular. One poster moaned about the 18 counties being elitist and out of touch with kids,but surely you would be more likely to watch your own team rather than 8 franchises that mean nothing to anyone outside of the big cities. The tv coverage does help and I don’t know how you’d get the other shorter formats on mainstream tv. I do watch it though but I’ve never been tempted to use my free tickets for it. |
Comletely agree. The scheme is designed to kill off county cricket and place the media - conducive presentations squarely as the property of franchises - similar to U.S. Gridiron sides. These franchises are allocated to the major cricket grounds and tickets are nearly given away. I am a member at Kent (not a good year for us this!) and love both The St Lawrence and Beckenham grounds (and the Neville - but looks like that's a thing of the past) as well as visiting "away" venues. Taunton, Bristol, Hove, Richmond and a host of other grounds are great places to watch the full range of competitions but rarely get the TV coverage they deserve. The "Hundred" needs scrapping and the 4 -day, T20 and 50 over games given media support. In a world where football and rugbu union may be limited to the "Super-grounds" and major financial interests are only too keen to impose their own image on the sports, it won't be long until London Excellence play Northern Superstars at The Wembley Superdrome (On Sunday Evening of course) in the Soccer Superleague and "Saraquins Irish" take on Celtic Ruckers at the "Twickenbowl" for the Rugger World Series. It's not difficult to see that you don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows (Sorry Bob!). I attended the Ageas for the semi-final of the One-Day cup and was depressed to see not a single Hampshire shirt in the entire stadium because the young Hants fans all had "Southern Brave" shirts etc. Kent don't have that problem and yes, in a way of course I am jealous but the "Hundred" is a concocted Eton Mess which has much more to do with showbiz than sport. Bin it! As I look up from the laptop I am relieved to see the rain at Lords - even God weeps to see this nonsense! | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 12:49 - Aug 9 with 3149 views | QPRConor2000 | I personally think the problem with the Hundred is that this 100 ball format isn't played elsewhere, hence why people are struggling to understand the format. I think the Hundred should be scrapped and instead we refocus on the T20 Blast. I would personally rename the T20 blast into the English Premier League, and have all 18 first class counties along with the 19 National County teams competing, meaning all 39 counties take part. I would first have a preliminary round, with the 8 lowest ranked teams competing in a straight knockout, the winners would go on to play in the main tournament. Group Stage - The 32 teams would be split into 8 groups of 4, with teams seeded based apon their results, teams would play each other twice in their group, with the top 2 teams from each group advancing to the Knockout Stages. First Knockout Round - The 16 remaining teams would play in a one match knockout round with the group winners hosting the match, winners go onto the Quarter Finals. Quarter Final - Same as First Knockout Round. Semi Finals and Final would be played on the same night, at a pre-determined location. Thats how I would do it, think it would ensure all counties have an equal chance and it would make the games more exciting as well. | | | |
The Hundred (*Non QPR) on 07:43 - Aug 10 with 3033 views | Esox_Lucius | Spencer Johnson made quite the impact on his debut; 20 balls, 1 run and 3 wickets. | |
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