Five Ball Overs, Option to Bowl Two Consecutive Overs New Innovations in 'The Hundred'
Monday, July 23, 2018 IST
'The Hundred', an eight-team city based tournament to be played in England across July and August 2020, will feature five-ball overs and the option for bowlers to bowl two consecutive overs. According to a report in The Telegraph, other innovations are also on the cards including a change of ends only after ten balls (two overs) and captains being allowed the choice of either continuing with the same bowler for consecutive overs, or split up the overs between two bowlers.
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It is hoped that these innovations would speed the game up by reducing the number of end changes, and would also add a new tactical dimension to the game if a captain decides to give an additional over to a bowler who is bowling well, the report says. The maximum number of overs that a bowler can bowl in an innings is four.
‘The Hundred’ was introduced earlier this year as a radical new format by the England Cricket Board to further increase the popularity of the sport and drive engagement.
The format of the tournament was discussed earlier this week with Trent Woodhill, a freelance Twenty20 consultant who has joined the ECB for a month to help in setting up the competition. Woodhill brings with him the experience of being the general manager of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Melbourne Stars, also having worked as a batting coach for both teams. He will advise on a number of things ranging from employing coaches, setting up new teams and forming player contracts.
Trial matches for the format will be held at Trent Bridge for men and Loughborough for women to test the playing regulations in September and the possibility of star England players such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Joe Root to play in the first round of the competition and on the finals day is being explored. The report said the ECB met representatives of the players earlier this week to discuss the format of the tournament.
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