NICK FRIEND - EXCLUSIVE: County cricket MD Neil Snowball believes that lining up one tournament after the other could help to forge a greater link between the two competitions
Staging the 2022 T20 Blast in its entirety before the first ball of The Hundred is bowled is under consideration as planners get their heads around next year's county schedule.
Although it has become tradition in recent years for T20 Blast Finals Day to take place in September, a potential shift is not out of the question.
Speaking exclusively to The Cricketer in a wide-ranging interview about the state of the county game to be published later this week, ECB managing director of county cricket Neil Snowball admitted he would be interested in making the change.
This year, matches from three competitions – the County Championship, Royal London Cup and The Hundred – will take place between the end of the Blast’s group stage and the beginning of its knockout rounds.
Snowball said: “What we may be able to do next year is actually do a full Blast before The Hundred, which would also be an interesting comparison to see how that works, where it goes maybe through to a full conclusion: you play Finals Day and then you go into The Hundred. It might just be interesting to see how that blends.”
One of several talking points around The Hundred has been its coexistence with the Blast, and Snowball believes that lining up one after the other could help to forge a link between the two, with the Vitality Wildcard Draft – where Hundred teams are able to add a player to their squads on the back of Blast performances – taking on greater resonance.
“For me, that was one of the key connections between the two, and because of timings, it didn’t quite work like that,” he explained. “It will be really interesting to see how that works again next year.”
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He explained: “What Covid has done is enable us to experiment and trial different things that we probably wouldn’t have done. It’s obviously been dubbed as Super September and there’s something I quite like about the culmination of the County Championship, with the Bob Willis Trophy final and the Blast Finals Day all in September.
“There is a lot to like about that, but at the same time it would be interesting to see how it works if the Blast was to conclude before The Hundred and see how the two can mesh together. We are working on the schedule now, and if we could make that work next year, it would be a good way to compare and contrast.
“I think what is really refreshing is that we’re already having conversations with The Hundred hosts for next year, where they’re saying: well, it’s gone so well and clearly there is a market for these daytime matches during school holidays that you could actually focus them even more on Saturdays and Sundays, with the first game at 11am and the second game at 2.30pm, which has already proven to be a hit, and then leave the Blast in those more traditional Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights, which can appeal to a broad crowd anyway.”
He added: “When people say that The Hundred is going to threaten the Blast, I just don’t see that.”
Posted by Tony Tyson on 29/08/2021 at 12:15
Time to get past the notion of scrap the Hundred. It has been a resounding success. What a lot of the red ball moaners fail to acknowledge is that the white ball income supports the game. A little point that I would raise regarding a separation of the T20 and Hundred tournaments is that there seemed to be a bit of carry over from the Hundred in the attendance at the T20 quarter final at Trent Bridge. Lots of people there appeared to be new fans and I'm sure that was due to the carry over of the momentum built up by the Hundred. Lots of families there. The point I am making is that the Hundred attracted a lot of new young fans. It would be a shame for most of them to not have a further opportunity to attend a live game the same season.
Posted by Peter Westmacott on 19/08/2021 at 14:12
Scrap The Hundred - too much like T20. Play 50 over competition throughout April 2 games a week, Sat and Wed, with final 7th May. Then County Championship from 14th May to 27 August, a match every week for all clubs from Sat-Tues. Play T20, 16 games each, every Thursday from 19th May to 1st Sept, with finals day on 8th Sept. If The Hundred has to be played do so in Sept after T20. The advantages of such a structure are obvious and so much better than the current shambles.
Posted by Charles on 18/08/2021 at 14:03
Perhaps a snowflake rather than a snowball. Sack this man he doesn’t seem to have the best interests of cricket in mind only the best interest of the ECBs pocket.
Posted by Doug on 18/08/2021 at 07:26
Well they obviously refuse to realise the devastating effect that this hit and giggle th bush is having on the red ball 4 day and test cricket. This fool is only interested in the rubbish.
Posted by Stephen Dines on 17/08/2021 at 16:02
Another nail in the coffin.
Posted by Derek Hatch on 16/08/2021 at 20:58
Get real,mr.snowfall!...we dont need the 100!too much white ball cricket!just look at the test teams performance today.players are not getting enough red ball cricket.the whole cricket administration in this country have got it soooo wrong! Scrap the 100 altogether!why do we need it!!
Posted by Nigel Lyddon on 16/08/2021 at 14:35
Yes the Hundred will continue I am not totally against it but why not a franchise in the West Country we have no interest here but a large population. Would you expect people from the West to support a Welsh team ? Believe it or not we also have children here !! All that needs to be done is one extra team then not play two local matches. There should be many more Oversees players available next season as long as the situation regarding the infections go in the right direction. We should not be cut out, matches could be played at Bristol and Taunton with full crowds and a great atmosphere !!
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