Inspired by the success of Indian Premier League. England Cricket Board were desperate for inception of 'The Hundred'. This is a new version of cricket similar to T-20 but it has 100 balls per innings instead of 20 overs. It was a eight team tournament for both men and women cricketers due to start this summer. Now, In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, It has been postponed until 2021.
The decision didn't come as a surprise to the cricket fraternity. Though there were some rumours that the tournament would go ahead as planned behind the closed doors. ECB has cleared the air by clarifying the postponement of the Hundred.
ECB gave three major reasons for its decision:
- The operational challenges due to social distancing and doubt over travel visas for players outside the country.
- The idea of playing behind closed doors was another reason because the sole purpose of organising the tournament was to attract the wider audience to the cricketing venues.
- It was difficult for ECB to organise the tournament across multiple venues with majority of staff on granted leave.
Despite the postponement ECB has reiterated that it will not dilute women's cricket under any circumstances. It has an ultimate aim to make cricket gender biased. It has also announced that prize money will be equal for both men and women.
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