The Hundred is now officially confirmed that it will not be going anywhere until 2028. There had been various media reports that indicated the closure of the league, but recently Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, who are supposedly the chief executive and chair of the England Cricket Board, respectively, have confirmed that the sensational tournament is not going anywhere and it will be continuing till 2028.
Thompson also criticised a report which had created such a rumour about the tournament and assured that the 100-ball competition is part of the ECB’s remunerative broadcast deal with Sky Sports.
“We’re signed up with the Hundred until 2028, and there’s been an awful lot of misreporting around that,” Thompson said. “The reality is that the Hundred exists with Sky until 2028, and I’m sure it has a long and successful future well beyond that,” He added in an interview in the June edition of the Cricketer magazine.
Also, a report By Fanos Hira, the Worcestershire chair, said that the league is suffering a loss the league had already registered a loss of £9 million loss to date, although it is a disputed figure. In reply to this claim, Thompson said that it’s a historical report and looking at the incoming as well as the cost base of the ECB, the tournament will definitely help across the game.
Thompson also came up and pointed out, in particular, the £1.3 million that every county receives annually [and is directly related to the Hundred]. The Hundred received a large financial investment from the game to ensure that it would attract new players, which it did. But in actuality, it’s a future investment. Also, it needs to be kept in mind that the prospect of private investment in the competition has also been regularly raised over the last couple of years.
The Hundred won’t conflict with either England men’s or women’s international cricket, and hence it is scheduled to take place in a separate window from August 1 – 27. The last Test of the English summer will therefore end on July 31.