The Hundred: cricket’s saviour or a load of marketing crap?

[Puddy_Tat]

I think i can just about remember some harrumphing about the idea of one day matches being taken seriously rather than a bit of fun on the sunday rest day in a proper match

Having said that, I regard T20 as a cricket based entertainment form rather than cricket (can be fun to watch though)

And i'm ignoring this 'hundred' thing in the hope it will go away...

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Men’s game on at the Oval now.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Just to raise the haters blood pressure a bit further the Sky Cricket channel has been renamed Sky Hundred.

 

[Petcha]

This is still terrible. Even though its blokes thrashing the ball about. It's utterly utterly soulless. What kind of coked up fucking meeting in a pub came up with this?

 

[RileyOBlimey]

This is still terrible. Even though its blokes thrashing the ball about. It's utterly utterly soulless. What kind of coked up fucking meeting in a pub came up with this?

So you don’t think the sport should be inclusive of women, people of colour, youngsters and the working class?

Sounds like you’re doing a coked up Farage.

 

[Petcha]

So you don’t think the sport should be inclusive of women, people of colour, youngsters and the working class?

Sounds like you’re doing a coked up Farage.

Er, what?

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Shire based gammon will have to learn to share their toys.

 

[Petcha]

Shire based gammon will have to learn to share their toys.

Er, what?

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Er, what?

When the far-right Simon Heffer bemoaned the threat The Hundred poses to his “culture” we all know that word is a dog whistle for white supremacy, the patriarchy and the the rule of the rich.

 

[Petcha]

When the far-right Simon Heffer bemoaned the threat The Hundred poses to his “culture” we all know that word is a dog whistle for white supremacy, the patriarchy and the the rule of the rich.

Ok, you're as nuts as the sponsors on the front of the shirts of one of the indiscriminate 'teams' on the pitch in this game so I'm popping you on ignore.

 

[SpookyFrank]

So you don’t think the sport should be inclusive of women, people of colour, youngsters and the working class?

Sounds like you’re doing a coked up Farage.

What the fuck are you on about?

 

[Petcha]

It's actually ok, if you like t20. But I don't really see what the major USP is here. It's a bash fest, good chance to sell loads of beer but nothing t20 wasn't already doing?

 

[RileyOBlimey]

What the fuck are you on about?

The Hundred, is designed to engage girls and women by putting the womens‘ teams on the same billing and sharing the prize money. This is a significant step in the right direction. Just look at the England Womens match that were recently provided with a hand-me-down used wicket. Disgraceful.

This format is also looking to connect the huge love of cricket in the Asian community with bums on seats. By focussing on city based teams instead of counties it will be easier for urban communities to feel this is their team.

By ensuring that this format is often available free to view will help getting youngsters into the cricketing world…not to mention anyone who doesn’t pay through the nose for Sky and wants to casually check out this sport.

 

[skyscraper101]

These graphics

Agreed. I can’t stand the on screen graphics. What is the point of all these garish arrowed columns on either side? Fucking awful.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Anyway the best thing to do with the hundred is ignore it and hope it goes away, a

This format is also looking to connect the huge love of cricket in the Asian community with bums on seats. By focussing on city based teams instead of counties it will be easier for urban communities to feel this is their team.

Like the well-known cities of Oval, The North, Trent and Wales

 

[RileyOBlimey]

It's actually ok, if you like t20. But I don't really see what the major USP is here. It's a bash fest, good chance to sell loads of beer but nothing t20 wasn't already doing?

Personally, any cricket that isn’t test cricket is mickey mouse. However, I totally understand bemusement at the sport for the uninitiated. I’m massively supportive of this format as it seeks to be inclusive which can only be a good thing for the sport.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Anyway the best thing to do with the hundred is ignore it and hope it goes away, a


Like the well-known cities of Oval, The North, Trent and Wales

London, South Londoners often claim to be a different city, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham & Leeds.

It’s a massive fuck up not including Bristol.

 

[Petcha]

oh fuck a jack black covers act has just popped up on stage playing some godawful shite and vaughney is pining for sweet caroline

 

[RileyOBlimey]

oh fuck a jack black covers act has just popped up on stage playing some godawful shite and vaughney is pining for sweet caroline

Both need to fuck off.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Another tense finish.

The Telegraph hacks will be shaking their fists at the cheek of this entertainment.

 

[bellaozzydog]

Urban Cricket and F1 fans at each other’s internet throats is literally as exciting as either sport gets

 

[Mumbles274]

There is a YouTube sky sports stream of it today... If you weren't aware it was on there

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It's not caught if she's over the rope when she catches it, it counts as six runs instead. But there's a loophole. If she's over the rope but no part of her is touching the ground, she can handle the ball and it still remains in play. She then has to get on the inside of the rope and catch the ball again, if she does so the player who hit the shot is out.

These kinds of catches are always impressive to me because of the combination of quick thinking and physical co-ordination required.

E2a: here's Stephen Fry with more...

I was amazed when I first saw it done a couple of years ago in a NZ t20. I still think it's amazing, but it's something they practise now.

T20 has very definitely taken cricket fielding way up in standard.



I watched a bit of the women's hundred on Wednesday then a bit of yesterday.

First thoughts:

It's still cricket so it's still enjoyable. But it's like an inferior version of t20 that is more difficult to understand than t20 is. All the gimmicks are just that, gimmicks. They add nothing.

Good to see a big crowd for the women's match, but with the same marketing, a women's t20 comp running in parallel to the men's comp would get the same numbers. They were talking up the crowd for the men's match, but at 18,000 it wasn't as big a crowd as I've been in for Surrey t20 matches. London is likely to attract the biggest crowds. We'll see how that goes in other cities.

BBC commentary was pretty excruciating tbh. When Isa Guha was on, it was just about bearable, but the 'Tuffers and Vaughan' show was like two embarrassing dads most of the time. Phil Tufnell's become a parody of himself, and thus ceased to be amusing. They were desperate to talk it up, especially in the women's game, which is fair enough, but putting the t20 Blast on free-to-air would have had exactly the same effect, in terms of popularising the game. They seemed to be making out that all the families there were an amazing development. They never been to a Blast match???

 

[Mumbles274]

If anything needed to change to make cricket more accessible... it's the commentary, whether sky or BBC... I follow cricket so know what they are on about, imagine watching for the first time. All this format has done is remove the use of the word over, that's about it as far as I can see

Swing, googly, all fielding positions, names of batting shots, etc etc.. Who knows what those words mean if you don't follow cricket?

Comms need to explain and not assume the listener knows what's going on for this kind of format imo

 

[Mumbles274]

If anything needed to change to make cricket more accessible... it's the commentary, whether sky or BBC... I follow cricket so know what they are on about, imagine watching for the first time. All this format has done is remove the use of the word over, that's about it as far as I can see

Swing, googly, all fielding positions, names of batting shots, etc etc.. Who knows what those words mean if you don't follow cricket?

Comms need to explain and not assume the listener knows what's going on for this kind of format imo

And this isn't about dumbing down, I think adding goods stats commentary would appeal to lots of people as stats allow you to pitch player against player... Ie bowler takes 20% of wickets bowled but this batsmen is bowled 5% or times, etc

 

[Petcha]

T20 has very definitely taken cricket fielding way up in standard.

I'm watching the current women's match between two random teams and the quality of the fielding is shocking.

 

[Mumbles274]

And just turn up the stump mic and put it louder in the mix! Or allow the TV to at least use it for effect

 

[littlebabyjesus]

If anything needed to change to make cricket more accessible... it's the commentary, whether sky or BBC... I follow cricket so know what they are on about, imagine watching for the first time. All this format has done is remove the use of the word over, that's about it as far as I can see

Swing, googly, all fielding positions, names of batting shots, etc etc.. Who knows what those words mean if you don't follow cricket?

Comms need to explain and not assume the listener knows what's going on for this kind of format imo

tbf they were doing that on the BBC commentary. They were explaining what off and on side were, features on the yorker, etc.

But for a kid, I'm not so sure it matters so much. You don't understand it all at first, then you pick it up as you go along. My first big cricket-watching memory was the 81 Ashes. I'm not sure I understood all the rules at that point. But that didn't stop me being riveted. (And riveted to Test Cricket, at that.)

I have several problems with the Hundred. I won't bore on about it, but it's been constructed at the expense of the county game and the authorities systematically trash-talked their own, increasingly successful, T20 competition to justify this creation. This format is just absurd marketing nonsense - they've banned the word 'over' completely and seem to think that their audience is now people who know nothing about cricket. I would wager that well over 95% of the adults in the crowds will already be cricket fans. That's why they're there. The authorities don't really seem to give a shit about their most important customers (puke) - the existing ones.

 

[Petcha]

tbf they were doing that on the BBC commentary. They were explaining what off and on side were, features on the yorker, etc.

But for a kid, I'm not so sure it matters so much. You don't understand it all at first, then you pick it up as you go along. My first big cricket-watching memory was the 81 Ashes. I'm not sure I understood all the rules at that point. But that didn't stop me being riveted. (And riveted to Test Cricket, at that.)

I have several problems with the Hundred. I won't bore on about it, but it's been constructed at the expense of the county game and the authorities systematically trash-talked their own, increasingly successful, T20 competition to justify this creation. This format is just absurd marketing nonsense - they've banned the word 'over' completely and seem to think that their audience is now people who know nothing about cricket. I would wager that well over 95% of the adults in the crowds will already be cricket fans. That's why they're there. The authorities don't really seem to give a shit about their most important customers (puke) - the existing ones.

The worst bit is on cricinfo the stat is now 'run per ball required' not 'runs per over'.

I'm struggling with that.

And I just don't why it's so innovative. The only innovation is a ten ball over. Otherwise its basically a duckworth lewis reduced t20 game. In worse outfits. And with Phil Tufnell on primetime tv trying to convince kids cricket is cool.

 

[Mumbles274]

tbf they were doing that on the BBC commentary. They were explaining what off and on side were, features on the yorker, etc.

But for a kid, I'm not so sure it matters so much. You don't understand it all at first, then you pick it up as you go along. My first big cricket-watching memory was the 81 Ashes. I'm not sure I understood all the rules at that point. But that didn't stop me being riveted. (And riveted to Test Cricket, at that.)

I have several problems with the Hundred. I won't bore on about it, but it's been constructed at the expense of the county game and the authorities systematically trash-talked their own, increasingly successful, T20 competition to justify this creation. This format is just absurd marketing nonsense - they've banned the word 'over' completely and seem to think that their audience is now people who know nothing about cricket. I would wager that well over 95% of the adults in the crowds will already be cricket fans. That's why they're there. The authorities don't really seem to give a shit about their most important customers (puke) - the existing ones.

Hopefully the whole nonsense won't catch on and will be over set of 5 soon