Has The Hundred Been A Success In Early Stages Of Tournament?

The inaugural Hundred tournament is now underway with the men’s and women’s competitions both providing cricket fans with lots of matches this summer.

Cricket lovers were split heading into this new tournament when it came to the changes to the format. The aim was to attract a new audience to the sport and also help promote the women’s game on an equal footing to the men’s action.

Manchester Originals Up with Early Pace

The most local team to Southport are the Manchester Originals and the men’s team are off to a fantastic start. They have won two of their opening four matches and are on course to reach at least the eliminator round of the knockout stage.

Manchester’s squad includes England hero Jos Buttler, West Indies’ all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite and Kiwi bowler Lockie Ferguson. The Originals have sports betting odds of 11/2 to lift the trophy at the end of the inaugural year.

Coached by former Australian opening batsman Simon Katich, Manchester still have lots of cricket to play if they are to reach the final. They are likely to be one of the best betting tips for their remaining matches as they have proved they have the firepower to do well in this format.

Early Television Ratings Are Positive

The good news for the organisers of the Hundred is that the television ratings have been very positive. In the opening women’s match of the tournament, there was a peak audience of 1.95 million tuned in, the highest for a women’s cricket match in UK history.

The BBC have the rights alongside Sky Sports which is a big boost for the sport. To have terrestrial coverage has been great as it opens the door to a much wider audience.

With competition from a range of sports this summer including the Olympics, Formula One, and the Lions’ tour of South Africa, the Hundred stakeholders will have been pleased with the start their tournament has made.

Fans Enjoying the Fireworks

As expected, the Hundred has produced a lot of big moments already, with many players currently shining. Some of the best T20 cricketers in the world have adapted well to this new format and fans have been rewarded for that.

Those who have attended matches have been treated to entertainment off the field too. Firework displays, radio DJs, and other acts have performed to make the experience even more enjoyable. This is something which has been done to attract more people to the sport.

One of the biggest draws has been the length of matches. They are wrapped up in around two and a half hours. This has appealed to people who aren’t necessarily big cricket fans and don’t want to sit through eight hours of action.

It seems the Hundred can certainly live alongside the existing domestic competitions in England. They will be striving for the same kind of success the Indian Premier League (IPL) has had. Although that may take some time, they may just be over the first hurdle.