In a bold move towards strengthening women’s cricket, Richard Gould, Chief Executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is actively considering staging the Women’s Hundred as a standalone competition, separate from the men’s tournament. The vision is to reshape the landscape of women’s cricket by enhancing its identity and audience, aiming for packed stadiums, increased commercial interest, and long-term sustainability.
Since its launch in the 2021 match between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals, the Women’s Hundred has been played alongside the men’s edition, as a double-header at the same venue. While this model offered exposure and convenience, the ECB believes the time may be right for women’s cricket to step out of the shadow of the men’s game.
ECB’s chief executive expressed, “At some point, we would like to try and find a way that we can have standalone fixtures, perhaps, for men and women. Getting to a capacity crowd for a women’s Hundred fixture at some point in the next couple of years has to be a target for us.
“The window is fixed, a 27-day, exclusive window… Within that window, if you get to the point where you can de-couple games, it’s really demonstrating the commercial growth of the women’s game, into which we’re investing a huge amount at the ECB. That’s definitely a potential target.”
Initially introduced as a pandemic workaround, the double-header format- pairing women’s and men’s Hundred matches at the same venues was born out of necessity. With women’s fixtures originally planned for smaller county grounds, the change proved to be a blessing in disguise. Over the past four years, it has significantly boosted the women’s game, drawing a record 320,000 spectators last season alone.
This surge in popularity mirrors the momentum across women’s sport globally. Arsenal Women, for instance, drew nearly 30,000 fans per match in the latest WSL season and will host all their home games at the iconic Emirates Stadium next year. Meanwhile, the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup in England is already on track to set new attendance benchmarks.
“It is a good state of play. The investors are investing heavily, and therefore they want clarity on all sorts of details… We’re doing it up front now so that when everything is signed, we will be off and running in a much better state, knowing where responsibility sits between stakeholders, investors, and the governing body,” said Gould.
The ECB is also weighing its approach to broadcast rights for The Hundred. Presently, the UK deal is bundled with rights to England’s home internationals. According to CEO Richard Gould, this arrangement is likely to continue in the next cycle. “There’s potential to unbundle in the future,” he said, “but that will require level-headed conversations focused on the sport’s best interests.”
Welsh Fire’s incoming co-owner, Sanjay Govil, has indicated a preference for The Hundred to shift to a T20 format. The ECB has paused that conversation for now, with final decisions resting with the board and no immediate action being taken on the matter.
(Quotes sourced from Espn Cricinfo)
