The Hundred is a 100-ball franchise cricket tournament run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). With its inaugural season taking place in 2021, The Hundred comprises eight men’s and women’s teams from cities across England and Wales. Many of the games take place as double-headers with tickets providing fans access to both the men’s and women’s games. The Hundred games take place at some of the most recognizable cricket stadiums in England, including Lord’s, Edgbaston, and Old Trafford. The tournament prize money is equal across the men’s and women’s competitions, with the champions taking home 75 thousand British pounds, and the respective tournament MVPs earning 10 thousand British pounds.
In the women’s competition, the Oval Invicibles have lived up to their name, claiming back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The leading run-scorer in the 2022 tournament was South African batter Laura Wolvaardt, who played for the Northern Superchargers. Meanwhile, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament was Australian leg spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, who took 17 wickets for the Southern Brave, the team that lost out to the Invincibles in the final.
While the majority of matches in the tournament were shown on pay TV channel Sky Sports, some were broadcast on BBC, a free to air channel. In the first year of the tournament in 2021, an average of 615 thousand viewers watched games on the BBC. However, average viewership fell to 500 thousand in 2022. Across the tournament as a whole and across all broadcasters, just over 14 million television viewers watched matches during the 2022 edition of the tournament, of which some 31 percent were female.
Hundred heroes
While the inaugural season of the men’s Hundred was won by the Oval Invincibles, it was the Trent Rockets who emerged victorious in 2022, beating the Manchester Originals by two wickets in the final. Leading from the front for the Rockets was English batter Dawid Malan, who is the leading run-scorer in the two seasons of The Hundred so far. Meanhwile, Samit Patel, who also plies his trade for the Rockets, sits top of the pile of leading wicket-takers in the competition.In the women’s competition, the Oval Invicibles have lived up to their name, claiming back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The leading run-scorer in the 2022 tournament was South African batter Laura Wolvaardt, who played for the Northern Superchargers. Meanwhile, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament was Australian leg spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, who took 17 wickets for the Southern Brave, the team that lost out to the Invincibles in the final.
Cricket for new audiences
One of the key aims of The Hundred was to bring cricket to new audiences, including women and children. Games during the 2022 tournament were watched by half a million fans live in the stadiums, although this represents a slight fall on the attendances in 2021. Of these fans in 2022, some 28 percent were female and 22 percent were children. The women’s game in particular saw a huge boost to its popularity. The average attendance at The Hundred women’s matches grew from under eight thousand in 2021 to over 10 thousand in 2022, with many stadiums breaking attendance records for domestic women’s games.While the majority of matches in the tournament were shown on pay TV channel Sky Sports, some were broadcast on BBC, a free to air channel. In the first year of the tournament in 2021, an average of 615 thousand viewers watched games on the BBC. However, average viewership fell to 500 thousand in 2022. Across the tournament as a whole and across all broadcasters, just over 14 million television viewers watched matches during the 2022 edition of the tournament, of which some 31 percent were female.
