The ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to cancelation and postponement of almost all sporting events around the world and it seems that England’s The Hundred would be new in this list.
For the past few days, there were rumors that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) could postpone the inauguration edition of The Hundred – it’s first professional franchise-based 100-ball tournament which is scheduled to be held in July due to the ongoing health crisis by COVID-19 outbreak.
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The coronavirus crisis has already delayed the start of the English domestic county season by at least a month and given that, to stage the inaugural season of the Hundred in the planned window look in doubt for the ECB.
And now the ECB has decided to delay the next two ticket windows, which were scheduled for April, for the tournament – which raises more doubt over The Hundred’s fate.
On the rumors of the postponement of the tournament, Kate Miller, the ECB’s director of communications, told Sportstar: “At the moment, we are looking at the number of scenarios across June-July and August on what we might do with the cricket season in the wake of COVID-19. The Hundred goes ahead at this stage, it’s still on schedule.”
Meanwhile, The Hundred’s managing director, Sanjay Patel, said on the latest development: “In the midst of an epidemic which is affecting the nation in unprecedented ways, it would be wholly inappropriate for us to promote and sell tickets to The Hundred. We appreciate this may cause some disappointment to fans that were keen to purchase tickets in the April sales window, accessing early bird prices and securing tickets to the most in-demand games.”
Mr. Patel further added: “When it is appropriate to go back on sale, we will, of course, offer the same ticket offers and accessible pricing. Like the rest of the nation, we all hope that it is not far away before cricket returns to our screens, stadiums, parks, and clubs.”
England’s domestic season runs throughout April and May that have been canceled due to the pandemic and now the ECB is taking every initiative to revise the schedules for June, July, and August – which means The Hundred could only be held later next month.
Noteworthy, the priority tickets for The Hundred went on sale in a window in February, and had reportedly surpassed expectations as the tickets for men's Finals Day were sold out within 24 hours.
The United Kingdom has reported 22,444 cases and 1,411 deaths due to the coronavirus so far.
(With Sportstar Inputs)
