All the sporting events worldwide have already hit by the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and England’s new tournament – The Hundred is most likely to be impacted by the global health crisis.
On Wednesday, April 15, the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has already postponed by the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) indefinitely due to the ongoing outbreak of the COVID-19 and now The Hundred is in line to be put on hold at this time crisis.
The inauguration edition of The Hundred – a 100-ball franchise cricket tournament of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is scheduled to commence in July 2020. With the new league which will consist of eight city-based franchise teams both a men's and women's team, ECB is hoping to make up the new audience in the T20 dominated world of cricket.
Well, the ECB’s hopes hang in balance, as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may delay the launch of The Hundred by a year, which put Australian players’ participation in England's new competition in doubt.
Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Aaron Finch are among 10 Australian male players who signed up for the tournament, while around eight members of Australia's XI from the recent T20 World Cup final were confirmed starters in the women's Hundred in England.
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With the cricket calendar continue to be affected by the health crisis, there are growing suggestions that the 100-ball tournament will be pushed back to 2021, as the United Kingdom remains in shutdown after the coronavirus death toll was 12,868 on Thursday (April 16).
Simon Katich, one of five Australian head coaches (Manchester-based side) – Shane Warne, Darren Lehmann, Andrew McDonald and Tom Moody in The Hundred, revealed that there has been speculation that England’s new tournament potentially being delayed until next season.
Katich told SEN, “There has been a lot of speculation about The Hundred, given it's a new tournament, that it probably doesn't make sense for it to be played in front of empty stadiums if it was OK to play in that July window.”
He signed off by saying, “So there has been speculation about it potentially being delayed until next season. I've got no problem with that and I think a lot of people would think that's probably the way to go if things keep tracking the way they are in the UK.”
(With SEN Inputs)
