Veteran England all-rounder and Birmingham Phoneix captain Moeen Ali has categorically denied talks that 'The Hundred' will impact the other formats of the game or other domestic leagues around the world, but said the 100-ball tournament may really take over English cricket in the coming years.
The Hundred is a dynamic innovation by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that has grabbed eyeballs across the world because of its many never-seen-before rules, including an innings featuring 100 balls and bowlers allowed to bowl a maximum of 10 balls in a row, rather than the norm of six.
The 100 ball competition kick-started earlier this week in England and talks have already started about the future of ECB’s new tournament and its impact on the other domestic competitions but Ali said it will take some time to make its presence felt itself.
Moeen told Sportsmail: “To be honest, the Hundred won't really affect much other stuff initially for the next four or five years. Maybe in time, the Hundred could really take over English cricket, depending on how well it's going. I feel like Test cricket will always be there, the other formats will always be there. I just think they'll be tinkered with here and there.”
The Hundred has eight teams both in Men's and Women's competitions, and the Birmingham Phoneix skipper feels the expansion of franchise cricket will benefit both the fans and players as there is already a T20 cricket tournament in England – T20 Blast featuring 18 teams, but it is not a franchise cricket.
He added, “The game needs to move on. I think the more franchise teams that are out there for the players to excel is great and great for the fans to keep watching their heroes perform.”
Moeen also hopes that The Hundred will rule the cricket world like T20 cricket in the future.
He signed off by saying, “When T20 started, I wasn't one of those people against it because I played a lot as a kid and really enjoyed it — I'm not one for knocking anything. Let's try the Hundred, see how it goes. It could be amazing; it could really take off.”
