After three years of discussion, debate and division the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new eight-team franchise tournament will launch on Wednesday, with a women’s match between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals. Which brings us to the next thing, ‘overs’ are a thing of the past in The Hundred. Teams have identical branding, support staffs and even prize money and the public presentation of the launch has been overtly even-handed. The fact that a women’s match launches the competition, 24 hours before the men get under way, is a world first on the franchise circuit. If the wrong things happen at the wrong time, things will get difficult.

Source: Express July 20, 2021 05:03 UTC