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Every match day there is a ladies match first followed by the men which will help boost ladies cricket and hopefully improve their standards.
When the English cricket Board announced a new shorter format for cricket I was very skeptical. Having missed the boat on the 20/20 format with the IPL leading the way you can understand why. Every cricket nation is looking for a decent money earner and the 20/20 has been it up until now.
When I grew up the shorter format was 50 over cricket or 300 balls which was reduced for local games to 45 over overs (270 balls). Colored clothing under lights with the game lasting an evening, this was what the fans wanted.
The T20 format or 20/20 game was dreamt up in 2003 by the English cricket Board but to be fair did not have the facilities to make it work and looked fairly amateurish. Mobile floodlights on the back of trucks limiting the field they covered properly was not the advert for their new money earner. The aim was to complete a game within 4 hours allowing 90 minutes per innings of 20 overs per side with a10 minute break in between. This was radical back then 18 years ago and has only taken off with the Indians claiming it as their own these days. They pumped money into the sport through franchises and caught the publics attention immediately.
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The ECB didn't sit back and introduced The Hundred this season and it is exactly as it reads. 100 balls per team or 16.4 overs ,but the overs are now 5 balls each. Now the teams have 65 minutes to complete bowling their 100 balls so 1 game should take just over 150 minutes which is perfect for the family outing.
This tournament is important for the English game much like the IPL is to Indian cricket as it gets younger unknown players into the spotlight that much quicker. I expect that the English T20 side will have at east 3 or 4 new players knocking on the door very soon due to this which is what we all want to see.
There are some subtle differences which I think is where I am a fan and how they won me over. The teams are penalized on the field if they go over their allotted time limit by having a cut off point. Teams have found out the hard way as a fielder has to now come inside the circle if they fall foul of the clock. This gives the batting team the advantage when they need it most right at the end.
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Synthetics are woven in with the grass to make a more robust wicket and fair playing area for both teams.
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A very subtle difference when you look at the pitch but makes for a much fairer contest.
I think the wickets they have been using have made a huge difference as at certain grounds they have had hybrid pitches dropped in. This is basically a mixture of grass and recycled plastics which has played fairly for both batsmen and bowlers. There is nothing worse than seeing a used pitch being used as normally a low scoring game is then expected. This is all about big scores and entertaining the crowd but also giving a fair crack for the bowling team. Being the first tournament I would not be surprised to see hybrid pitches being used at all the grounds next year.
If you haven't yet watched any of the games I recommend watching on Saturday as the final is at Lords and this should be a great contest.