T20 format enough to take cricket into Olympics, didn't need 'The Hundred', says Chappell
Aug 01, 2021
Melbourne [Australia], August 1 : Former Australia captain Ian Chappell reckons that the T20 format is enough to take the sport into the Olympics and the newest addition 'The Hundred' was not really needed.
The Hundred is an England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) brainchild, and it is featuring eight teams taking on each other. The first match in the competition was played between the women's teams of Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals on July 21.
The Hundred is a 100-ball cricket competition that is seeing (both men and women) featuring in the tournament.
"Apart from reducing the number of balls to obtain a terrestrial television deal, the reasoning behind the Hundred could well be that it improves the chances of cricket fulfilling the Olympic dream. This is often cited as a way to spread the game's popularity to a wider audience. Surely the T20 format could achieve that same outcome without yet another reduction," Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
"Cricket is a team game ideally played by 11 members a side. Performance satisfaction is a big reason why youngsters fall in love with the game. Administrators would do well to remember that before they rush into devising shorter forms of the game. The more the length of an innings is reduced, the greater chance that there will be players "just making up the numbers". Even those players crave occasional performance satisfaction," he added.
Further talking about the new format, Chappell said: "Throughout my playing career I believed there were two possible solutions to a problem: a simple one and a complicated one. I also believed that to the benefit of Australia, England would regularly choose the complicated solution. They've done it again."
"To overcome the perceived problem of public not fully conversant with cricket, they've concocted another form of the game - The Hundred. That's right, they've reduced by a mere 20 balls a format that was extremely popular with players and the public," he added.
