The Hundred postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic

Inaugural tournament has been pushed back 12 months by the England and Wales Cricket Board

The England and Wales Cricket Board have delayed The Hundred until the summer of 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With professional cricket suspended until 1 July, the board met on Wednesday solely regarding the new competition, which was due to begin at the Oval on 17 July. It was decided that trying to shoehorn the competition into what is already a truncated 2020 season will not only be tricky but would end up being at odds with many of the principles central to the men’s and women’s competition’s formation.

For a start, its aim of showcasing world-class players in front of packed crowds would be hamstrung by global restrictions on travel and social distancing measures meaning matches would be played without fans.

“A behind closed doors competition directly contradicts the competition’s goal to attract a broader audience through a unique event experience for viewers and spectators,” an ECB statement confirmed.

Another administrative issue was that with significant furloughing across English cricket, successfully delivering a brand new tournament would be more challenging than normal with more external issues to contend with and less staff to address them.

The Hundred will now begin in the summer of 2021 (Getty)

As well as those behind the scenes, players have expressed various concerns over playing during this pandemic. On Wednesday, Moeen Ali was the latest to advocate delaying The Hundred.

The ECB, pro-active throughout these uncertain times, have stated they will use the delay to focus even harder on ensuring the competition’s four key objectives are met: to engage a broader audience; drive participation through the support of Sky and the BBC; ensure revenues structures to the counties; MCC and wider game are more robust and develop young English talent through exposure to high-level competition and personnel.

In a statement, ECB chief executive Tom Harrison reiterated his comments last week that the pandemic has made The Hundred, and its aims, even more important.

“Whilst we are naturally disappointed that we won’t get to realise our ambitions this year, The Hundred will go ahead in 2021 when we are safely able to deliver everything we intended to help grow the game,” he said.

“As we emerge from the fallout of Covid-19, there will be an even greater need for The Hundred. Our survival as a game, long-term, will be dependent on our ability to recover financially and continue our ambition to build on cricket’s growing fan base. That need has not gone anyway, if anything, it is now more critical.

“The Hundred will create millions in revenues for the game, through hosting fees, hospitality and ticket sales, as well as delivering £25m in annual financial distributions to all First Class Counties and MCC. Its role in driving participation alongside supporting the development of the women’s game will be material in generating take-up of our game across country-wide communities.

“The Hundred is an important element of the game’s Inspiring Generations strategy, which has been debated and agreed upon across the whole game. While financially, our plans may be impacted, our ambition, ‘to inspire a generation’ should in no way be diluted.