Former England skipper and cricket commentator Michael Vaughan has criticised the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for poorly scheduling the recently concluded The Hundred 2024. He believes the ECB's decisions contributed to the tournament's lackluster performance. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has established itself as the benchmark for franchise cricket, and its remarkable success has inspired other cricket boards to launch their own leagues.
Michael Vaughan lashes out at poor scheduling of The Hundred
Michael Vaughan, a renowned cricket commentator, has criticized the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for a scheduling blunder that overshadowed The Hundred 2024. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has successfully managed the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 17 years, other cricket boards are striving to emulate its success. The ECB introduced The Hundred a few years ago, a new format aimed at captivating cricket fans.
Despite initial success, The Hundred struggled to attract viewers this year. Vaughan attributed this decline primarily to poor scheduling. He argued that the ECB's decision to overlap The Hundred 2024 with the Paris Olympics 2024 significantly impacted viewership and fan interest. Vaughan asserted that the ECB made a critical error by neglecting to consider this clash, which ultimately overshadowed The Hundred 2024.
Vaughan advised the ECB to reassess their strategy and make difficult choices about future scheduling to prevent similar clashes and retain their fan base, especially considering The Hundred's relative novelty.
“I'll be honest about this year's Hundred. I think the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) screwed up. I think they put it up against the Olympics. I just think that the scheduling of this year's Hundred was poor. When you think, you are trying to sell it for a lot of money. I think the ECB have got to make it very, very kind of brutal call. I don't think there should be bilateral one day series anymore,” Michael Vaughan was quoted as saying by The Telegraph Cricket.
The final of The Hundred 2024 took place on August 18th at Lord's Cricket Ground between the Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave. In an exciting match, the Oval Invincibles defeated Southern Brave by 17 runs to successfully defend their title. Saqib Mahmood was awarded the Player of the Match for his crucial contribution of three wickets, which played a key role in his team's victory over Southern Brave. Oval Invincibles captain Sam Billings commented:
“Happy it ended the right way. We spoke at one of the first team meetings this year, it's a squad that wins not the 11 players and it again comes back to the environment and other subjective things. Tom Lammonby is an example, he played the team role, me and TC said to him yesterday in the practice session, you are going to be the difference. He has not had the impact but they are the kind of team performers you want to see,” he concluded.
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