Daily Times

LONDON: The first match in the Hundred will be played between women’s teams on July 21, with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) targeting a sell-out at The Oval on the competition’s opening night. Fixtures for the ECB’s new 100-ball competition were released on Tuesday, after the inaugural season was postponed by a year due to the Covid pandemic, with Oval Invincibles playing Manchester Originals in standalone women’s and men’s fixtures on the first two nights. It is thought to be the first time that a major sporting event in the UK has seen men’s and women’s tournaments launched alongside each other with the women’s fixture chosen as the curtain-raiser.

From that point on, all fixtures will be played as double-headers ––- branded as “matchdays”––- with women’s and men’s games taking place back-to-back at the same venue. There had initially been plans to stage women’s matches at smaller county grounds around the country, but they were shelved in November due to Covid-related logistical complications. Instead, all fixtures will be staged at the eight men’s Test venues, with every game broadcast on Sky Sports. The BBC will show 10 matches in the men’s competition, and have the rights to broadcast up to eight in the women’s. They have confirmed they will broadcast the opening fixture and the final of the women’s competition live on BBC2.

“All of the women’s matches will be first,” Beth Barrett-Wild, the head of the women’s Hundred, told media. “We did have some discussions as to whether we’d look to flip that [but] we’ve had a few trial runs of the women playing after the men and sometimes you get a different vibe and crowd to the one you’d want. I went to a Surrey Stars match in the KSL (Kia Super League) a few years ago after a men’s match and you got the horrible scenario of people leaving, which looks dreadful. It’s mega news that every single one of those women’s matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sports ––- all 34 matches. It really is an unprecedented level of coverage.”

Tickets will go on sale to the general public from April 7, with earlier priority windows for county members and 2020 buyers. While tickets had been cheaper for standalone women’s fixtures when they went on sale in early 2020, they will now provide access to the ground for a full double-header at the original price of a men’s ticket. The prospect of fans being able to attend games was enhanced on Monday, when the UK government announced plans to lift all Covid-related restrictions by June 21.