ECB postpone the hundred until 2021 due to corona virus pandemic
ECB
|| Desk Report ||
The new franchise based cricket introduces by the England and Wales cricket has been postponed until 2021 because of coronavirus pandemic across the world .
The hundred is a new format of the where a bowler has to bowl 10 balls in an over wherein traditional white-ball cricket bowler has to bowl six-ball a over
The 100-ball competition, involving eight teams in separate men's and women's tournaments, was due to begin on 17 July and end on 15 August.
"Of course today's decision is tinged with disappointment but we do recognize the country is going through something unprecedented," ECB chief executive Tom Harrison told BBC Sport.
"All sectors of society are redeploying their thinking to how we help the country get out of this, rather than fulfilling the ambitions we might have for our certain sports.
"In our case, the sacrifices we are making at the moment seem very small in comparison to what is happening in the big picture."
The ECB had previously extended the shutdown on cricket in England and Wales until at least 1 July.
Harrison added the intention will be to deliver The Hundred as it was planned this year, but said there are "decisions" to be made on whether all players remain with the teams they were drafted to.
Complications are most likely to come with overseas players who were available in 2020 but will not be next year.
The 18 first-class counties were due to each receives £1.3m from The Hundred, money which the ECB said in March had begun to be paid.
Players involved in the tournament were also set to earn up to £125,000, with equal prize money for men and women.
With regard to what counties and players will ultimately get, Harrison said: "discussions are underway".
"The contracts contemplate situations like this, obviously not the exact situation but we do have the ability to have those discussions through what is written down in the contracts," he said.
"We have got a big exercise across this whole summer about how we deal with the situation in cricket. It is not limited to The Hundred.
"We are doing everything we can to keep the lights on in counties, who in a lot of examples are under pressure anyway."
In relation to the impact on the women's game - the Twenty20 Kia Super League was scrapped to make way for The Hundred - Harrison added: "There is no dilution on our commitment to women's cricket.
"We have a real opportunity to build on the World Cup success in 2017 and the Kia Super League's success. None of that is going to change with the postponement of the Hundred."
Harrison has previously spoken of the "very significant financial problem" the game in England and Wales is facing because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, he again reiterated his support for The Hundred, stating it will be a "profit-making venture".
"In no way, in the opinion of the ECB board or most people around the game, does it dilute the impact or importance of it," he said.
"This is a competition that is designed not only to become a commercial powerhouse but grow the audience of cricket around the country for young people, for diverse communities and build on what we have with cricket in this country."
More than 180,000 tickets were sold for matches scheduled in 2020, all of which will be refunded. Those who bought tickets for this year may be given a priority window to buy for 2021.
