Gender-equal 'The Hundred' aims to revive cricket

A major new cricket competition with gender equality at its heart launched on Wednesday (July 21).The England and Wales Cricket Board has invested heavily in the tournament, dubbed The Hundred, in the hope of drawing new, younger audiences.Beth Barrett-Wild is head of The Hundred's Women's competition."Cricket has a perception as being a very white, male-dominated sport and I think what we have the opportunity to do with The Hundred is to present it in a way which is inclusive and accessible for more people."To appeal to a broader audience, the competition has used gender neutral language - using terms like 'batter' instead of batsman.It will also see equal investment and marketing for both the men's and women's game.Salaries will not be the same for men and women, though organizers said they would look to address this in future.Amy Jones is an England international cricketer."I think it's brilliant that we're in line with the men's competition, the same teams, same kit, same venues and all of that is brilliant. It is definitely a step up to what we're used to at domestic level, which I think is great."The format for The Hundred is very different to the standard game of cricket. Each match will see 100 balls per innings, with batters changing ends after ten deliveries.To start off, eight teams from seven cities will compete in the new competition.
Cricket