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The Hundred will this season introduce a new team trophy as the franchise cricket tournament seeks to further expand its reach.
The trophy, demonstrated at a kit launch at the Oval yesterday, will see men’s and women’s results combined, akin to a Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship that combines two driver performances.
Fans will have the chance to name the trophy, which has not yet been physically produced.
London Spirit player Jamie Overton said: “I really like the idea of the team trophy. The Hundred was pretty novel in terms of bringing the men’s and the women’s teams together and when you look at other sports, nobody else has really done it as well as cricket and I think that’s been a pretty big factor in The Hundred enjoying the crowds it has.”
New Hundred trophy
It is the latest innovation within the Hundred, which will this year operate with its new overseas investors on the board for the first time.
A wave of investment led by India and America has flooded into the sport, giving the league a brand value of around £1bn.
New sponsors have come into the fray – such as Skechers at Birmingham Phoenix and Barclays at London Spirit – while new team names – such as the Manchester Super Giants and SunRisers Leeds – and apparel brands – such as Nike at Lord’s – have also come ahead of this season.
The franchise competition has been criticised by many fans for fuelling the decline in attendances across England’s T20 competition, the Vitality Blast.
But the 100-ball-per-side tournament has been overwhelmingly good for women’s cricket, with an auction introduced this spring seeing huge sums paid for the services of the world’s leading male and female players.
The season begins at the end of July with a double header between MI London and SunRisers Leeds at the Oval with the final slated for 16 August at Lord’s.
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