The Hundred 2021

Background

Eight teams competed for the men's and women's titles over a month between 21 July and 21 August 2021, ensuring that the competition took place during the school summer holidays. Aside from the opening two fixtures featuring the Oval Invincibles vs the Manchester Originals, all men's and women's matches were held on the same day at the same grounds. There were 64 matches in the league stage (32 men's, 32 women's). Each team played four matches at home and four matches away. This included one match against every other side and then a second bonus match against their nearest regional rivals. Once the league stage was completed the top three teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the ultimate champions. The second and third teams met in a semi-final, which was played at the Oval. The winner of the semi-final then met the team that finished top of the league in the final at Lord's.

Teams and venues

The eight teams competing were newly created franchises, operating separately from the existing county cricket clubs. Each represented a large area of England and Wales, with venues chosen for their locations in major cities. Team personnel was initially announced in 2019. When the tournament finally took place in 2021, Andy Flower replaced Stephen Fleming as the coach of Trent Rockets men and Jonathan Batty replaced Lydia Greenway as the coach of Oval Invincibles women before the start of the season.

2019

Each squad was initially made up of 15 players, of whom a maximum of three could be overseas players. For the men's competition, each franchise chose a centrally contracted England Test player, with franchises whose affiliated counties had at least one centrally contracted player in their squads getting first refusal. London Spirit and Welsh Fire, who had no centrally contracted players at their affiliated counties, were then allowed to select from the remaining players. For the men's teams, each franchise could choose two "local icons", high-profile players who represented one of their affiliated counties. For the women's teams, each franchise had two centrally contracted players. On 3 October 2019 the first players to be allocated to teams were announced. They were as follows: Players for the women's teams were selected between October and 2019 and May 2020, with three player pools established: the remaining England centrally contracted players, overseas players and domestic players. Teams were allowed a maximum of three centrally contracted players and three overseas players. Players for the men's teams were signed using a draft system common in other franchise leagues. The draft took place on 20 October 2019 at Sky Studios in Osterley. Sky Sports and BBC Sport showed the event live.

2021

The delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the squads. Women's teams were less affected because they had had no draft: squads had been built in waves of signings, and were not complete when the pandemic hit. There was little movement among domestic players, as they were allowed to roll over their contracts, but by July 2021, fourteen overseas players had withdrawn.[AI-retrieved source] With regards to the men's teams, changes to England's central contracts in 2020 forced squad changes. Jonny Bairstow lost his contract, so Ollie Pope became Welsh Fire's centrally contracted player, although Bairstow stayed with the side. Elsewhere, Essex's Zak Crawley became London Spirit's centrally contracted player, meaning Rory Burns moved to the Oval Invincibles, the franchise affiliated with his county Surrey. Both the Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix were given permission to have two centrally contracted players. In February 2021, teams were given the option to retain or release the players they had drafted in 2019, and took very different approaches. Trent Rockets, Southern Brave and London Spirit kept almost the entirety of the 15-man squads they had drafted in 2019, while Welsh Fire released half of their players and Manchester Originals kept only five. A total of thirty-five players were released. In some cases this was due to the availability of foreign stars or the changing fortunes of local players, but Brexit was also a factor in this reshuffling. Players who had qualified as "local players" under Kolpak registrations were suddenly "overseas players", meaning eleven of them were released. The pandemic also meant the men's salaries were reduced by 20%. Squads were completed in July 2021, with each team being allowed a wildcard pick: a player who had performed well in the T20 Blast. They were as follows: Birmingham Phoenix - Dillon Pennington (Worcestershire) , London Spirit - Blake Cullen (Middlesex) , Manchester Originals - Fred Klaassen (Kent) , Northern Superchargers - Ben Raine (Durham) , Oval Invincibles - Jordan Cox (Kent) , Southern Brave - Jake Lintott (Warwickshire) , Trent Rockets - Sam Cook (Essex) , Welsh Fire - Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire)

Broadcasting

All games were televised by Sky Sports, with the BBC also showing 10 men's and 8 women's games free-to-air. Sky also showed all of the women's games and some of the men's games in full on its YouTube channel.

Women

advances to the Final advances to the Eliminator Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, Manchester Originals 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to field. , Points: London Spirit 2, Birmingham Phoenix 0. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Trent Rockets 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Northern Superchargers 2, Welsh Fire 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, London Spirit 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Manchester Originals 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Northern Superchargers 2, Trent Rockets 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Welsh Fire 0. No toss. , No play was possible due to rain. , Points: Manchester Originals 1, Northern Superchargers 1. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, London Spirit 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Birmingham Phoenix 0. Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Welsh Fire 2, Manchester Originals 0. Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Northern Superchargers 2, Oval Invincibles 0. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, Birmingham Phoenix 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, London Spirit 0. Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Welsh Fire 2, Oval Invincibles 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: London Spirit 2, Northern Superchargers 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, Birmingham Phoenix 0. Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to field. , No further play was possible due to rain. Manchester Originals were 17 runs ahead of the DLS par score of 80 runs from 70 balls. , Points: Manchester Originals 2, Southern Brave 0. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, Welsh Fire 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Rain stopped play during Northern Superchargers innings. Southern Brave were set a revised target of 89 runs from 75 balls. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Northern Superchargers 0. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to bat. , No play was possible due to rain. , Points: Oval Invincibles 1, Trent Rockets 1. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Welsh Fire 0. Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: London Spirit 2, Manchester Originals 0. Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Welsh Fire 0. Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Manchester Originals 2, Northern Superchargers 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Trent Rockets 0. Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, London Spirit 0. Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Manchester Originals 2, Trent Rockets 0. Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Oval Invincibles 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Northern Superchargers 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to field. , Points: London Spirit 2, Welsh Fire 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field.

Men

advances to the Final advances to the Eliminator Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, Manchester Originals 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, London Spirit 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, Southern Brave 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Welsh Fire 2, Northern Superchargers 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to field. , No play was possible due to rain. , Points: London Spirit 1, Oval Invincibles 1. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Manchester Originals 2, Birmingham Phoenix 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, Northern Superchargers 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Welsh Fire 2, Southern Brave 0. No toss. , No play was possible due to rain. , Points: Manchester Originals 1, Northern Superchargers 1. London Spirit won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, London Spirit 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Birmingham Phoenix 0. Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Manchester Originals 2, Welsh Fire 0. Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Northern Superchargers 2, Oval Invincibles 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Trent Rockets 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, London Spirit 0. Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, Welsh Fire 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Northern Superchargers 2, London Spirit 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Oval Invincibles 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , No further play was possible due to rain. , Points: Manchester Originals 1, Southern Brave 1. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, Welsh Fire 0. Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Northern Superchargers 0. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to field. , The match was reduced to 65 balls per side due to rain. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, Trent Rockets 0. Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to field. , Imran Tahir (Birmingham Phoenix) took a hat-trick. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Welsh Fire 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: London Spirit 2, Manchester Originals 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Welsh Fire 0. Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Northern Superchargers 2, Manchester Originals 0. Trent Rockets won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Trent Rockets 0. London Spirit won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Oval Invincibles 2, London Spirit 0. Manchester Originals won the toss and elected to bat. , Points: Trent Rockets 2, Manchester Originals 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Southern Brave 2, Oval Invincibles 0. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Birmingham Phoenix 2, Northern Superchargers 0. Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to field. , Points: Welsh Fire 2, London Spirit 0. Southern Brave won the toss and elected to field. Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to field.