- Expanding to 10 franchises is one of the options being considered for The Hundred
- Marylebone Cricket Club interested in acquiring team
- Decisions on private investment in competition will be made first
According to the Telegraph, London has been touted as a potential destination for a third franchise if The Hundred expands to 10 teams.
Given that there is no representative team for The Hundred in the north-east and south-west of England, which will be in its inaugural season in 2021, the combination of Durham, Bristol and Taunton are seen as the frontrunners for potential franchise expansion. It was getting worse.
However, according to reports, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that the British capital, which already hosts the London Spirit and Oval Invincibles, is considering potential The company seems to think that it is more attractive to investors.
It has also been suggested that a third franchise offers an opportunity to further engage London’s urban population, which has a disproportionately low proportion of professional cricketers. However, this would be a controversial idea given that the competition would have to ignore companies based in the Northeast and Southwest regions respectively.
Changing the number of teams in the Hundred requires a three-quarters vote majority from the 19 groupings comprising Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and 18 first-tier counties. The reformed competition structure will also need to be approved by three-quarters of all ECB member states for it to come into force.
The ECB may choose to maintain its current eight teams or expand to 18 teams to ensure representation from all counties. The changes may not come into effect after 2029.
Regardless As part of its expansion plans, the ECB is expected to open ownership of tournament teams to private investors later this year.
MCC, which jointly runs the Spirit with Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire counties and owns Lord’s, has already expressed an interest in owning the franchise.
“There’s some support for that,” MCC chairman Mark Nicholas told The Cricketer earlier this year. “We are waiting for the ECB to clarify the details. Basically, it is great for MCC members to own and support their own teams.
“Generally speaking, I think it’s a shame that major cricket clubs don’t have teams to support them. If the ECB brings The Hundred to market, it could be a real chance for us to rectify that.”