The Hundred won't really affect other forms of cricket, reckons Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali has stated that ECB's innovative competition The Hundred won't affect the other forms of cricket and has asked the general public give it a chance. Moeen also feels that the game needs to move faster and quicker, with franchise cricket bringing lots of opportunities for players.
England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) 100-ball cricket competition ‘The Hundred’ is a dynamic innovation in the country to grab the eyeballs of the young generation. The format consists of many never-seen-before rules such as an innings featuring 100 balls and bowlers allowed to bowl a maximum of 10 balls in a row, rather than the norm of six.
The competition itself, however, has caused furore, with many in England believing it could spell trouble for the other domestic competitions, but England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who leads Birmingham Phoneix in the 100-ball tournament, is of the opinion that the latest format won't pose any harm, and will evolve in its own way.
"To be honest, the Hundred won't really affect much other stuff initially for the next four or five years. Maybe in time, the Hundred could really take over English cricket, depending on how well it's going," Moeen told Sportsmail.
"I feel like Test cricket will always be there, the other formats will always be there. I just think they'll be tinkered with here and there," he added.
ECB already conduct their annual T20 competition T20 Blast, which includes 18 teams, the most in any T20 competition, but which is not franchise cricket per se. The Hundred has eight teams both in Men's and Women's competitions, and Moeen feels that both fans and players will be benefitted by the expansion of franchise cricket.
"The game needs to move on. I think the more franchise teams that are out there for the players to excel is great, and great for the fans to keep watching their heroes perform," Moeen said.
In 2004, when T20 cricket came to the fore, there wasn't any clue how huge an impact it would create among the global mass. However, over the years, the format has gone on to rule world cricket. Moeen reckoned that one cannot rule out the possibility of The Hundred taking off in a similar manner.
"When T20 started, I wasn't one of those people against it because I played a lot as a kid and really enjoyed it — I'm not one for knocking anything. Let's try the Hundred, see how it goes. It could be amazing; it could really take off," Moeen mentioned.
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