The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus pandemic has halted daily activities across the world including cricketing actions. Many bilateral series along with a few franchise leagues including the Indian Premier League were called off or postponed due to COVID-19. And now, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has also deferred the inaugural edition of The Hundred.
ECB has received a massive jolt due to the deadly virus stopping all actions for almost three months now. England’s three-match home Test series against the West Indies scheduled for June and the women’s T20 and ODI series against India will also get postponed. Furthermore, the governing body will also have to defer the County Championship and the T20 Blast. Last week the ECB extended the suspension of all professional cricket in England until July 1.
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And now, the pandemic will also have an impact on The Hundred. The first of its kind, this innovative tournament promised to attract a lot of youngsters. The eight-team league was originally scheduled to run from mid-July to September but going by the current situation, ECB has postponed it until next summer.
“The situation we find ourselves in as a country means that delivery of the Hundred will not be possible this summer,” ECB chief executive Tom Harrison in a statement.
“Whilst we are naturally disappointed that we won’t get to realise our ambitions this year, the Hundred will go ahead in 2021 when we are safely able to deliver everything we intended to help grow the game,” he added.
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Meanwhile, initially, ECB had planned to host the tournament behind closed doors. But after consideration, they decided to postpone the league as no fans mean it would directly contradict the aim of attracting more crowds. With the current situation reaching a new low with each passing day, the fans will have to wait longer for their favourite sport to resume.
