David Warner, Glenn Maxwell among key Australian players likely to pull out of The Hundred
Australian cricketers, including the likes of David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch, are expected to pull out of the inaugural edition of The Hundred owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Australian players will be required to go through a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival for the tournament, which starts on July 22.
The Aussies are set to play a 5-match T20I series and a 3-match ODI series against West Indies, which ends on July 25.
With the West Indies tour ending on 25 July, the Australian players will anyway miss the start of The Hundred.
However, with bigger events like the T20 World Cup, the Ashes and the second phase of the IPL likely to start from September onwards, the Australian players are expected to take time off in August.
Apart from David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch, other shorter format specialists like Jhye Richardson are also expected to give The Hundred a miss.
An innings in The Hundred comprises of 100 balls
The Hundred, organized by the ECB, was set to start last year. However, the tournament got postponed due to the pandemic. The first season will now begin on July 22. The event also has a women's edition, which starts on July 21.
With T20 games dragging on for more than 3 hours, the ECB has come up with The Hundred to attract newer audiences. An innings in The Hundred will comprise of 100 balls, and a change of ends will only happen after 10 balls have been bowled.
The BCCI, meanwhile, has given NOCs to four women cricketers to play in the women's edition of The Hundred. Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodriguez, Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur are expected to participate in the tournament.