"I just think that the scheduling of this year's Hundred was poor" - Michael Vaughan bashes ECB for clashing The Hundred with 2024 Paris Olympics
Former England batter Michael Vaughan has lambasted the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for their poor strategy surrounding The Hundred 2024 schedule. The fourth edition of the tournament ran from July 23 to August 18, while the Paris Olympics was conducted from July 26 to August 11.
Being pitted against arguably the biggest sporting event in the world inevitably brought drawbacks. The clash resulted in a massive drop-off in terms of viewership for both the men's and the women's edition of The Hundred. The conditions favoring the seamers and the tired pitches all leading to low scores also did not help the tournament's case this year.
The success of this year's edition of The Hundred was detrimental for the ECB as it is the biggest investment opportunity that they can offer.
“I'll be honest about this year's Hundred. I think the England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB] screwed up. I think they put it up against the Olympics. I just think that the scheduling of this year's Hundred was poor. When you think you are trying to sell it for a lot of money. I think the ECB have got to make it a very, very kind of brutal call. I don't think there should be bilateral one-day series anymore,” Vaughan told The Telegraph.
The Oval Invincibles successfully defended their title in the men's edition while the London Spirit were crowned as winners of the women's Hundred 2024.
Several IPL franchises interested in acquiring a stake in Hundred franchises
The rather lethargic season of The Hundred has not been catastrophic as there is still an active pursuit by the IPL franchise owners to expand their market by acquiring a stake in the English counties.
The Delhi Capitals (DC) group have already finalised a deal to purchase a major share in Hampshire. If reports are to be believed, the Mumbai Indians (MI) have expressed an interest in the London Spirit, while the likes of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are keen on acquiring Lancashire.