"I don't see why our competition can't be second-best to the IPL" - Robert Key on The Hundred
England men's cricket managing director Robert Key has backed the standard of cricket in The Hundred to become as good as the IPL. The former England batter believes they've got more depth than any other country in white-ball cricket, giving The Hundred a lot more chance to become more successful than the IPL.
While the IPL has established itself as the best T20 franchise competition, The Hundred seems to be on the rise. The eight-team competition's first season was in 2021. The competition faced some criticism, especially given how the ECB gave less importance to county cricket and the Royal London Cup.
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Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Key emphasized that The Hundred must take care of its players with good and timely payments to become the best competition in the world.
"We have to concentrate on ourselves. We need to make sure that our competition is good enough and pays enough. I don't see why our competition can't be second-best to the IPL. It can also be a better standard than the IPL because we've got more strength in depth in white-ball cricket than any other country."
A recent finding by The Times has unveiled that the white-ball competition has incurred a loss of about UK£9 million since its inception. The numbers don't include the additional UK£24.7 million paid by ECB and MCC to the counties for backing The Hundred.
"That money might not be there at the moment" - Robert Key
While Key admits that the investment in The Hundred is much less compared to the IPL and SA20, he expects it to grow every season. The 43-year-old explained:
"That money might not be there at the moment. The top salary in The Hundred is £125,000 but you don't mind that at the moment because we are building towards something in the years to come, and the money will go up. That's how we will get the money and that alongside the central contracts will put English cricket in a great place."
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The third edition of The Hundred will begin on August 1st, with the final taking place on the 27th.