Topics England cricket team | Cricket | Coronavirus
The franchises in the men's competition had already selected their squads in a draft in October, while the women's teams were also in the process of completing their squads. But now with the tournament delayed, the ECB has sent a letter to the players informing them about the termination of their contracts. "We can confirm that a letter terminating current player contracts has been issued today to all involved," the BBC quoted an ECB statement. "This letter is necessary paperwork to legally update and inform players of the situation, which follows a notification last week around the launch of the new competition being moved to 2021.We are working closely with PCA on a number of options for players regarding next year's launch."What is The Hundred tournament?The Hundred is franchise based 100-ball cricket tournament to be played in England and Wales and administered by the ECB. The league will consist of eight city-based franchise teams, each of which will field both a men's and women's team.
The 100-ball competition was postponed last Thursday due to global travel restrictions in the wake of the highly-contagious disease which has left more than 2 lakh dead so far worldwide and over 30 lakh infected. Due to the health crisis, the ECB had also suspended its domestic season until at least July 1.Format of The Hundred tournament
The 100-ball tournament has a very unique format which would excite the fans as they will see for first time five or 10 balls over. Following the rules and regulations in The Hundred:
- The match will have a total of 200 legal deliveries with 100 balls per innings.
- One over will consist of 10 balls.
- One bowler can bowl a minimum of five and maximum of 10 consecutive balls.
- One bowler can bowl a maximum of 20 balls in a game.
Powerplay
- Powerplay will be of 25 balls.
- Only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle during powerplay.
Timeout
- There is one strategic time-out of two-and-a-half minutes per innings for the bowling side.
- The coach can walk out to the middle of the ground and discuss tactics with their players mid game.
Duration of 100-ball tournament
- A match of The Hundred will last two and a half hours.