Sam Curran, whose Oval Invincibles made it to the finals on Sunday, raved about the merits of The 100. Credit: Getty Images/Philip Brown
Sam Curran is the latest high-profile England international to believe the 100 have a growing following and are becoming an accepted part of the English summer.
Curran, whose team The Oval Invincibles have qualified for first place in the standings. This is an experienced cricketer with contracts in the Indian Premier League and the South African Twenty20 league.
As one of the brightest young talents in world white ball cricket and the winner of the T20 World Cup with England, Curran is in a good position to judge if the 100, in their third year of existence, is really catching on.
There it is the summer saw better games, closer finishes, and the presence of Ash players such as Harry Brook, Zach Crawley, Ben Duckett and Joe Root helped to raise the competition. Attendance has been good and Curran believes the franchises are now building their own fan base and followers.
He agrees with Jos Battler, the England captain, who said last week that the 100 should aim to become the world's second-biggest franchised competition behind the IPL, and he is confident he will achieve that goal if he gets strong backing from the game's authorities.
«I think the players are more accustomed to this format, and the teams have been pretty consistent over the past three years, so their faces are familiar to the fans,» Curran told Telegraph Sport.
“Good crowd, good pitches, lots of equal games… we had fantastic support. England is a great place to play cricket with all the big grounds and it could definitely be second only to the IPL. All the domestic talent we have should help us achieve this anyway. There are so many fantastic white ball players in England and that makes this a great competition. I hope he can make it bigger and better.”
Saturday's Oval qualifier, the old money semi-final between the Manchester Originals and Southern Brave, will determine who will play the Oval Invincibles in the Lord's men's final. . Tickets are all sold out for both days.
«The timing of the school holidays was chosen to attract a new audience, and there are many children at the matches, which is nice,» said Curran.
“The support in the third season is noticeable that the fans now have teams they want to support, and they are also familiar with the format. There are a lot of players from Surrey involved here and it helps us to get to know each other. Of course, there will always be people who don't like it, but the game is moving fast and we need to keep going. We see a lot of kids wearing T-shirts and waiting after the game to get autographs, caps and the like. It's about inspiring these people to play these venues one day.”
Since Richard Thompson and Richard Gould were appointed Chairman and CEO of the England and Wales Cricket Board. Their objections to the Hundred and the strain it places on the game schedule is an open secret and how they manage its future will determine their era of rule.
But the views of England's senior cricketers who live Franchise life is of great importance these days given the freedom of movement they enjoy and the different job opportunities they have compared to previous generations. If the consensus among the players is that the tournament is well organized and supported, word of this will spread among professional circles abroad and help attract talent in the future.
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