[spireitematt]

So the 8 teams in the 100 have been announced. They will have women and men's teams and they have drafted players today for the teams.

Birmingham Phoenix - Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Pat Brown, Amy Jones, Kirstie Gordon
London Spirit - Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Eoin Morgan, Heather Knight, Freya Davies
Manchester Originals - Jos Buttler, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone
Northern Superchargers - Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Lauren Winfield, Linsey Smith
Oval Invincibles - Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Jason Roy, Laura Marsh, Fran Wilson
Southern Brave - Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, James Vince, Anya Shrubsole, Danni Wyatt
Trent Rockets - Joe Root, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Nat Sciver, Katherine Brunt
Welsh Fire - Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Colin Ingram, Katie George, Bryony Smith

Birmingham Phoenix will play at Edgbaston, there catchment area is Warwickshire and Worcestershire
London Spirit will play Lord's, there catchment area is Middlesex, Essex and Northants
Manchester Originals will play at Old Trafford, there catchment area is Lancashire
Northern Superchargers will play at Headingley, there catchment area is Yorkshire and Durham
Oval Invincibles will play at The Oval, there catchment area is Surrey and Kent
Southern Brave will play at Ageas Bowl, there catchment area is Hampshire and Sussex
Trent Rockets will play at Trent Bridge, there catchment area is Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire
Welsh Fire will play at Sophia Gardens, there catchment area is Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset

I can't see any Liverpudlian who goes watches Lancashire getting behind the 'Manchester Originals'. The names are so rubbish and all the teams have been sponsored by a crisp or snack company. In my opinion the whole thing has been created for the 'non-cricket fans' to get them interested. This will not help County level and it certainly will not help the England test side. Also why have London got 2 teams?

[Lord Snooty]

Northern Superchargers, my arse!

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

My thoughts, in no particular order:

1. Both the shirts and the names are shockingly bad. The Birmingham one looks like the bastard child of every shit early 1990s football shirt, with a popcorn logo plastered on its face. I tend to dislike American-style team names at the best of times, but at least in the T20 Blast there are some names that genuinely relate to the history or locality of the county (Yorkshire Vikings, Notts Outlaws, Birmingham Bears, Northants Steelbacks, Kent Spitfires). I mean, what does a Phoenix have to do with Brum? Why does Northern Superchargers sound like a company manufacturing smartphone accessories? Why "Southern Brave", when "Braves" or "Bravery" would be more grammatically correct? Where is this mysterious town of Oval, and why does it have a cricket team bearing its name when any A-Level Marketing student could tell you that "London" or "South London" would be way more likely to attract support?

2. There's a dead old Simpsons episode where Homer's long-lost brother, the head of a car company, gets Homer to design a new model that contains all the things the average man wants in a vehicle. Inevitably, the whole thing ends up being an expensive wreck, because all the things Homer wants in a car add up to an ugly, badly-thought-out mess. Can't help but feel that the ECB really missed the moral of that story when they decided to completely reinvent the game of cricket to please people who've never watched cricket, and who may not even watch it when it's been overhauled to suit their every fleeting whim. And as for those who potentially might convert to the gospel… if there's one thing that this summer conclusively proved, it's that newcomers will take an active interest as long as they're given some exposure to the drama of the game *in any format*. It doesn't matter if it's a T20 international or a village three-dayer: just stick it front and centre on the BBC and you won't need ten-ball overs!

3. There are, grudgingly, some things that I think have been done right with this comp. I think the draft is a good idea, and attracts publicity. I think preserving the T20 Blast and using it as a proving ground for young players to try and earn a place on the bigger stage, is a smart move. As a supporter of a smaller county I flinch at the city-based franchise concept, but I also recognise that over the decades, black and Asian people and young city-dwellers haven't engaged with county cricket in the numbers that might have been hoped for, and this is an effort to put that right without eliminating the county game. Also, though there have been some big names in the T20 Blast through the years, as a competition it's long since been eclipsed by the IPL and Big Bash, and it's never truly had the best of the best scrambling over each other to earn a contract; I think they tend to view it as practice for the bigger comps. A new competition was the best way to have the Steve Smiths of the world banging on the door of English cricket, demanding to be let in. But for the love of God, why not just make it a T20 league? Why try and fix things that were never broken?

[spireitematt]

My thoughts, in no particular order:

1. Both the shirts and the names are shockingly bad.  The Birmingham one looks like the bastard child of every shit early 1990s football shirt, with a popcorn logo plastered on its face.  I tend to dislike American-style team names at the best of times, but at least in the T20 Blast there are some names that genuinely relate to the history or locality of the county (Yorkshire Vikings, Notts Outlaws, Birmingham Bears, Northants Steelbacks, Kent Spitfires).  I mean, what does a Phoenix have to do with Brum?  Why does Northern Superchargers sound like a company manufacturing smartphone accessories?  Why "Southern Brave", when "Braves" or "Bravery" would be more grammatically correct?  Where is this mysterious town of Oval, and why does it have a cricket team bearing its name when any A-Level Marketing student could tell you that "London" or "South London" would be way more likely to attract support?

2. There's a dead old Simpsons episode where Homer's long-lost brother, the head of a car company, gets Homer to design a new model that contains all the things the average man wants in a vehicle.  Inevitably, the whole thing ends up being an expensive wreck, because all the things Homer wants in a car add up to an ugly, badly-thought-out mess.  Can't help but feel that the ECB really missed the moral of that story when they decided to completely reinvent the game of cricket to please people who've never watched cricket, and who may not even watch it when it's been overhauled to suit their every fleeting whim.  And as for those who potentially might convert to the gospel… if there's one thing that this summer conclusively proved, it's that newcomers will take an active interest as long as they're given some exposure to the drama of the game *in any format*.  It doesn't matter if it's a T20 international or a village three-dayer: just stick it front and centre on the BBC and you won't need ten-ball overs!

3. There are, grudgingly, some things that I think have been done right with this comp.  I think the draft is a good idea, and attracts publicity.  I think preserving the T20 Blast and using it as a proving ground for young players to try and earn a place on the bigger stage, is a smart move.  As a supporter of a smaller county I flinch at the city-based franchise concept, but I also recognise that over the decades, black and Asian people and young city-dwellers haven't engaged with county cricket in the numbers that might have been hoped for, and this is an effort to put that right without eliminating the county game.  Also, though there have been some big names in the T20 Blast through the years, as a competition it's long since been eclipsed by the IPL and Big Bash, and it's never truly had the best of the best scrambling over each other to earn a contract; I think they tend to view it as practice for the bigger comps.  A new competition was the best way to have the Steve Smiths of the world banging on the door of English cricket, demanding to be let in.  But for the love of God, why not just make it a T20 league?  Why try and fix things that were never broken?

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Further to last night's post, I've seen it suggested online that the real reason the ECB were itching to create a new format is because they allowed T20 to slip away from them without patenting or copyrighting the idea, missing out on millions in the process. The Hundred is a concept they'll hold all the licensing and merchandising rights to, and they'll milk it as much as they can, without any real concern for the effect it may have on the sport.

Sadly, that sounds very plausible to me.

[themaclad]

Manchester’s women’s side will play in Sedbergh

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Bit of an odd choice, surely? Beautiful scenery, but no public transport to get there and hardly any capacity - why not Liverpool instead?

Brum Phoenix women will be at New Road, which is a good arrangement for Worcs.

[themaclad]

https://www.thefulltoss.com/england-cric...e-surreal/

Lancashire lose 7 players for the Royal London Cup

[Lord Snooty]

The whole point of watching sport is picking a side you want to win, well not the whole point, but it goes a long way to being just that. I can't get on with this. All the Yorkshire players are split over several teams. So are the England players, but that's not unusual.
I just can't get on board with something called Northern Powerhouse or whatever it's called. Sounds like a chuffing electric company.
I find it hard supporting a team based in Leeds anyway, so if I struggle with Yorkshire being there, I'm definitely not going to supporting this lot.
I doubt very much that I will even look at the results, never mind watch any of the games.
As the article you linked to asks, why if it's aimed at kids, are middle aged, white men from public schools introducing it, trying to look cool? They probably feel as uncomfortable about it as I do.

[themaclad]

Snoots your point about Leeds is relevant people in Liverpool will not support a side based in Manchester