Richard Thompson believes the Hundred’s awkward squeeze between England fixtures is a passing problem, not a permanent headache. Speaking during Sunday’s third ODI against South Africa, the ECB chair accepted the 2025 calendar is “too crammed” but promised a clearer window once the existing broadcast agreement ends in 2028.
England’s men played the day before the Hundred began and only had 48 hours between the tournament’s final and this week’s ODI opener. Two summers from now looks equally hectic: an ODI series against India is due to finish two days before the Hundred starts, with the first Test against Pakistan scheduled three days after it ends.
“It’s not ideal. There are no easy answers, but the reality is we can’t have our cake and eat it,” Thompson told Sky Sports. “We want England players to play. This is our premium white-ball competition and we want England players to play in it. What we have to do is find a way of ensuring the schedule before and after the tournament [is better]. Take this year: the gap was a day or two days… That can’t be right.”
New part-owners are already asking questions. Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Ollie Pope sat out London Spirit’s opener, held the morning after the fifth Test at The Oval. Incoming Spirit investor Nikesh Arora called the clash “disappointing” and urged “better planning” from the board.
Thompson accepts that criticism. “If we’re going to get this level of investment, we’ve got to commit to ensuring our England players are available,” he said. “We don’t want that to be at the expense of the success of England. We need to find a balance, and ultimately we can look at the schedule and we can try and free up time.”
The board struck the franchise-sale deal midway through a rights cycle, limiting its room for manoeuvre. Thompson is banking on renegotiation time. “We’ve done this deal in the middle of a rights schedule. Come ’28, when we then cut the next deal for the next four years, we can cut this in a different way. We might have a short-term issue here, but we can overcome that.”
Players will still have the final say on their workloads. “Ultimately, if a player feels they’re injured, they’re going to rest themselves. They won’t want to play on an injury. England is still everything here. But we are not prepared to accept that you can’t find a halfway house and work with the owners to ensure that the owner will get what they need, and England will get what it needs.”
100 balls to stay – for now
Speculation lingers that the Hundred may morph into a T20 competition, bringing it in line with leagues elsewhere. Thompson flat-batted the idea. “I can categorically tell you it’s 100 balls next year,” he insisted. “I don’t think anything will change in this rights cycle. Sky [the Hundred’s main broadcaster] have bought 100 [balls a side]. Sky are not going to want to change that. It’s up to the owners and the ECB to decide what that might be in the future.”
The sale of minority stakes in all eight teams – designed to inject capital and, the ECB hopes, global know-how – has drawn scepticism from traditionalists. Thompson rejects the notion that English cricket is sacrificing summertime heritage. “This is not English cricket selling off the family silver. This is English cricket bringing in investors to enable us to have a tournament that could challenge the IPL.”
Analysis
For players juggling three formats, the current squeeze is brutal. Bowling workloads pile up, and red-ball specialists get minimal white-ball tune-up before key series. Yet the ECB is locked into a TV deal that values a full, star-studded Hundred. In truth, the next three summers may stay messy. The opportunity comes in 2028: shift England’s home internationals, ring-fence a 25-day Hundred block, and both sides of the ECB ledger – national side and franchise league – stand to benefit.
Until then, managers will juggle niggles, franchises will grumble, and Thompson will keep promising a tidier calendar just over the horizon.
