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Lord's, Hove confirmed as hosts of inaugural Hundred finals days

Grounds locked in as venues for showpiece events of new competition

Lord's will host the inaugural final of the Hundred  •  Getty Images

Lord's will host the inaugural final of the Hundred  •  Getty Images

Lord's and Hove will host the inaugural finals days of the Hundred, with the grounds confirmed to stage the showpiece event of the men's and women's competitions respectively.
As revealed by ESPNcricinfo in September, the competition's knockout format will mirror that used in the Kia Super League. In both competitions, the team finishing top of the group stage will progress straight to the final, with the second and third-placed teams playing off in a 'qualifier' immediately before on the same day.
Several other grounds had applied to host the fixtures, but the ECB's host venue panel came to their choice based on Lord's and Hove's suitability against their stipulated criteria, "including the hosting of sell-out games across a season, accessibility, safety, connection with the cricket community and suitable match-day operations capabilities".
Lord's is perhaps a surprising choice for the men's event, given the ground has never hosted T20 finals day, but has lost the One-Day Cup final to Trent Bridge and the redevelopment of the Compton and Edrich stands will have been completed by the start of the season.
The MCC hierarchy has also made plans to offset a potential under-subscription from its more traditionally minded members, by outlining plans to invite children to fill any vacant seats in the pavilion and elsewhere in the ground, as was the case during Pakistan's group-stage match with Bangladesh in last summer's World Cup.
Guy Lavender, the MCC's chief executive, said: "We are delighted to be hosting the inaugural men's final of The Hundred at Lord's and we are committed to making it a great success. The Home of Cricket is a great setting for the final of this brand new competition, which will provide MCC the opportunity to welcome many more young people and families into the ground, including the pavilion, not only for the final but across the group stages with our team, London Spirit.
"We have been fortunate enough to host some incredible finals over the years, not least with the recent exploits of both the England men's and women's teams winning their respective World Cups in exhilarating fashion, and we know this is going to be another momentous sporting occasion - as well as another seminal moment in the rich history of Lord's."
Hove has been the venue for Kia Super League finals day since 2016, and has also hosted several women's internationals.
Rob Andrew, Sussex's CEO, said: "We are delighted to be hosting the first women's Finals Day for The Hundred. We have a strong reputation for supporting and promoting the women's game in Sussex and this will help grow the interest in girls' and women's cricket - one of our key priorities over the coming years."
Women's finals day will be held on Friday, August 14, with the men's version the following day.