Hundred's 'transition' year is relying on Test star Steven Smith as headline act

The Hundred's season of "transition" begins on Tuesday, days after the first wave of payments from new investors hit the counties' accounts. The ink is still wet on the paperwork for six of the eight multimillion-pound deals and two more will follow on October 1, when host venues and investors assume operational control of their franchises from the ECB.

Next season will bring at least three name changes, new kits and new sponsors, but the 2025 edition will be much the same as the previous four. The main difference is a sprinkling of additional star power in the men's competition through salary increases, with the added intrigue of which investors are spotted in corporate hospitality boxes over the next four weeks.

The introduction of direct signings marks the start of the Hundred's next phase and a more commercial focus. Whatever their respective merits as T20 players, Test cricket's predominance in England - underlined by the epic series against India - means that fans are far more likely to buy tickets to watch Steven Smith and Kane Williamson than Matt Short and Colin Munro.

It remains to be seen if, given the new IPL links, the ECB can convince the BCCI to release Indian men's players in future years. The board's chairman, Richard Thompson, said earlier this week that it would be "a matter of time", barely two hours after Vikram Banerjee, the Hundred's managing director, had attempted to play the prospect down.

For now, it is Smith's arrival at Welsh Fire that encapsulates the shift. They first signed him in 2019 only for Covid to kibosh the deal and he has never entered the draft since. But, with the top men's salary up to £200,000 (from £125,000), Smith has been tempted over, signing soon after the tech entrepreneur Sanjay Govil emerged as the successful bidder for a stake at the Fire.

Govil is already the owner of Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket and has a relationship with Smith from his time playing for them last year. He can already foresee a long-term arrangement: "With Sanjay getting involved at the Welsh Fire, potentially, there might be something moving forward," Smith told ESPNcricinfo.

There are similar arrangements elsewhere: Rashid Khan, who plays for Mumbai Indians' global offshoots, has moved from Trent Rockets to Oval Invincibles, while the RPSG Group's involvement has seen Noor Ahmad and Heinrich Klaasen join Manchester Originals and Jos Buttler sign for Durban's Super Giants for the next SA20 season.

Smith's involvement forms part of his master plan to win back his place in Australia's T20 team - 18 months after his last appearance - with the long-term ambition of winning an Olympic medal at Los Angeles 2028. He retired from ODIs after the Champions Trophy, and said that freeing up his schedule was "certainly a huge part" of that decision.

"It gives me some opportunities to be able to play in some different tournaments and keep trying to put my best foot forward to get back into the T20 team for Australia," he said. "My goal now is to try and play in the Olympics. That's motivating me, and I want to try and keep getting better at the shorter format."

It is four years since Smith last played an IPL match and his recent short-form opportunities have been scarce. He was a T20 World Cup winner in 2021 before losing his place to Tim David the following year, but with three centuries in his last eight BBL innings for Sydney Sixers, he is confident that he can force his way back in.

"[Australia coach] Andrew McDonald actually joked with me the other day," Smith said. "Every time I go back and play [T20], I always send him a text saying, 'Did you see that?' Hopefully, I can send him quite a few texts throughout this month of August. It'd be nice to smash a few around the park and send off a text and ask him whether he saw it."

He will be united with a long-time Ashes rival in Jonny Bairstow, who is hoping to revive his own international career. Bairstow noted with interest Harry Brook's wish list from players in his England white-ball teams earlier this year: "He's got a point to prove," Smith said. "He's going to come out and play his shots. Hopefully, I can spend some time in the middle with him."

Smith has followed England's 2-2 draw with India with interest and said recently that he expected this winter's Ashes to be an "absolute belter". He played down the relevance of the Hundred to that series, but was looking forward to testing himself against some of England's bowlers: "It's going to be great to be able to come up against some of those players."

By the time the Ashes starts on November 21, it will be Australia's turn to have their own debate around the future of their T20 league. Cricket Australia is already considering the merits of following the ECB's lead and opening BBL teams up to private investment, and weighing up the potential repercussions - positive and negative - for the wider game.

But for now, the focus is squarely on England - and, in Smith's case, Wales. As the cricketing public breathes a collective sigh of relief after the most intense Test series in recent memory, can the Hundred ride on the wave of interest, eyeballs and drama as it heads towards its brave new world?