End of the beginning as change looms for the Hundred

It was the trophy lift that marked the end of the beginning for the Hundred. As Sam Billings hoisted the golden 'H' aloft, flanked by his Oval Invincibles team-mates, Surrey chief executive Steve Elworthy and Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani stood on the outfield and offered head coach Tom Moody their congratulations on a third successive title.

In a month's time - pending the final details of paperwork - those two parties will assume operational control of the franchise from the ECB and run it as a joint-venture, as the Hundred enters a new era. It remains to be seen exactly what comes next - a new name, a new kit, and new sponsors all appear highly likely - but the only certainty is that change is coming.

After five seasons, the Hundred's incubation period is over. It has been an arduous process: it was nearly a decade ago that the counties voted through a city-based T20 tournament which later morphed into 100-ball cricket, and it remains a divisive subject. But in raising over £500 million for the English game, the ECB's start-up has been an overwhelming financial success.

Incoming investors have lined hospitality suites throughout the last month, and Ambani's latest visit was only a fleeting one: he told Jordan Cox, the men's MVP, that he was meant to be catching a flight barely 90 minutes later. "I was like, 'Good luck with the traffic,' and he was like, 'Don't worry,'" Cox dead-panned. Certain planes wait for their passengers.

The Hundred's new board will meet this week as ideas designed to "supercharge" the competition start to become reality. They will include a "reset" of squads in the style of the IPL's mega-auction: the dominance of Invincibles men and Southern Brave women has become too predictable for the ECB's liking, in a tournament designed with unpredictability in mind.

Cox said he would be "devastated" if the core of the Invincibles squad split apart but considers it inevitable: "Being three from three, it's going to be quite hard to get the same players and the same team unless we've got some serious money lying around." The new investors are not short on cash, but the salary cap will force a greater revamp than in any previous season.

Surrey insist that no decision has been reached on a potential name change, but the most likely outcome is the Invincibles becoming 'MI London', the latest outpost in Mumbai Indians' global network. The timing is curious: if few will mourn the demise of a brand that has only existed for five years, then the Invincibles had formed a genuine identity that had cut through to the public.

The sense of uncertainty extends beyond The Oval: Harry Brook captained Northern Superchargers to Saturday's Eliminator, but has only briefly interacted with their incoming owners, the Sun Group. "God knows," he said, asked how the 2026 season might look. "I don't know if I'm going to be here… Who knows what's going to happen?"

A change in format from 100 balls to T20 has been mooted but is unlikely before the end of existing broadcast contracts in 2028. "You're never going to be better than the IPL," Cox said. "What's the point in trying to change it to be second-best? This is perfect for English cricket. Just keep it the same. Friends, families, kids love to come and watch. Why ruin it?"

Cox's comments cut to the fundamental question facing the ECB: can they make the Hundred bigger and better without turning it into a knock-off IPL? The tournament has established a solid base to work from but is a long way from achieving managing director Vikram Banerjee's stated long-term aim of being mentioned in the same breath as the NFL or Wimbledon as an event.

This edition, widely framed as a transition year, was a qualified success. Ticket sales returned to their 2023 peak after a dip last summer, a trend reflected in TV viewing figures. There were only a handful of last-ball finishes but the standard was strong in both men's and women's competitions, while Davina Perrin's 101 in the Eliminator was the innings of the season.

Across 57 minutes of free-wheeling hitting, Perrin's 42-ball ton encapsulated the Hundred's impact on women's cricket in England. She was only 14 when the tournament started but has watched attendances grow year-on-year and thrived when presented with the platform of a knockout game in front of 13,623 people, the closest thing possible to international cricket.

The double-header model - stumbled upon five years ago due to Covid - will remain for 2026 but there have been murmurs of concern within the women's game about the direction of travel. Banerjee insists that new investors see their franchises as a "two-for-one" deal, but only time will tell if they treat both teams equally, or pay the women lip service while focusing on the men.

But what is abundantly clear already is that the Hundred will look very different next year. New investors have not spent tens - or, in some cases, hundreds - of millions of pounds in order to run their teams as passive investments, even if most of them will start as minority shareholders. After five years of incremental change, something far more radical is coming.