As opening nights go, The Hundred’s was surely as good as organisers could have hoped for.
A modern-day record-breaking crowd and a thrilling win for Oval Invincibles over Manchester Originals only told half the story.
As the match reached its thrilling climax, a noise alien to English cricket stadiums went around a ground.
Not 80s classics sung by well-oiled fans or roaring chants in support of the home team.
Instead, an excitable, rhythmic clap.
A young crowd was fixated not on the half-time music acts or fireworks, but on the sport unfolding in front of their eyes.
This was cricket, just not as we’ve known it.
The debate ever since The Hundred – cricket’s newest format of 100 balls per innings – was announced three years ago has been some of the most intense cricket has seen.
The neon green and pink fireworks, blasted from roof of The Oval’s historic pavilion as the players first emerged on to the field was almost a metaphor for the disharmony that has divided a sport.
Issues raised by critics of the tournament do not disappear after one game.
But, for a format billed as an opportunity to engage a new audience, this was an encouraging start.
The crowd was undoubtedly younger and more diverse than those seen at men’s internationals, or in the current Twenty20 Blast.
Groups of young girls wandered into the famous old ground. Families took their seats with some children too small to hold a cricket ball, never mind swing a bat.
The debate ever since The Hundred – cricket’s newest format of 100 balls per innings – was announced three years ago has been some of the most intense cricket has seen.
The neon green and pink fireworks, blasted from roof of The Oval’s historic pavilion as the players first emerged on to the field was almost a metaphor for the disharmony that has divided a sport.
Issues raised by critics of the tournament do not disappear after one game.
But, for a format billed as an opportunity to engage a new audience, this was an encouraging start.
The crowd was undoubtedly younger and more diverse than those seen at men’s internationals, or in the current Twenty20 Blast.
Groups of young girls wandered into the famous old ground. Families took their seats with some children too small to hold a cricket ball, never mind swing a bat.
