Five years can pass quickly in sport. When The Hundred arrived in 2021, nobody quite knew where it would fit within an already crowded British cricket calendar. The format was deliberately different. Matches featured 100 balls per innings, bowlers could deliver sets of five or ten, while games were designed to finish in roughly two and a half hours. Eight city-based teams replaced the familiar county rivalries for the competition, with men’s and women’s cricket sharing the same stage.
By the end of its first five seasons, The Hundred had established a recognisable place in the British summer. More than two million spectators had attended matches by the time investment plans for the teams were announced, with over one million attending women’s fixtures. The question is no longer whether short-form cricket belongs in the summer. It is how much the experience has changed since The Hundred arrived.
Cricket Found a Different Audience
Traditional cricket has never lacked passionate supporters. Reaching people who had little previous connection with the sport was a different challenge. The Hundred was built with those spectators in mind. Shorter matches made an evening at the cricket easier to fit around work or family plans. City-based teams offered newcomers an uncomplicated entry point, while the simplified 100-ball concept removed some of the barriers associated with understanding longer formats.
Crowds suggest the approach found an audience. Around 30% of ticket buyers in 2024 were new to cricket, while more than 400,000 junior ticket holders had attended across the competition’s first four years. Families made up 41% of the audience in 2025.
Not everyone who attends The Hundred will become a lifelong cricket supporter. Plenty, however, have experienced the sport in person for the first time through the competition.
Summer Evenings Started to Feel Different
Cricket grounds have always been social places, though The Hundred leaned heavily into the idea of making a match feel like a complete evening out.
Music, entertainment, fan activities, food, cricket and shorter playing times all became part of the cricket hospitality package. Spectators could arrive after work without committing an entire day to the ground. Families could watch elite players while still getting home at a reasonable hour.
The atmosphere reflected that change. Matches often felt closer to summer events than traditional days at the cricket, particularly when packed crowds gathered for evening fixtures.
Short-form cricket already existed through the T20 Blast, of course. The Hundred pushed the experience further towards a distinct entertainment product built around cricket rather than simply shortening the game itself.
Women’s Cricket Became Part of the Main Event
Perhaps one of the competition’s most important decisions came before the first ball was bowled. The opening match in 2021 featured Oval Invincibles Women against Manchester Originals Women at the Kia Oval. Men’s and women’s competitions were launched alongside each other, with double-headers becoming a central part of the tournament.
Fans buying a ticket were exposed to both competitions as part of the same day. Young spectators could watch leading male players alongside some of the world’s best female cricketers without the women’s game being treated as a separate event.
Five years later, more than one million spectators had attended women’s matches in The Hundred. The competition also continues to promote men’s and women’s cricket equally with equal prize money.
The Cricket Had to Deliver Too
Entertainment can bring people through the gates once. Good cricket gives them a reason to return. The 100-ball format created its own tactical quirks. Captains had to decide whether bowlers should deliver five consecutive balls or continue for ten, while a 25-ball powerplay placed immediate pressure on both sides.
Those differences gave players new decisions to make without making the contest unrecognisable to existing cricket fans. Matches moved quickly, yet there was still enough time for momentum to swing several times before the final ball.
Big hitting naturally attracted attention, though tight finishes often produced the most memorable nights. A format designed for speed still found room for the tension cricket has always done so well.
A New Kind of Cricket Hospitality
The Hundred has also created another option for guests looking to enjoy premium cricket hospitality during the summer. Shorter matches make the format particularly suited for corporate entertaining, family occasions or groups wanting a more relaxed introduction to live cricket.
Guests can combine the fast-paced action with premium seating, dining and hospitality facilities at some of Britain’s best-known cricket grounds. The experience feels different from spending an entire day at a Test match or ODI. Neither approach needs to replace the other. The Hundred simply gives spectators another way to enjoy cricket during the busiest part of the summer.
Five Years On, the Experiment Has Evolved
The Hundred was always going to divide opinion. Introducing a new format into a sport built on tradition was unlikely to happen quietly. Yet five seasons have changed the conversation. The competition has brought new spectators through the gates, given women’s cricket a shared platform and made short-form matches a familiar part of the British summer.
Its next chapter is already taking shape. The 2026 season marks the competition’s sixth year, with new team ownership, a player auction, increased salary pots and changes across several franchises signalling another period of evolution.
Whether The Hundred looks the same in another five years remains to be seen. Its influence on the summer is already easier to recognise. Cricket grounds have welcomed different crowds, evenings have taken on a new rhythm, while a generation of younger supporters has grown up with 100-ball cricket as part of the sporting calendar.
Impulse Decisions provides premium cricket hospitality experiences across some of the biggest events of the British summer. Get in touch to explore hospitality options for The Hundred and enjoy short-form cricket from a premium setting.