ECB CEO Richard Gould has said the board remains open to the possibility of The Hundred becoming a T20 competition in the future.
Earlier this year, the ECB sold its 49 per cent stake in the eight Hundred franchises to various private investors, with the individual counties also allowed to sell part or all of their stakes in the teams. Multiple owners of IPL teams have secured stakes in the franchises, including Mumbai Indians (in Oval Invincibles), Lucknow Super Giants (Manchester Originals) and Delhi Capitals (Southern Brave).
One of the unique selling points of The Hundred when it came into existence was the length of the game – 100 balls in each innings, with 20 'sets' of five balls each, rather than the existing T20 format which has 20 overs of six balls each.
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Reports in July 2024, ahead of the previous season suggested that the tournament could move to a T20 format, but retain the existing name and branding. Additionally, in November 2023, Lancashire chair Andy Anson had said it would make "absolute sense" for the competition to move to the T20 format from 2025.
None of these changes have gone through yet, and any possible ones would require a sign-off from broadcaster Sky Sports, who have committed to the rights for the tournament until 2028. External discussions around this, however, have resurfaced following this year's sale of the franchises.
Gould: Would be foolish to not take advice from investors
"Those discussions have not taken place [internally]," said ECB CEO Richard Gould on The Final Word. "And it's not on people's agenda. At some point, if that's something they want to discuss, yeah. Of course we'll have that discussion.
"It's a decision for the ECB board though. But look, we've got some amazing investors that have arrived. And we would be foolish if we were not to take advice, guidance and counsel as to how to take this game forward.
"It's got to be collaborative. They're bringing a lot more investment and a lot of thought. I think that we will see, The Hundred's been incredible in terms of delivering innovation into the game in the last three or four years. If you look at the investors we've just brought in, that's going to superpower that."
The other major changes The Hundred made to cricket's regular playing conditions was the bowling of two sets from each end at a time, rather than one, and allowing a bowler to bowl consecutive sets.
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