England and Sussex fast bowler Tymal Mills believes the standard of domestic cricket will rise with the introduction of The Hundred next year.
Mills, who has vast experience of playing franchise T20 cricket across the world, feels the greater financial incentive on offer in cricket’s newest format will attract better players. “The top guys command a lot of money, hence why we don’t see them in the [Vitality T20] Blast,” he said. “With the money to get them [the best players], coupled with the top England players, it is going to make for better and more exciting cricket.”
Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast, Mills said that although some counties may be at a disadvantage – his Sussex side are set to lose “six to seven” players following a mock draft by the Professional Cricketers’ Association – even those not selected will benefit from the competition.
“Obviously, people are going to miss out – there are only going to be 90 picked out of 200-odd players. But if you miss out, you’ve got to get better to get picked next year, and that’s the brutality of sport,” he said. “In England, we have 18 professional teams, so you can’t please everyone. But in my opinion, the product of cricket is going to be much higher than the Blast, and will attract better overseas players.”
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Despite acknowledging that the Royal London One Day Cup is “going to be pushed to the wayside” and a “substandard of what it was previously”, the left-armer stressed that this is an idea the cricketing public needs to get behind.
“All the talk [on Twitter] is negative. This is the way they [the ECB] have decided to do it, and there is no way of pleasing everybody and fixing every solution.”
