AB de Villiers, who retired from international cricket in 2018, has said that he would “love to be a part” of the Hundred.

Speaking to BBC World Service’s Stumped, de Villiers said that he didn’t have an issue with the competition that is set for its inaugural season in 2020 or its proposed 100-ball format.

He said: “I can’t see anything wrong with trying something different. I’m not set in my schedule at the moment but I would love to play in the UK.

“I’m sure with the tradition and the culture of cricket over there, it would be very well supported. I would love to be a part of it.

“There’s nothing wrong with experimenting with the format. It’s not a huge change, but it’s something different. It’s nice to experiment, and in a year or two we’ll see what happens.”

The new competition, which is set to be formally named the Hundred by the ECB in the coming days, has been a divisive talking point among players and fans alike. Though the competition was initially understood to be aimed primarily at a new audience of “mums and kids”, the ECB have recently stressed the Hundred is primarily aimed at current cricket fans.

Earlier this week, Tom Harrison, the ECB’s CEO, told the media: “There may be some requirement to do some myth-busting here. The new competition is designed to appeal to cricket fans first and foremost, but then it’s a broader audience.”