Ever since the emergence of the T20 cricket, the shortest format has only witnessed growth. The format has experienced huge turnouts across the world over the past few years. As a result, every country is coming up with its own franchise-based T20 league. The Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Big Bash League (BBL) are one of the first entrants in the T20 competitions in the cricketing world. Recently, the England and Wales cricket board (ECB) came up with its own domestic completion which is termed as ‘The Hundred’.
As the name suggests, the competition will comprise each innings with 100 balls in it, unlike the regular T20 format. The ECB is thinking of new ideas to promote the event and attract huge crowds. According to reports in Cricbuzz, ‘Orange’ ball could be used in the new domestic competition. The inaugural edition of the tournament will be played in 2020.
The ECB conducted the trials of the newly framed competition two weeks ago by applying the new format for the tournament. It received a positive feedback from the cricketers. Some of the new rules are 20 sets of 5-ball overs with ten bowled from one end, tactical timeout, batsman cross-over rule, and fielding substitution. However, orange balls were not used in these trials but they are expected to be used in the upcoming trials.
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However, the expectations suggest that the orange ball will not only give the format a unique touch when it comes around in 2020 but will also be easier to pick up from the stands. To set their new league apart from the rest played around the world, the boards are planning such an innovation.
It is not the first time that orange balls are being used in cricket as in the 1990s, orange and yellow balls were used for day-night Sheffield Shield matches in Australia. Later in 2013, Cricket Australia carried out several tests with the orange ball with a black seam.
The new set of innovations are definitely going to be exciting for cricket fans. However, it remains to be seen if it gets a green signal from the players so that they can be implemented in the tournament. The year 2020 is going to be revolutionary for the ECB.
