I went to a couple of ‘The Hundred’ matches this season so decided to review them. One with my two boys of 9 and 11, in an attempt to wean them a bit off the football and get them interested in a better sport….and one with a couple of friends to have a few beverages and see if we liked it.
The Good
The game itself. I went into it knowing almost nothing about how it was structured except it was 100 balls and pretty much the same as the existing short games. I was very pleasantly surprised that I didn’t need or want to know how bowling overs was structured, or any of that – it’s very simple, it’s 100 balls and whenever there’s a bowling change you get told. My boys found it so easy to understand (and the pyrotechnics certainly helped) that I didn’t actually care that much in the end, and having the countdown of balls instead of overs was just much better for building the tension I thought. I find myself watching T20 now and slightly wishing it was the hundred instead, which I guess is the best accolade. Most importantly my two boys absolutely loved it and now support Oval Invincibles, despite only knowing a couple of the players!
The Bad
The music. I love music, it’s what I studied and still make and play regularly but it was just weird having an act there in a booth. It seemed like a good idea beforehand but didn’t really come off in my opinion – did they actually perform? I didn’t see it if so. Some tweaking needed there I think – I don’t think it’s a draw for the kids as it was mostly the same ages and younger as mine, who are largely unaware of BBC introducing. It’s better than the dreadful soundtrack there was at Trent Bridge for the world cup opener against Pakistan, let’s not return to that. Perhaps a bit more focus on the artist would help before or after the games.
The Ugly
The weather. It was crazy-hot both matches, the adult one was mercifully only an evening one before the women matches started, so the 30+ heat wasn’t so bad after the sun went down. The one that started in the afternoon match, that I took my boys to, was torturous. We constantly had to go into the concourse to cool off. That extreme weather couldn’t really have been foreseen too many days beforehand, but to only have one ice cream van and not put on extra water at the oval was a bit poor really. The lines were nuts and I was as frustrated as other parents I spoke to there in the lines that we couldn’t sit out and watch the cricket for long. Even having some sunshades or fans to buy (which you couldn’t get anywhere) would’ve been a help.
The Verdict
Overall it’s a definite win for me. It’s made my boys want to go to cricket training so job done there ECB. They didn’t really take in the explanations that happened to try and teach them a bit about the game as it went along but I appreciated the effort, I’m sure it was good for some. I’d be less inclined to go with mates again as I’d rather have longer to spend chatting and drinking (although it wasn’t a double header), and be able to savour the day a bit more as well as see some good cricket – a one day game or test day would suit better. It was far superior to yet another T20 tournament and the players also seemed to enjoy the format and ‘walk-ons’ – I’d like them to to see them start hamming it up ‘boxing style’ a bit more though.
I’ll be back next year for sure…