Trio of Hundred teams will adopt Indian names

 Indian investors in the Hundred are set to rename their teams to align with IPL brands, and a move to the T20 format is possible from 2029.

On Wednesday the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that six of the eight deals to buy Hundred franchises had been completed, with Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets still outstanding. The investors in those two teams – the Ambani family (Mumbai Indians) and Cain International (which is fronted by the Chelsea owner Todd Boehly) respectively – effectively have a deadline of October 1 to complete the deals as they take operational control of the teams on that date.

The funds from the other six deals are in, and will be spread across the 18 counties, who stand to take at least £18m each. The first raft of payments – an “unfettered” £400,000 – will land in county accounts on Thursday.

In all, each of the 11 non-host counties stand to receive just over £24m from the sale of 49 per cent of the eight teams. The money is subject to ECB “guardrails” with counties required to prove to the governing body what they will use it for. The priorities are paying down debt, investing in infrastructure and building cash reserves.

The host counties will take around £18m, plus whatever they sold of their own share. In the case of Yorkshire – who sold all of their 51 per cent share of Northern Superchargers to the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Indian Premier League team – this figure will be north of £50m, allowing them to pay off a considerable debt to their chairman Colin Graves.

“The deal puts the club in a strong financial position, which has been far from the case for many years here, and we can start looking towards a very bright future,” said Sanjay Patel, Yorkshire’s chief executive. “The first priority is clearing our debts. We will then be looking at how we can invest the surplus funds to not only safeguard the future, but enable us to flourish.”

Tournament could switch to T20 in 2029

The ECB chief executive, Richard Gould, and the managing director of the Hundred, Vikram Bannerjee, who has overseen the sales process, said they expected three of the teams to change their names ahead of the 2026 season.

The three are all owned by Indian Premier League teams looking to align their new purchases with their wider brand. Manchester Originals are likely to become Manchester Super Giants, Northern Superchargers are likely to incorporate Sunrisers into their name, while the Ambani family will be keen to introduce an element of the Mumbai Indians brand (probably the initials MI) to Oval Invincibles.

Also up for debate in four years’ time will be the format of the tournament, with a switch to T20 possible from 2029, when the next broadcast cycle comes in.

“That’s one of the things that will be discussed,” said Bannerjee. “It works elsewhere but in this country the format has provided us with some really interesting things, especially from a broadcast perspective.

“I’m sure it will be discussed, at the moment it’s the Hundred format and that will remain for now, but let’s see where we get to in the long term.”

Gould also confirmed that England would only play men’s or women’s international cricket during the Hundred as a “last resort” to ensure better player availability. “We want the clearest window possible,” he said.