Steve Elworthy believes The Hundred is "operationally bigger than the World Cup"

After helping to deliver the 50-over showcase with aplomb, the next challenge facing the 54-year-old is helped the ECB execute their much-derided new competition

Steve Elworthy, the newest figure enlisted by the England and Wales Cricket Board to deliver The Hundred, admits he is yet to grasp what role the tournament will play on the domestic landscape.

The former South Africa Test and ODI player has significant experience on an administration level having helped run six ICC events including as managing director of the recently concluded 50-over World Cup.

Elworthy has occupied several roles with the ECB, including tournament director for the 2008 World T20, and has held meetings over the past week to establish his role and develop a strategy for maximising its impact.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison believes the 100-ball competition is a "fantastic opportunity" to grow the game and build on the World Cup but their new director of special projects is not yet on the same page.

"Operationally it is bigger than the World Cup," said the 54-year-old. "But with a year to go and the experience of the people who will join the ECB I've got no issues with the operational delivery of it. 

"It is about me trying to understand what that promise it. What is the tournament? And that is what I am trying to get to grips with at the moment."

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The ICC claim to have hit a number of their key pre-World Cup targets; engaging one million children with the tournament, achieving a 95 per cent sales rate across the 48 matches, while video clip views reached 2.6 billion prior to the final between New Zealand and England.

Attracting a new audience to cricket is among the ECB's premier targets ahead of the tournament which is due to start next summer, with building on the success of a World Cup which peaked at 8.4 million television viewers for the final key to that goal.

Elworthy believes - building on the ticket strategy implemented through his time with the ECB - producing a rounded sporting experience which eclipses the expectations of the consumer is vital.

"There is a part of being able to engage with that audience and keep it all going," the ex-Nottinghamshire player, who will work alongside managing director Sanjay Patel to execute the idea, said.

"Then there is the operational side of it from a venue point of view in terms of what they have delivered from a normal ECB or domestic competition and then delivering at a World Cup level where the ground is completely dressed and branded.

"You've got different partners coming in. You've got a completely different new audience that you could cater too. And how they've responded to that. 

"How does the tournament engage with a new audience and that is a key learning for me.

"Thinking about previous World Cups and new audiences we have managed to get to them with a centralised ticket model. 

^{Tom Harrison is among those leading the execution of The Hundred}

"No-one ever thought we would sell the women's World Cup final out. It was a testimony to what you can do.

"It was learning about the ticket-pricing strategy, how you go after people, the way you manage to engage with them and then when you get to the ground you deliver an experience based on what you've sold them.

"It is paramount that what you sell you have to deliver. You've got to underpromise and overdeliver."

Many of the eight proposed teams and venues for the men's edition of The Hundred have yet to be formally announced, despite the draft for the competition set for October. It is the same for the women's format though England players will be available to take part.

The uncertainly follows a PR strategy which has been dogged by leaks, confusion over the rules and whether existing cricket fans will be among the target market. The competition does however have a broadcast partner, with the BBC set to show a selection of matches, alongside Sky Sports, as domestic cricket prepares to return to free-to-air television.