SAM MORSHEAD: Sky Sports are understood to be in discussions to carry the event live, giving important additional TV and digital exposure to the tournament during the winter.
The draft for The Hundred is expected to be broadcast in 2023, having been kept behind closed doors for the past two years.
Sky Sports are understood to be in discussions to carry the event live, giving important additional TV and digital exposure to the tournament during the winter.
Sky broadcast the inaugural draft in October 2019, but the following year's tournament never took place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and in 2021 and 2022 the teams selected their players in a private session, with the squads subsequently drip-fed to the public by social media.
The Hundred draft is set for March 2, and could be coming back to our TV screens [Getty Images]
The draft has not been broadcast since 2019 [Getty Images]
But a live show would have considerable more clout, and bring The Hundred back in line with established short-format tournaments around the world, including the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League and Caribbean Premier League, which have all had their auctions and drafts screened live.
It is likely any Hundred draft broadcast would be a little less glamourous than the 2019 equivalent, which featured a shiny set and many of the top cricketers in the country on hand to give interviews following their selection.
It is scheduled to take place on March 2, in the middle of England men's white-ball tour of Bangladesh, just after the men's Test trip to New Zealand and the women's T20 World Cup, and during the PSL - meaning many big names may not be available.
Trent Rockets are the defending men's champions [Getty Images]
Oval Invincibles hold the women's crown [Getty Images]
However, a TV event would still give considerably more clout to a competition which continues to divide cricket watchers in the UK.
The Hundred's eight teams are currently negotiating retentions with players who were contracted in 2022, with a February 16 deadline for those deals to be done.
For the first time, a women's draft will be held alongside the men's in March, with up to 32 domestic and overseas players selected.
Posted by Richard Barrow on 26/01/2023 at 19:55
What an appalling thought
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