Women's edition of The Hundred to be played at eight venues in 2021 due to coronavirus

In initial plans before the Covid-19 pandemic caused a yearlong postponement of the inaugural tournament, 20 venues were to be used for the women’s competition

The women’s edition of The Hundred will be played across the same eight venues as the men’s competition in 2021.

The move comes in light of operational implications to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two tournaments will see an increased alignment as a result, including more comprehensive broadcast coverage of the women’s event and more double-headers.

In initial plans before the coronavirus pandemic caused a yearlong postponement of the inaugural competition, 20 venues were to be used for the women’s tournament. Among those were Bristol, York, Beckenham, Leicester and Northampton.

However, the shift – initially just for the first year of the tournament – recognises a need to adapt, given the uncertainty created by the global health crisis. The plans will be reviewed after 2021.

The venues for the men's competition in 2020 were due to be Lord’s, the Kia Oval, Emirates Old Trafford, Headingley, Sophia Gardens, the Ageas Bowl, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

Beth Barrett-Wild, head of The Hundred women’s competition and female engagement, said: “It has always been our intention to review the structure of the women’s competition on an annual basis, to ensure that we are maximising the scale and prominence that The Hundred platform provides to profile the women’s game.

“Looking ahead to 2021, it’s clear that the wide-ranging impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of elite sporting events and society more generally, necessitates a change to our plans from 2020.

“The move to an integrated eight-venue model with the men’s competition next summer will simultaneously enable us to reduce our operational risk, protect the delivery of the women’s competition, and optimise the opportunity to work with our broadcast partners to provide maximum visibility and exposure for the women’s game.

“We therefore believe that this is the best structure for the women’s competition in 2021. However, with the women’s game transforming and growing at pace, it is important that we remain flexible in our approach to evolving this model in the future.”

Sussex chief executive Rob Andrew, whose county had been due to host two Southern Brave fixtures and the final at Hove in 2020, admitted that the news was “hugely disappointing”.

He added, however: “We note with optimism that the eight-venue model for The Hundred will be reviewed after 2021 and will do all we can to bring matches in the competition to Hove in the seasons that follow.”

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