Women to play fewer matches than men in The Hundred due to Commonwealth Games clash

One women's match - the first game of the season between Oval Invincibles and Northern Superchargers on August 11 - will take the primetime evening slot, with the rest of the women's schedule slated to begin in the mid-afternoon or early morning

The Hundred Finals Day will take place at Lord's on September 3, while the 2022 women's competition will start a week later and include fewer games than the men's owing to a clash with the Commonwealth Games.

The schedule for the second season of the ECB's controversial 100-ball tournament was released on Thursday, with the fixture list taking up the majority of the school holidays in August.

The men's event will begin on Wednesday, August 3, with defending champions Southern Brave taking on Welsh Fire in the men's competition.

England's male Test cricketers are likely to be available for a handful of matches in the opening week before preparations for the series against South Africa, which is due to commence on August 17, get under way. 

^{Oval Invincibles celebrate winning The Hundred in 2021 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Eight days later, the women will follow - the Commonwealth Games, taking place in Birmingham in July and early August include an eight-team cricket tournament which will feature many of the star names of The Hundred and render Edgbaston out of action for either men's or women's tournaments in the process.

The women's games will all be played as double-headers with the men, a format which proved successful in 2021, even if it had not originally been the intention of organisers.

One women's match - the first game of the season between Oval Invincibles and Northern Superchargers at The Oval on Thursday, August 11 - will take the primetime evening slot, with the rest of the women's schedule slated to begin in the mid-afternoon and, in some weekend fixtures, late morning. 

The nature of the calendar has led to the ECB cutting down on the number of games played by the women's sides in 2022.

While the men's teams will play eight matches in the group stages - one each against six sides, and two against their so-called 'local rival' - the women will only play six, meaning not all teams will face each other.

^{The women's competition will feature fewer matches in 2022 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

The second and third-placed sides from each league stage will square up in the Eliminator, which will move to the Ageas Bowl from The Oval in 2022.

The Eliminator games are scheduled to take place on Friday, September 2.

The ECB has continued with its pricing policy for children this year, with under-16 entry £5 and under-fives free of charge. In a press release, the governing body committed to ensuring there are "family friendly" zones at all venues.

RELATED LINKS (open in external window in app)

The Hundred 2022: Men's fixtures

The Hundred 2022: Women's fixtures