The Hundred has entertained an even larger crowd of families this summer compared to its inaugural cricket tournament last year.
More women, children and families attended the competition this year than the first time around, with a new global record set for a total attendance at a women’s cricket tournament.
More than 500,000 attended across the competition, which ended on Saturday with the men and women’s final. Oval Invincibles were crowned the women’s champions while Trent Rockets lifted the men’s trophy.
Some 22% of tickets were snapped up for children to attend compared to 19% last year, while 28% of ticket buyers were women, an increase on 21% last year. Families made up 41% of ticket holders compared to 36% last year.
The competition, which is run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), also witnessed growing support for the women’s game. Some 271,000 people attended The Hundred to support the women, another global record for a women’s cricket competition.
The UK domestic record for a women’s game was broken twice at Lord’s with 17,287 attending London Spirit vs Oval Invincibles on Saturday August 27. This was then beaten for The Hundred women’s final where 20,840 attended, pushing the average attendance to 10,400 for women’s games in 2022.
Communities across the UK also benefited from The Hundred, with over 150 activations engaging more than 10,000 children and young people. Over 300 players from all eight teams took part in training sessions and spoke to grassroots cricket players.
Sanjay Patel, managing director of The Hundred, said: “It’s been brilliant to see more families, more kids and record numbers attending the games this year. The Hundred is all about welcoming more people into cricket, and it has delivered on that again this year. It’s wonderful to see and hear so many families being inspired by a mix of great cricket and great entertainment.
“Huge congratulations go to Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets for taking the titles this year. I would like to thank everyone involved for their contribution, from Sky and BBC, through to all our commercial partners, the host venues and the fans. You’ve helped to make The Hundred a fantastic, world-leading competition and grown cricket’s audience once again.”
Birmingham Phoenix captain Moeen Ali said: “I really enjoyed playing in this year’s competition, and there’s been some top quality cricket. It feels like there’s been more depth across all the squads and we’ve seen some standout performances from both big names but also rising stars. I’m already looking forward to next year’s draft to see how we shape up in 2023.”
Oval Invincibles batter Suzie Bates added: “Coming over from New Zealand, I was keen to experience The Hundred after seeing it last year and to finish up winning the competition is an unbelievable feeling. It is amazing that through the Commonwealth Games and now a domestic competition in The Hundred, we’ve been playing in front of massive crowds, which is amazing for women’s cricket, and why the biggest names in the game are coming to play here.”
Image: Nathan Stirk – ECB/ECB via Getty Images/Creative Commons