It was a night that was meant to herald a bold new chapter in English cricket. With six of The Hundred’s eight franchises now privately owned, the stage was set for the competition’s glitzy relaunch. But while the investors dazzled in the stands, London Spirit's men faltered under the lights at Lord’s.

Among those watching were the “Tech Titans” – a consortium of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who had recently secured ownership of the Spirit in a record-breaking £295 million deal. Their arrival marks a new era at the Home of Cricket, one where venture capital meets tradition. The group was seen enjoying the facilities at Lord’s, even dining in the Pavilion the night before. Operational control of the franchise formally began on October 1, but their presence was already being felt.

Unfortunately, Spirit’s men did little to match the fanfare. Bowled out for a meagre 80 on a sluggish pitch, the side failed to provide any spark. A lineup dominated by players over 30 struggled to adapt, managing just nine boundaries in 94 balls. “It wasn’t a shocking pitch,” admitted Liam Dawson, “we just didn’t adjust quickly enough.”

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Spirit Women Shine as Investors Eye the Future of The Hundred

In stark contrast, the women’s match offered the fireworks that the occasion demanded. Grace Harris’ explosive 89* outshone Meg Lanning’s stylish 85 as Spirit successfully defended 176, with over 15,000 fans in attendance by the second innings. It was a reminder that, despite the corporate reshuffling, the competition still has the power to thrill.

Meanwhile, Akash Ambani – chairman of Reliance Jio – continued discussions for a deal involving the Oval Invincibles, attending both the Test at The Oval and the Hundred opener. Rashid Khan, a key part of Invincibles’ plans, noted his link with the Mumbai Indians franchise had helped pave the way for his move.

For now, the fifth season of The Hundred feels like a bridge year – a transitional phase ahead of what’s expected to be a transformative sixth edition. The investments are locked in. What remains uncertain is how much will change once the new owners take full control.

Cricket is gearing up for a major global shake-up as the Champions League T20 format is set to return – this time with a new identity. Reports suggest the revamped competition will be called the World Club Championship, bringing together the winners of the world’s top T20 franchise leagues in a blockbuster tournament format.

Several sources have indicated that the event will take place in 2026, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) being two of the most invested in the revival. Furthermore, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has also given support to the idea, signalling its desire to take club T20 cricket globally.

Participating Leagues in the Inaugural Edition:

However, there’s a major omission. No team from the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will feature in the first edition, reportedly due to Pakistan Cricket Board’s absence from a key meeting held in London. The meeting, hosted under the ICC’s umbrella, was attended by representatives of all the major T20 leagues, including the Emirates League, SA20, CPL, and more. The Lahore Qalandars, the reigning PSL champions, will miss out.

Building a Unified T20 Ecosystem – and Blunting Saudi Ambitions

ECB CEO Richard Gould, in a statement to ESPNcricinfo, confirmed that the tournament is indeed "on the cards" for both men and women, calling it “the next logical step” for the evolution of franchise cricket.

The World Club Championship is also reportedly being fast-tracked to counter the emergence of the Saudi Cricket League, a high-budget T20 initiative backed by a reported USD 400 million investment. Saudi plans to model their league on the tennis Grand Slam format, but opposition from top cricket boards like the BCCI and ECB – who are unlikely to grant NOCs to their players – has already created roadblocks.

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With nearly every cricketing nation now boasting a franchise T20 league, a unified global competition makes strategic sense. It not only provides a global stage for top-performing teams but also gives players from emerging leagues – like those in the UAE and USA – a golden opportunity to rub shoulders with the sport’s elite.

A Global Reboot of Franchise Cricket's Biggest Stage

The concept closely mirrors the now-defunct Champions League T20, which ran from 2009 to 2014. That tournament saw top clubs from the IPL, BBL, South Africa’s Ram Slam, and others compete in a high-stakes, intercontinental format. The new World Club Championship aims to revive that legacy – but with a more inclusive, globally aligned structure.

Though the exact format and schedule are still under discussion, the World Club Championship is likely to:

• Feature winners (or top teams) from each major T20 league
  
• Rotate venues globally
  
• Feature both men’s and women’s editions in the long run
  
• Be supported by strong broadcast and commercial deals
  

The stage is now being set for what could become cricket’s ultimate franchise showdown. With most of the cricketing world on board and ICC backing secured, the World Club Championship promises to redefine the global T20 calendar – and spark new rivalries along the way.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Luke Williams has been named the new head coach of Southern Brave for the Women’s Hundred 2025, stepping into the role vacated by Charlotte Edwards, who recently took over as head coach of the England women's national team.

Williams has been with the Brave for a long time and led RCB to their first Women's Premier League (WPL) title in 2024. He was Edwards' assistant since the first Hundred, when Southern Brave made it to the finals in 2021 and 2022 and won their first title in 2023.

His coaching pedigree also includes back-to-back Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) titles with the Adelaide Strikers in 2022 and 2023. In a further show of his rising profile, Williams was among the consultant coaches with England Women during their recent home series against the West Indies.

"It's a privilege to take charge of Southern Brave this year from Charlotte Edwards," Williams said in a statement. "Having worked with the team for a number of years, we have an excellent group of players and staff. We also recruited well in the draft earlier this year, so hopefully we can get back to Finals Day and lift the trophy this summer." Williams will continue to work with familiar faces at the Brave, including South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt, who also plays under him at the Adelaide Strikers.

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Marcus Trescothick Named Batting Coach of Southern Brave Men's Team Ahead of Hundred 2025

In another key move, former England opener Marcus Trescothick has been appointed as the batting coach for the Southern Brave men’s team for the 2025 season. He replaces Jimmy Adams, who is set to coach Hampshire during the One Day Cup in August.

Trescothick currently serves as the England men's national team’s batting coach and briefly stepped in as interim head coach for the white-ball squad last July. The role with Southern Brave marks his first coaching assignment in the Hundred.

These appointments come as both the men's and women's Brave sides look to build on their recent successes and make a strong push for titles in the upcoming Hundred season.

Cricket and its shortest format are not alien to records. As the game evolves with the rise of franchise T20 competitions, the apex body, the ICC (International Cricket Council), awarding international status to every T20 game played between two countries worldwide, and pitches becoming increasingly flatter, have aided the format in several ways. There has been a massive surge in scoring rates, with 200-plus totals increasingly becoming just about par and the new norm. At the heart of things are batters who, at their prolific best, possess the calibre and power to uptick run-scoring, on their way to smash personal hundreds. They deal in high strike rates, profound shot-making, and percentage cricket. Their value for shots fetches them maximum rewards, even though it is risky most of the time. 

With multiple lucrative franchise-level leagues operating throughout the year, across all the cricketing nations, and beyond, players have great opportunities to gain exposure and improve their skills. Playing with foreign stars builds a social community at the expense of the international game. With the rise of such tournaments and the subsequent decline in international cricket, players have become globetrotters and ply their trade professionally with the former. These leagues, running both domestically and internationally, offer immediate monetary benefits and are tempting for players and fans alike. With drop-in pitches being used mainly for such purposes, batters have found run-scoring easy and have thus been enabled to produce scintillating knocks of greater value, both in quantity and quality. Smashing a hundred, unlike past, seems a cakewalk. Small ground boundary dimensions and the usage of modern bats have only complemented that. Let's nosedive into the charts and explore the statistics of batters currently leading the way with the most T20 hundreds. This accounts for tons in age-group cricket, national side, franchise teams, etc. 

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Players with the most T20 hundreds 💯🔥

Glenn Maxwell equals Klinger, Warner, Finch, Butter, and Rohit 🤝 pic.twitter.com/LBRNwiWfL2

— CricketGully (@thecricketgully) June 18, 2025

Christopher Henry Gayle, also nicknamed 'The Universe Boss', is miles ahead of every other batter in the table. The now-retired Caribbean legend boasts an astonishing 22 T20 hundreds. These include tons for his national side, the West Indies, and all the numerous franchises he has played for. Some of the notable ones are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL), and the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Gayle, recognised as the best batter in T20 cricket history, was known for his effortless six-hitting, the ability to stand tall and produce humongous innings called 'Daddy Hundreds'. Babar Azam, Pakistan's run machine, is second on the list with 11 hundreds. Known as one of the most consistent batters around the world, Babar has played for quite a few domestic teams in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). 

Rilee Rossouw and Virat Kohli are next, tied on nine tons each. The former, a South African player, was once a mainstay in the middle order of the national unit and has played for reputed teams like the RCB, Somerset in England, and the Eagles in his home nation. Kohli has the most IPL hundreds (8) of any player, and once scored four of them, for the RCB, in a single season in 2016. Glenn Maxwell, currently playing in the Major League Cricket (MLC) for the Washington Freedom, has moved up the ranks after scoring 106 runs off 49 balls, including 13 sixes, in a winning cause. He is also the joint record holder for the most hundreds in T20 internationals, along with India's Rohit Sharma.

The table also includes the likes of star T20 players in David Warner, Aaron Finch, and Jos Buttler. Their names are enough to strike fear among opposition bowlers. Their T20 batting prowess is a cut above the rest, and therefore, they have been able to make names for themselves across households. A unique inclusion in the list is the veteran, Michael Klinger. The batter was a stalwart in Western Australia, and his batting single-handedly led the Perth Scorchers to glory in the BBL on several instances. 

The England and Wales Cricket Boaed (ECB) has officially announced the schedule for Hundred 2025 tournment the highly anicipited 100 ball competition from August 5 to August 31,2025,it has eight mens and eight womans teams 

The Highlights of the Hundred 2025:

Duration:August 5-August 31,2025

Finals:August 31,2025

Eliminator match:August 30,2025

Schedule for The Hundred 2025:

Eliminator & Final Matches

Live streaming Details:

Where to Watch The Hundred 2025?

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Both sides begin their campaign with defeats. With significant test stars missing there is a reason for them to find some tough moments as they eagerly wait for the next week.

LON vs BPO Match Details

Date: July 27th, 2024

Time:  11:05 PM IST

Venue: Lords, London

LON vs BPO Weather Report

Clear weather and a nice morning is expected for the game.

LON vs BPO Pitch Report

A good batting track with short boundaries will make it likely for a high-scoring fixture.

LON vs BPO Predicted Playing XI

BPO Playing XI

Will Smeed, Jacob Bethell, Moeen Ali, Benny Howell, Liam Livingstone, Dan Mousley, Rishi Patel, Adam Milne, Sean Abbott, James Fuller, Tom Helme

LON Playing XI

Daniel Bell Drummond, Adam Rossington, Michael Pepper, Dan Lawrence, Ravi Bopara, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Liam Dawson, Nathan Ellis, Olly Stone, Daniel Worrall

LON vs BPO Key Players

Olly Stone

Olly Stone is another bowler who is looking to show full fitness. He is in the plans for the Ashes but a good tournament here can help prove that his body can handle the pressure of fast bowling.

Will Smeed

Will Smeed is making strides as a talented player. He is in a strong player and remains another player to keep an eye on.

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LON vs BPO Match Tips

With a stronger looking middle-order, London may back themselves to find form and take the upcoming game.

Match Prediction: London Spirit. Will Win the Match