Worcestershire favour truncating The Hundred over reduction of county fixtures

Worcestershire have registered their opposition to a proposed reduction of county fixtures, instead putting forward their own idea to “truncate” The Hundred.

The Pears have joined a handful of teams in coming out against key recommendations of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s high-performance review, specifically suggestions to cut back the LV= County Championship and Vitality Blast schedules.

There has been minimal appetite within the domestic game for that part of the Sir Andrew Strauss-led blueprint, casting doubt over the forthcoming vote of first-class counties. A two-thirds majority of 12 is required to push ahead with the suggested overhaul from 2024.

And while Worcestershire are neither the first, nor the most voluble, to make their voice heard, they have set themselves aside by suggesting The Hundred should be squeezed.

The two-year-old tournament has previously appeared to enjoy protected status, covered by a television deal through to 2028 and the support of Strauss’ review team. But the arrival of Richard Gould – a 100-ball sceptic during his time at Surrey – as chief executive of the ECB could lead to a revision.

A statement from Worcestershire read: “The Sir Andrew Strauss-led High Performance Review (HPR) has many aspects that we support looking through the important lens of improving international performance.

“However, at the county level, reducing County Championship fixtures is not supported. Our preference and desire is to maintain 14 games rather than reduce to 10 games, as proposed.

“We totally support the best v best over-riding principle in the HPR and believe this can be achieved with two divisions rather than three leagues of six counties. We favour a true meritocracy with two up and two down from each division.

“Worcestershire does not support reducing the number of Vitality Blast games from the current level of 14 games. That would be particularly harmful to counties like ours that do not have alternative games to host. A reduction in County Championship and Vitality Blast fixtures would harm the holistic health of cricket in our county and beyond.

“Our preference would be to truncate The Hundred (if possible) to reduce strain on the overall schedule.”