The Hundred is a 100-ball domestic cricket competition which was launched by the England and Wales Cricket Board in the summer of 2021.

Eight city-based franchises compete in men's and women's tournaments and organisers will be hoping that The Hundred's popularity continues to grow in its fourth season in 2024.

The Hundred Dates

The 2024 fixture list for The Hundred is yet to be confirmed, but the competition is likely to start in the last week of July with the men's and women's finals played in late August.

The Hundred Time

Most of The Hundred fixtures are double-headers featuring women's and men's matches at the same venue on the same day.

The women's matches usually start at 2.30pm or 3pm with the men's games commencing at 6pm or 6.30pm.

The Hundred Venues

The eight teams in The Hundred are located in various cities across England and Wales, with matches taking place in Birmingham, London, Manchester, Leeds, Southampton, Nottingham and Cardiff.

Birmingham Phoenix play their home games at Edgbaston, Oval Invincibles at The Oval, London Spirit at Lord's, Manchester Originals at OId Trafford, Northern Superchargers at Headingley, Southern Brave at the Rose Bowl, Trent Rockets at Trent Bridge and Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens.

The men's and women's finals are held at Lord's.

The Hundred How to watch

Fans of The Hundred can watch every ball of every match on Sky Sports' dedicated channel, Sky Sports The Hundred. 

BBC Sport are also planning to broadcast several men's and women's fixtures during the 2024 summer on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

The Hundred Format

The Hundred is a 100-ball cricket tournament which involves eight men's and eight women's teams. The teams are all located in major cities across England and Wales and the ECB governs the event.

Like one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches, The Hundred is a limited-overs event in which each team bats in a single innings made up of 100 deliveries.

In the league stage of the competition, each side plays four matches at home and four games on the road.

The teams which finish top of the men's and women's league progresses straight into the final, while those who finish second and third in the table play off in an eliminator.

The Hundred History

The 2024 season will be the fourth edition of The Hundred. The inaugural event took place in 2021 and, despite some initial scepticism, the tournament has captured the imagination of limited-overs cricket fans.

Southern Brave were the first men's champions in 2021 with Trent Rockets lifting the trophy in 2022 and Oval Invincibles triumphing in 2023. Manchester Originals were the losing finalists in each of the last two campaigns.

In the women's tournament, Oval Invincibles claimed back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022 before Southern Brave, captained by England bowler Anya Shrubsole, beat Northern Superchargers by 34 runs in the 2023 final.

The Hundred Draft System

The men's and women's squads are made up of 15 players, four of whom can be from overseas. Players are signed using a draft system which is similar to those used in other franchise leagues such as the Indian Premier League.

At least one England international player is signed to each team in The Hundred but the draft is a crucial factor in the success of each franchise.

In 2023 the women's competition featured a draft for the first time. Each of the eight women's teams expanded their squads to eight players before the final seven spots were filled on an open-market basis.

In July 2023, the men's franchises were able to add two more players through the Wildcard Draft, which offers opportunities to players who have impressed during the Vitality Blast, the T20 tournament for English county teams.

The Hundred Favourites

Oval Invincibles Men were worthy champions of The Hundred in 2023, losing only one of their eight league matches before a 14-run victory over Manchester Originals in the final.

The Invincibles should be favourites to retain their crown if they retain their strong core of England internationals including Will Jacks, Jason Roy, Sam Curran, Sam Billings, Gus Atkinson and Tom Curran, who was player of the match in the 2023 final.

The Originals, led by England's limited-overs captain Jos Buttler, were runners-up in 2022 and 2023 and will beaiming to go one better in 2024.

Southern Brave finished third in 2023, having won the title in 2021, and they will be hoping to have England fast bowler Jofra Archer fit for the fourth edition of The Hundred.

The Brave are defending champions in the women's competition, having lost in the 2021 and 2022 finals, although their skipper Anya Shrubsole retired from cricket after their 2023 victory.

They will hope to retain England batter Danni Wyatt, player of the match in the final, and India star Smriti Mandhana but Oval Invincibles are eyeing up a third title in four seasons in 2024.

The Invincibles had to cope without injured captain Dane van Niekerk in 2023, but Marizanne Kapp = another South Africa international - was named player of the series.