Lewis Gregory, the Trent Rockets captain, believes that indifferent pitches are the root cause of the drop-off in scores in the men's Hundred this season. The average first-innings total has slumped from 155 last summer to 133 this year, while after 14 scores of 170-plus in 2023 there has only been one so far in 2024.
Several players have blamed the ball, which deviates more than the standard-issue white Kookaburra on account of the extra lacquer required for the Hundred's branding. But the balls have exactly the same specifications as last season, and Gregory believes that "tired" pitches are to blame for the low-scoring games across the country.
"I don't think the surfaces have been particularly great across the board," he said. "These balls do seem to swing a fraction more than the normal white Kookaburras that we use in the Blast. I just think the combination of that and some tired pitches at the back end of an English season has made it quite difficult for free-flowing striking."
Rockets were bowled out for 118 by Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston on Monday night, a result which saw them eliminated at the group stages. They struggled against the substantial new-ball movement which has been a theme of the Hundred this year, slipping to 22 for 4 after 30 balls with Tim Southee and Chris Wood taking early wickets.
"You're seeing the ball get off straight a lot, which obviously makes it difficult to whack out of the park when the ball is moving around," Gregory said. "There's a lot of cricket throughout the English summer and [we are] coming towards the back end. There are a few tired wickets that bring spinners into the game, and then there's a few wickets that have done a lot for the seamers."
The Hundred is being staged at the same eight venues as in previous summers, but the UK has experienced an unusually high level of rainfall this year, contributing to groundstaff's challenges. "I'm not quite sure what the cause is, but in the past we've played on some better surfaces than we have this year," Gregory said.
The average first-innings score in the women's Hundred has hardly changed from last year: 133 in 2023 to 130 in 2024. Some pundits have suggested that the women's game has benefitted from groundstaff leaving more grass on pitches this season.
Why Rockets retired Imad out
During Monday's loss, Rockets became the fourth team this season to retire a batter out, sending Chris Green in to replace Imad Wasim with 14 balls left in order to target a short leg-side boundary against Dan Mousley's offspin. Imad had just faced three successive dot balls to reach 29 off 29 balls, but Rockets collapsed to be bowled out off the final ball of the innings.
"We spoke about [retiring Imad out] for the last 20 balls, with having a right-hander to [hit towards] the short side, and the two balls before that he hit for four, so we thought we'd give him another five balls," Gregory explained. "It was about trying to get a right-left [combination] in with obviously a shorter side.
"Imad did a brilliant job for us in tricky circumstances, coming in early [at 22 for 4]. He had a great partnership with Tom Alsop and we just tried to get Chris Green in, who in the first game went and got 25 off 7, so [we were] hoping that he could reproduce that… whether that was the right decision or wrong decision, we don't know."
Imad joined Sam Billings, Wayne Madsen and Kathryn Bryce in retiring out tactically in the Hundred this year, and Gregory expects the ploy to become increasingly common: "We've spoken about it throughout the competition and everyone's been happy, if there's a case to retire someone, everyone's comfortable with that. We pulled the trigger on that last night.
"The shorter the format, you will see it a bit more… there's not much time, and if you think someone's not quite got the surface or the opposite down, it is giving someone else an opportunity to be able to do that. I don't think you'll see stacks of it, I just think you're trying to create small margins that might help you.
"It doesn't always work. It's one of those. I think guys now are realising if they're struggling, or there's an opportunity for someone else to come in that can potentially smack them out of the park, then I think guys are comfortable with that."
KP Snacks, the Official Team Partner of The Hundred, is continuing its initiative to build 100 new community cricket pitches across England and Wales, with 35 brand new pitches going down in 2024. To find out more and search for your nearest pitch, click here.