“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.”
“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
“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.
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Is the top of the order still the best place to bat in the Hundred?
“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.”
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
Source: ESPN Crickinfo