With the Women's Euros done and dusted, it's time to turn our attention to the cricket. The Hundred is a high-octane, quick-fire competition between eight teams (16 if you count both men's and women's) — with various matches hosted in London, alongside other cities in England and Wales.
What is The Hundred?
A fast-paced version of cricket, as its name hints, The Hundred is a format in which each team bowls, and is bowled, a maximum of 100 balls. Designed to be more 'accessible' — appealing to younger sports fans and the family market — The Hundred is zippier than T20 cricket, and a lot quicker than test match cricket. Games last around two-and-a-half-hours. It's more colourful than traditional cricket (quite literally given the outfits), and there's added pyrotechnics and blasts of loud music. One critic described it as "fast-food cricket", but let's be honest, we don't all have time to lounge around in our Panama hats sipping G&Ts for four or five days at a time. The first professional Hundred series was played in 2021 — and the format's proved a hit, with tickets selling well.
Who's playing in The Hundred?
A men's and women's version of eight teams battle it out in The Hundred. Two of these teams hail from London. the teams are: Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit (based at Lord's in north London), Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers (Leeds), Oval Invincibles (based at the Oval in south London), Southern Brave (Southampton), Trent Rockets (Nottingham) and Welsh Fire (Cardiff).
London is home to both 2024 champions: the Oval Invincibles (men's team) and London Spirit (women's team).
When is The Hundred played?
The Hundred 2025 runs from Tuesday 5 August-Sunday 31 August.
The teams play one another once in group matches — with a bonus match for local rivals (in London's case, London Spirit and Oval Invincibles play twice). Teams are awarded two points for a win, one for a tie and zero for a loss. The team with the highest points in the group stages goes through to the final.
An 'Eliminator' is played on Saturday 30 August between the teams who finish second and third in the group stages.
The winner of the Eliminator plays the team that finished top in the group stage, on Sunday 31 August.
Which matches in The Hundred are played in London?
In all cases, both the men's and women's teams play on the same dates, women first, men second. At time of writing, tickets for all matches are either selling fast, limited — or in one case, sold out.
- London Spirit Vs Oval Invincibles @ Lord's, Tuesday 5 August
- Oval Invincibles Vs Manchester Originals @ the Oval Saturday 9 August (tickets now sold out)
- London Spirit Vs Trent Rockets @ Lord's, Thursday 14 August
- Oval Invincibles Vs Welsh Fire @ the Oval, Saturday 16 August
- London Spirit Vs Northern Superchargers @ Lord's, Wednesday 20 August
- Oval Invincibles Vs Trent Rockets @ the Oval, Thursday 21 August
- London Spirit Vs Southern Brave @ Lord's, Saturday 23 August
- Oval Invincibles Vs London Spirit @ the Oval, Monday 25 August
- The Eliminator @ the Oval, Saturday 30 August
- The Final @ Lord's, Sunday 31 August
Where's good for watching The Hundred if I don't have tickets?
We'd recommend booking a table at a branch of Sixes Social Cricket (Fitzrovia, Fulham, London Bridge, Shepherd's Bush, Stratford, Boxpark Wembley). Not only are they screening games, you can play in The Hundred game mode, in the batting cages.
The Hundred, Tuesday 5 August-Sunday 31 August 2025
