The Hundred is not perfect but it is exactly what women's sport needed

Since its inception in 2017, there have been two types of critics of The Hundred - the ECB's flashy new franchise-style tournament designed to bring cricket to a new audience.

The first type vehemently insisted from day one they would not watch it and are presumably sat counting the days until the resumption of the County Championship.

The other type, meanwhile, snuggled into their armchairs for the opening match of the inaugural tournament with a notepad and pen beside them, ready to pinpoint the new tournament's each and every flaw.

But after watching the curtain-raiser between Oval Invincibles Women and Manchester Originals Women, they would have been unpleasantly surprised.

In a pulsating opening encounter, the Originals had set a target of 136 and the Invincibles chased it down with just two balls to spare thanks to an unbeaten knock of 56 from captain Dane van Niekerk.

Forget the dazzling kits and simplistic terminology, the truncated format and unnecessary white cards flashed by umpires to indicate the end of a 'set', good cricket is good cricket and there is little to dislike about what we have seen on the field in the last week.

But anything new will always have its critics and many will point out that we can already see this kind of high-octane cricket in the form of Twenty20 tournaments such as the Blast, Indian Premier League and Big Bash League. And they would be right.

So what is the point in The Hundred? Well the answer lies in that opening contest between the Invincibles and the Originals.

The ECB opted to start their new-fangled competition with a game between two women's teams and it has proved to be a masterstroke.

The match attracted audience figures of 1.95 million - with 3.8 million watching for at least three minutes or more across all channels - and 35 per cent of that audience were female.

This was, of course, aided by the fact that it was also one of 18 matches in the tournament to have been snapped up by BBC and iPlayer, which only further inflates the potential audience size.

Add to that a stadium attendance of 7,395, which broke the modern-day record for a domestic women's match, and this feels like a tremendous breakthrough not only in women's cricket but in women's sport.

As has been the case with other franchise leagues around the globe, the initial format was set to see men's matches take place at renowned venues with the women's teams playing at smaller grounds.

But as a result of Covid (I look forward to the day when that is no longer a phrase), both men and women's fixtures are now being played at the same venues on the same days with just one ticket required to see both matches.

The stubborn armchair critics may be quick to point out the women's games are piggybacking off the men's and that is true to a certain extent - the failed Women's Super League which ran from 2016 to 2019 before collapsing suggests we still have a way to go before women's teams can play in a standalone league.

But some of the greatest moments in The Hundred so far have been on the women's side, from Harmanpreet Kaur’s inside-out drive over extra cover, to Laura Kimmince, who also works as an emergency department nurse, firing all five balls from Sarah Glenn for four.

I am not going to pretend it is perfect. As with any new rule change or tournament, The Hundred has had its teething problems.

The aforementioned white cards shown between sets (you can probably tell that bugs me) should probably be scrapped and the ECB must play close attention to the over rate if they are aiming for matches to finish within two and a half hours.

The time of year when The Hundred takes place is also problematic with established county cricket expected to take a hit and a headline Test series between England and India set to start next week.

It was always going to be a gamble for the men's game but what many struggle to see is that it is possible to recognise the tournament's flaws while simultaneously singing its praises and, as Nasser Hussain affirmed, "the biggest plus so far has been the women's game".

Sure, cricket purists will cringe a little when a bowler completes their tenth successive ball or those pesky white cards are raised in the air (last time, I promise) but is that not worth it to see young families in the crowd watching the world's greatest female players show what they are made of?

It is still evolution rather than revolution and women's cricket still has a long way to go. The highest salary band for women is £15,000 yet that figure is £100,000 for men - that is hardly surprising of course but there have been arguments that women having to give up work due to biosecurity situations before the tournament should be earning more.

That, unfortunately, is an issue for another day. But in a month when Team GB is represented at an Olympics by more female athletes than male athletes for the first time in 125 years, there is reason to be optimistic about the future.

For now, though, put away the notebook and pen, sit back and enjoy some great cricket in the form of The Hundred. It's not perfect, but it's a start.

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