The Hundred 2023 has finally landed — here’s what to expect

Cricket’s newest and most exciting format, The Hundred, is back for the third year running and whether you hear this phrase all the time or not, it really is going to be bigger and better than ever.

The fast-paced and increasingly popular cricket series starts this month and our home team Manchester Originals get underway on Wednesday, 2 August, with the aim of going one better than last year and winning the whole thing.

Consisting of eight teams across seven of the UK’s biggest cities, The Hundred attracts the top women’s and men’s talent from across the world and it’s already becoming a sporting phenomenon.

With that being said, The Hundred 2023 is about much more than just cricket, so here’s everything you need to know to prepare for this year’s tournament.

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The Hundred Fixtures

Getting underway on Monday, 1 August with the opening matches between the Trent Rockets and Southern Brave over in Nottingham — with the reigning men’s champions winning by six runs while Brave women’s team beat the Rockets by 27 — the remaining 32 matches will take place over the next month.

Manchester Originals kick off their campaign on Tuesday, 2 August against Welsh Fire in Cardiff and, in case you weren’t aware already, one of the best parts about The Hundred is that every round is a double-header of men’s and women’s games, meaning you get twice the action.

Your first double dose of the Originals at their home comes on Saturday, 5 August, when the Manc team take on London Spirit at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground — one of Manchester’s favourite and most iconic sporting arenas.

You can see the full list of fixtures HERE.

Live music and entertainment

In between the 100-ball games, the action doesn’t stop though; The Hundred is known for hosting top-notch live music and entertainment all day long and this year’s lineup is as good as any.

As well as highly impressive light shows and pyrotechnics before and after the games, you’ve got DJ sets from our resident DJ Roesh and live performances from artists at each matchday through The Hundred’s partnership with BBC Music Introducing.

In terms of who’ll be playing in Manchester, you’ll be treated to local chart-toppers, The Lottery Winners, who are returning for the third year on the trot to serenade their city, as well as the likes of Manc-born R&B star, Akemi Fox, rising hip-hop and spoken word artist, Antony Szmierek, just to name a few.

You can see the full lineup for the four rounds of fixtures being played at the Emirates Old Trafford down below and make sure to check out our Kendal Calling interview with the Leigh legends while you’re at it too.

Sky Zero’s Summer

Working with Sky Sports’ Summer of Sustainability campaign and Transport for Greater Manchester, Manchester Originals are encouraging fans to travel green to their home fixtures this season. Emirates Old Trafford is even allowing fans to recreate the ‘Walk of Fame’ to the wicket at Lord’s Cricket Ground, which will be filmed so they can share with their friends and family whilst inspiring them to travel green and play their part in protecting the sports they love.

Along with other green measures for 2023, they’ll be benchmarking on four of the matchdays to assess the impact of their sustainable efforts.

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• The 2023 Davis Cup is coming to Manchester’s AO Arena this September

The Hundred remains an affordable day out with adult tickets starting from £15, under 16s just £5 and any kids under 6 are absolutely free. Ace, right?

You can grab yours HERE.

This also means you have all the more pennies to spend on food and drink on the day, as well as copping your 2023/24 Manchester Originals kit in time for their first game at the Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday, 5 August, where we’re sure we’ll be treated to them smashing non-stop sixes.

It’s Manchester’s year, the men’s and the women’s, we can feel it. They certainly made a quick and easy job of it when we had a go at playing them…

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Featured Image — The Hundred