The Hundred: What is it & how to follow on the BBC

Last updated on .From the section The Hundred

What is The Hundred?

It's quite simple really.

The eight teams are spread across seven cities in the UK: London (London Spirit & Oval Invincibles), Manchester (Manchester Originals), Birmingham (Birmingham Phoenix), Leeds (Northern Superchargers), Nottingham (Trent Rockets), Southampton (Southern Brave) and Cardiff (Welsh Fire). Each has a men's and women's side.

The competition was due to start in 2020, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, with the first season taking place in 2021. Southern Brave took home the men's title, while Oval Invincibles claimed the women's crown.

This year the men's tournament will start on 3 August, while the women's will get under way on 11 August and be slightly condensed because of the women's T20 competition in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Teams have kept some of their players from last year but also signed up a host of new domestic and overseas talent, with this year's tournament set to be bigger and better than last year, with less restrictions on travel.

What is the format of the competition?

The men's teams will play eight games in the original group stage - twice against their local rivals (Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers for example) and once against the other six teams. This year, with the tournament starting later, the women will play six group matches.

Once the women's tournament begins, all of the fixtures will be double-headers at the same ground.

At the end of the group stage the top side automatically qualifies for the final at Lord's on 3 September, while the second and third-placed teams will face off in the eliminator at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton the day before, with the winner reaching the final.

The games themselves are simple: each team bats for 100 balls. Whoever scores the most runs wins.

How can I follow The Hundred?

You can watch 18 games live across the BBC throughout the tournament - 10 men's and eight women's matches.

All of the men's fixtures will be live on BBC Two - alongside BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app - while six of the women's games will be on BBC Two, with the other two available on BBC's digital platforms.

England captain Heather Knight and internationals Mark Wood, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan and Issy Wong will be part of the coverage.

There will be daily content on BBC iPlayer, either in the form of a live match or, new for this year, The Hundred Drop. Available from 07:00 BST and exclusive to BBC iPlayer, The Hundred Drop is a catch-up series that will showcase the best action from the previous day's matches, features and colour from the grounds, plus a look ahead at what's to come.

There is ball-by-ball radio commentary of every game, available across BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app. The website will also run live text commentary, accompanied with in-play video clips of all the best moments.

There are also extra features, analysis, quizzes and interactive content on the dedicated Hundred section.

What Hundred games can I watch live on BBC?