The England and Wales Cricket Board who had earlier proposed to replace the terminology ‘wicket’ with ‘out’ for The Hundred cricket tournament The Hundred in an attempt to make it easier to understand for the newcomers to the game have since dropped the plan, according to reports.
The Hundred Cricket Remains with Wicket
The Telegraph earlier this month had reported that the governing body was considering overhauling some of cricket’s traditional terminology in an attempt to attract a new audience to the game, with ‘batters’ also possibly replacing ‘batsmen’.
The proposals were heavily criticised by cricket fans, who slammed the ‘Americanised’ words in order to pander to the desires of potential new supporters.
But now the London Evening Standard claims the traditional term of ‘wicket’ will remain in place for The Hundred Cricket tournament.
According to the Evening Standard, the ECB have decided against using ‘outs’ to refer to ‘wickets’ during The Hundred.
The article reports that one confirmed terminology change is that ‘Match Hero’ will be used in place of ‘Player of the Match’.#TheHundred2021 pic.twitter.com/5YvIiBNpZf
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 23, 2021
The decision, the report claims, has been taken to ensure consistency with the other shorter and longer formats of the game, with the word ‘out’ still only being used to describe the action of a batsman’s dismissal.
However, a terminology change is on the horizon, with the Player of the Match set to be named the Match Hero in the competition, while there is no confirmation either way on whether the more gender-neutral term ‘batters’ will be introduced.
Earlier this month, former Australia spinner Brad Hogg led the backlash against the potential changes to cricketing terms.
‘The Hundred changing ‘wickets’ to ‘outs’ for dismissals is a little too much. Cricket is not baseball. It’s enough the changes in formats to tamper with the terminology!’, Hogg tweeted.
The ECB were considering alterations after focus groups reportedly told competitions organisers the traditional language of cricket can be too ‘complex’ – a complaint utterly rejected by Australian Hogg and supporters on social media.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan then warned Hundred chiefs in his column in The Telegraph they must drop ‘gimmicky changes for change’s sake’.
‘I like change in cricket but saying ‘outs’ instead of wickets makes The Hundred look even more gimmicky than it already is. I can understand batsmen changing to batters in this era but I don’t really get wickets to outs. That just looks like change for change’s sake. My only worry is, what next? Will cow corner be banned so as not to upset vegans?’
Despite the potential changes, Vaughan added that he believes The Hundred can provide a product to rival the successful glamour of the Indian Premier League.
‘Cricket has to be careful not to alienate them (existing fans) too much by changing too many things for the sake of it and risk it becoming a laughing stock because I think inadvertently they have stumbled across the right tournament,’ he added.
The ECB has also collaborated with house music star Jax Jones to produce a song called ‘Feels’ for The Hundred, which was first used in an advert for the competition that was released on Wednesday.
‘The Hundred will showcase world-class sporting action on the pitch and stars from the world of entertainment off it,’ the ECB told the Standard.
Also read: “The Hundred” Cricket Squad, Schedule, Where to Buy Tickets and How To Watch
