After England came from behind to beat South Africa 2-1 in the final series of the summer – three matches when they scored at 4.09 runs an over, a figure exceeded in their history only by the 4.54 they reached when New Zealand were beaten earlier this summer – Joe Root believes the team are making Test cricket so exciting that the Hundred might end up redundant.
When the Hundred was announced in 2018 the then England and Wales Cricket Board chair, Colin Graves, said it was required because “the younger generation, whether you like it our not, are just not attracted to cricket”, because “they want something different, they want it more exciting, they want it shorter”. But Root believes this England team is different and more exciting while those in search of shorter cricket will have enjoyed a South Africa series that ranks, in terms of balls bowled, as the second-shortest three-Test series since 1896, with its deciding match the shortest completed Test played in England in 110 years.
