The Hundred 2024: All you need to know as Andrew Flintoff coaches Northern Superchargers

All you need to know ahead of the 2024 edition of The Hundred, which is live on Sky Sports from July 23 to August 18.

What's new for 2024?

Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff will take up his first head coaching role when he leads Northern Superchargers' men's side.

Flintoff - who played 227 times for his country across the formats between 1998 and 2009 and won The Ashes twice - has recently been part of England men's white-ball coaching staff, including at June's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.

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England Test batter Harry Brook will captain Superchargers this year, while England red-ball skipper Ben Stokes is set to play in the tournament for the first time since 2021 with the all-rounder available for up to four games for the Headingley-based side.

England's Test batters, including Brook and Stokes, Joe Root (Trent Rockets), Zak Crawley (London Spirit) and Ben Duckett (Birmingham Phoenix) will be free to play following the conclusion of the third Test against West Indies from July 26-30, with the bowlers' availability dependent on workload and international selection.

New signings for the 2024 campaign include West Indies' Nicholas Pooran, with Flintoff choosing the hard-hitting left-hander for Superchargers with the opening pick in the draft.

Ollie Pope, Dawid Malan and Jason Roy are among those with new clubs - Pope has moved to London Spirit from Welsh Fire, Malan has swapped Trent Rockets for Oval Invincibles, while has Roy linked up with Flintoff at Superchargers after being released by Invincibles.

In the women's tournament, former Australia captain Meg Lanning will make her Hundred debut after being drafted by Spirit, while Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu has been signed by Invincibles.

All England Women players will be available throughout the competition as it does not clash with any international cricket.

Who are the teams involved?

The eight city-based teams are: Birmingham Phoenix London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire.

Every match day is a double header, with a women's game in the afternoon followed by a men's fixture in the evening at the same ground, starting on Tuesday July 23 with Oval Invincibles vs Birmingham Phoenix. Every match is live on Sky Sports.

And where are games being played?

Phoenix play home games at Edgbaston, Spirit at Lord's, Originals at Emirates Old Trafford and Superchargers at Headingley.

Invincibles' home is The Kia Oval and Brave are based at the Utilita Bowl, while Rockets play at Trent Bridge and Fire at Sophia Gardens.

How do matches work?

• One hundred balls a side, the team with the most runs wins. It's as simple as that.
• Five bowlers can bowl up to 20 balls in an innings, including five or 10 in a row.
• The traditional six-ball overs seen in other forms of cricket are not used in The Hundred with 10 balls bowled before a change of ends.
• The powerplay is for the first 25 balls of an innings with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
• A 25-ball-a-side game is the minimum length that can be played in the event of wet weather
• If a match in the knockout stages is tied, a Super 5 will be played, with the winner being the team scoring the most runs from a further five balls each.

How does the tournament work?

• In the league phase, sides play six other teams once and their nearest rivals twice.
• We will, therefore, get two Invincibles vs Spirit matches and two Superchargers vs Originals games. Brave will play Fire twice and Rockets will meet Phoenix on two occasions.
• Teams earn two points for a win and one in the event of a tie or no result.
• If sides finish on the same number of points, league position is determined by net run-rate.
• The side that finishes top of the league table will secure immediate progression to the final, with the teams in second and third subsequently meeting in an eliminator to determine the second finalists.

Who are the defending champions?

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Brave Women finally landed their first title in 2023, having been beaten in the finals of the 2021 and 2022 editions by Oval Invincibles. Brave ensured seam bowler Anya Shrubsole retired on a winning note with a 34-run victory over Northern Superchargers.

Shrubsole picked up one wicket in her last game while Lauren Bell and Kalea Moore took three apiece as Superchargers were rolled for 105 chasing Brave's total of 139, in which England's Danni Wyatt (59 off 38 balls) and Freya Kemp (31 off 17) impressed.

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Invincibles were unable to pull off a three-peat in the women's tournament, then - failing to advance beyond the league phase after finishing fifth - but their men's team secured their maiden trophy after beating Manchester Originals by 14 runs in the final.

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Invincibles were reeling on 34-5 after 36 balls with Jason Roy and Sam Curran out for nought but Sam's brother Tom and New Zealander Jimmy Neesham hit half-centuries, sharing the highest partnership in men's Hundred history of 127 from 65 balls.

Originals could only reply with 141-6 as they suffered defeat in the final for the second straight year, after losing to Trent Rockets in 2022.

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When does this year's tournament begin and end?

The action gets going at The Kia Oval on Tuesday with defending men's champions Invincibles hosting Phoenix in the evening (6.30pm), after the Invincibles women's team play their Phoenix counterparts in the afternoon (2.45pm).

The league stage runs until Thursday August 15, concluding with the Birmingham Phoenix vs Manchester Originals men's and women's double header at Edgbaston.

The eliminators then take place at The Kia Oval on Saturday August 17 with the finals subsequently held at Lord's the following day as the 2024 champions are crowned.

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