"It is creating an environment so close to international cricket with the best players in the world and in England coming together"
Tuesday 22 October 2019 08:36, UK
Ben Stokes says The Hundred will give players on the fringes of the England team "big-game exposure" that they can take into international cricket.
Stokes, allocated to Northern Superchargers, was in attendance for Sunday's draft at Sky Studios, at which a number of English players went for hefty fees.
Liam Livingstone was picked up by Birmingham Phoenix for £125k and will now play alongside Kane Williamson, while Ben Duckett, a £75k acquisition for Welsh Fire, will have Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc as team-mates.
"The IPL is a great tournament to be a part of but it also gets you used to playing in big games, you become accustomed to it because you are playing in front of 20,000 people," said Stokes, who has played in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant.
"The players here are going to get exposed to that [in The Hundred] - that hasn't happened in England before at domestic level. It is creating an environment so close to international cricket with the best players in the world and in England coming together.
"Livingstone, Duckett - guys who haven't played much international cricket but will do because they are very good players - will have the experience to look back on and take that big-game exposure in with them.
"It's going to be awesome, a really big thing.
England's World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, who will captain the Shane Warne-coached London Spirit in the inaugural season of The Hundred next summer, believes the 100-ball competition can become one of the strongest tournaments on the planet.
"The opportunity that The Hundred brings is extraordinary," said Morgan. "You see the coaches, the players selected - they are world-class.
"This is going to be one of the biggest and best tournaments in the world and the big opportunity for us is to give it to someone like Livingstone, who hasn't played a lot of international cricket but will become well known.
"You will have guys becoming better performers in high-pressure situations, simply by playing against some of the best players in the world."
Morgan hopes The Hundred can help England's next generation of players after explaining how the experiences himself and the likes of Stokes and Jos Buttler enjoyed in the IPL played a crucial role in the country's maiden 50-over World Cup triumph this summer.
"[The IPL] was absolutely huge as part of our development," added the 33-year-old, whose Spirit team-mates include overseas stars Glenn Maxwell (Australia) and Mohammad Amir (Pakistan) as well as young English stars Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley and Mason Crane.
"We had a lot of talented guys and we wanted to get the most out of that talent by giving them opportunities to play in other tournaments around the world.
"We have seen people like Ben and Jos go to the IPL and be in huge demand from every team. They have gone there and performed as some of the best players in the tournament.
"That was a huge confidence booster not only for the changing room but those guys who were playing.
"We didn't have to wait for an international series to come up against some of the best players, perform well against them and beat them.
"Guys are coming back from these tournaments with really positive thoughts and ideas about the game."
Watch The Hundred, live on Sky Sports from July 2020.
