The Hundred: Switch to T20 and auction mooted - but Nasser Hussain and Jordan Cox urge against too much change

Change is afoot for The Hundred.

We don't yet know how quick or dramatic the tweaks will be but they are definitely coming as the overseas investors begin to exert their power on the tournament ahead of the 2026 edition.

Stakes in six of the eight franchises were completed earlier this summer while deals for Oval Invincibles - whose men's side won a third straight title in 2025 - and Trent Rockets are set to follow suit.

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Over £500m will be poured into the domestic game, helping safeguard its future, but those to have spent that money will surely want things their way when they officially take over their Hundred teams in October.

Names, kits, the player-signing process and perhaps even the 100-ball format could be tinkered with in future as The Hundred enters a radical new era.

Change from 100-ball to T20?

The Hundred format remains an outlier with other franchise tournaments adopting the T20 format that has skyrocketed since the advent of the IPL in 2007.

However, Jordan Cox - the leading run scorer in Invincibles men's 2025 triumph - is against moving to a T20-style, saying: "I absolutely love the format. I think it's the best format.

"I know a few people want it to go to T20, but why would you want to be the second-best comp in the world [behind the IPL]?

"We stand out with this. You are never going to be better than the IPL, so what's the point of changing and being second best?

"This is perfect for English cricket. Friends, family and kids love to come and watch, so why ruin it?"

The benefits of The Hundred's current format include that it take less time to complete than T20s, with 40 balls fewer per match.

Hundred days - which comprise a women's match and a men's game - are complete by 9.30pm on weekdays and 9pm at weekends, making it more appealing for families and easing travel home.

Southern Brave women's captain Georgia Adams added: "If you have young families, you watch the women's game and leave halfway through the men's before it gets rowdy. If you're there for a party you arrive a bit later, watch some of the women's cricket and stay on."

There is always the option to axe the double-headers if time is a concern but they have been one of the successes of The Hundred as men's and women's teams share environments and are often seen watching each other's matches.

Player acquisitions?

Hundred teams were permitted to retain as many as 10 players from their squads from 2024 ahead of the 2025 campaign, before completing their teams through drafts and one direct overseas signing.

From 2026 onwards, though, things could shift dramatically with an IPL-style auction a likely scenario after The Hundred's managing director Vikram Banerjee told ESPNcricinfo that a "reset" is coming.

Most players could be secured via the auction as in the IPL, with additional contracts awarded to players through direct signings, likely to be on multi-year deals.

An increase in salary pot is poised to come into effect in 2026, helping secure the services of cricket's biggest white-ball players who may currently be tempted to feature in America's Major League Cricket at the same time.

A lot of females are motivated by their environments and if you want to look to get the best out of people, players want to have some say in ideally where they go, especially homegrown domestic players. I wouldn't be a fan of an auction because I just don't see it fully working or having a great impact.

Sky Sports pundit and former England captain Nasser Hussain is anti too much change of player personnel, saying: "It is a month-long tournament and after about three weeks you get an association with what you are watching. The crowd and spectators know who is on their side.

"So I don't want too much change. I want to turn up, fans want to turn up, and know who is playing, who is captain and to have some sort of affiliation."

I'd be devastated [if Invincibles] got broken up but what will be, will be. We will try our best to keep a little group together, but the world and the cricket world is changing. We'll just try to play cricket and entertain.

Invincibles captain Sam Billings said: "If it was constant turnover [of players] every year, I don't like the idea of that. What the IPL does well is after various cycles you get change, you still keep the icon players.

"For example, Sam Curran will be retained regardless at The Oval. Not only because he is one of our best players but he is the Oval poster boy. From a marketing point of view it would be a no brainer.

"[An auction] definitely does give opportunity to other teams that haven't had the success. It gives them a blank canvas to say we can build a team to win a title in the next three years."

Team names?

The 'Tech Titans' - the group of investors to have purchased the Lord's-based London Spirit - have confirmed that the Spirit name will remain in future campaigns.

But Manchester Originals will incorporate the 'Super Giants' moniker into their name after Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group secured a 70 per cent stake in the team.

Goenka owns IPL side Lucknow Super Giants and SA20 outfit Durban Super Giants.

Originals' name change is unlikely to be the last among the eight franchises as Northern Superchargers are affiliated with the IPL's Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Invincibles, meanwhile, are poised to join Mumbai Indians' MI stable, which includes MI Cape Town in the SA20, and a switch of moniker to MI London has been mooted.

First Indian men's player in The Hundred?

Indian women stars like Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have played in The Hundred before but no man from the country has, with BCCI rules preventing Indian male cricketers from appearing in overseas leagues.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement from the IPL, which follows him stepping back from all international cricket late last year, means he is now eligible to appear overseas and intends to do just that, saying "my time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins".

With so much IPL influence in The Hundred, Ashwin rocking up there next year seems a decent shout.

Plus, you do wonder whether the BCCI will ease its restrictions in future regarding opportunities for its players abroad considering how Indian owners now dominate the global game.

Dinesh Karthik, of the Sky Sports commentary parish, was the first Indian man to play in another country's franchise league, representing Paarl Royals in the SA20 earlier this year.

How can winning and losing matter more?

Hussain says The Hundred does a lot of things right - but where is the tournament currently lacking?

"You cannot dispute the standard and quality of player - international and domestic - and you cannot dispute the crowd," he said.

"If you go to any Hundred game there is the youth and the family atmosphere - that part has been absolutely nailed - but the one thing I don't yet feel is the tribalism organisers said they wanted.

"I think you get it in the grounds at times, especially at The Oval and Headingley, but I don't think you get it at home so much. It's a bit 'yellow team against green team, green team against blue team'.

"I want a bit more 'this matters, we care about this', so that you are really disappointed when you lose and it is brilliant when you win."