I’d like Hundred to be longer – Salt
Welsh Fire captain Phil Salt has said he would like The Hundred to run for an extra week, after his side played three matches in five days, travelling between Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester. He acknowledged the difficulty of extending the tight schedule but highlighted the physical toll on players, particularly the extensive travel time endured by his taller squad members. His comments add to ongoing concerns from the Professional Cricketers' Association about player welfare and burnout caused by England's congested summer cricket calendar.
Welsh Fire's group stage sees teams play eight games over 23 days, considerably more condensed than the Indian Premier League (14 games over 56 days) or last season's Big Bash League (10 games over 36 days). The PCA has previously warned that this year's schedule, which reduced the T20 Blast by two matches while leaving the County Championship unchanged, risks player burnout at the end of the season. Salt's side, currently second in the table, next play Sunrisers Leeds at Headingley on Sunday before a final group match at home to London Spirit.
- Phil Salt wants The Hundred extended by a week.
- Welsh Fire played three matches in five days across three cities.
- PCA has raised ongoing concerns about player burnout and scheduling.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Extending The Hundred addresses clear player welfare concerns: the current format compresses eight matches into just 23 days, far tighter than comparable T20 leagues like the IPL (56 days) and Big Bash (36 days). The intensive UK travel combined with the already-congested English summer calendar creates genuine physical strain and injury risk, with the PCA having already warned of burnout concerns that additional recovery time between matches would meaningfully address.
The case against
The Hundred's commercial appeal and brand identity depend on its deliberately compressed, high-octane format—diluting this through extension would undermine the spectacle that distinguishes it from longer league cricket. The logistical complexity of scheduling across fragmented UK venues over extended periods poses operational challenges, and the underlying burnout issue stems from the overall English summer calendar rather than The Hundred specifically, making targeted extension of one tournament an incomplete solution.