LONDON: England captain Joe Root has said controversial plans for a domestic 100-ball competition could attract a new audience to Test cricket.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)’s proposal to introduce a new format, tentatively titled ‘the Hundred’, with 15 regular six-ball overs and one 10-ball over, has proved divisive since an announcement last week but the England skipper is on board with the idea.

One of the fundamental aims of the ECB is to simplify the game for a fresh audience, specifically women and children, and Root thinks if the format takes off it could lead to interest in the longer forms of the game.

“It’s going to appeal to a completely new audience and I think that’s great,” Root told the Independent newspaper. “The more people and kids we can get into sport, the better.

“We’ve got to be very careful we don’t measure it against the other formats... it’s something to gather a new audience and gain interest, not a threat to other formats. As players, working with the ICC [International Cricket Council], we’ve got to make sure the other formats don’t suffer but it has a place in the game and, hopefully, we’ll see that over time.

“There will be people that compare it to Twenty20 and worry it might take away interest from Test cricket, but it’s important to remember it will bring new people to the game.

“It might be someone who didn’t know much about the game before and then goes on to watch a Test match and gets immersed in that. That’s the way I’d like to look at it.”

Root’s predecessor as England captain, Alastair Cook, described the format as ‘another interesting step for cricket’.

“If you went back to 2003 when the ECB first launched T20 cricket, if social media had been around then I’m sure quite a few people would probably have kicked up the same amount of fuss as they have here,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s different, it’s exciting. How it all works with the County Championship and Test matches and when it’s played, a lot of that [planning] is still to be done. But I think it’s another interesting step for cricket.

“Cricket has made huge changes over the years and since I’ve started in 2003 —- T20 being one of them. Let’s see how it all pans out. Whether I’ll be there to play I don’t know but I’ll certainly be watching it.”

Meanwhile, Root is not bitter about his exclusion from this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and believes his team-mates playing in the Twenty20 tournament will hugely benefit from the experience.

The 27-year-old led England on their gruelling tour of Australia, where they suffered a 4-0 Ashes defeat, followed by another Test series loss in New Zealand in March.

Root went unsold in the IPL players’ auction in February but does not grudge several England players who are in India to showcase their talents in the ongoing tournament.

“It’s not frustration watching the other guys,” Root said. “... I went into the IPL auction to get a bit more exposure to T20 cricket, it didn’t materialise, it would have been nice to be involved in that but I’ve got no bitter feelings towards the other guys, I think it’s great.”

Root is instead watching his England team-mates, including all-rounder Ben Stokes and wicket-keeper/batsman Jos Buttler, play in the eight-team league and believes their experience would only strengthen the team.

“They’ll benefit hugely from it and we, as a side, will benefit hugely from it. Look at the way Jos and Ben and a few guys came back from it last year and what it has brought to their games...” Root said.

“Hopefully that can happen on a wider scale with more and more players going out there from English cricket, playing under scrutiny and in the high-pressure situations that that tournament brings, it can only be a good thing for us in the long term.”

Root has completed a little over a year in his captaincy role and following the underwhelming results over the last few months, the skipper is predicting significant changes to his team.

“Looking forward, there will be changes, especially long-term and then it is up to guys to come in and take the opportunities,” Root said.

“... I want us to keep searching for ways to be a really effective side in a number of different conditions.”

England’s next assignment is a two-match Test series against Pakistan beginning next month.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2018