<\/p>\n
After pumping astronomical sums of money into English cricket, the headline act of the summer should probably have been the Hundred\u2019s rebirth<\/a> under private ownership. After all, the decks were relatively clear.<\/p>\n There was no Ashes series or Indian arm-wrestle in Test cricket to hog the limelight, rather a small-plates menu of touring teams. The Women\u2019s T20 World Cup was on home soil, but for all that it outstripped its 50-over equivalent in 2017 by way of impact the men\u2019s football World Cup dominated. Plus, folks kind of knew Nat Sciver-Brunt\u2019s England side was not ready to derail the Australian machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet six weeks after the Hundred finals at Lord\u2019s, the mood at two of its host counties tells us something about where it sits in the sport\u2019s consciousness. With the best will in the world, beyond a fun day out with the kids and a bumper pay packet for the players involved, it doesn\u2019t appear to be that high<\/a>.<\/p>\n At Warwickshire on Sunday, they were celebrating their ninth County Championship title<\/a>, the outfield flooded with supporters and players in clover. No one seemed too fussed that Birmingham Phoenix, the entity that is 50.4% Warwickshire-owned, had stunk out the men\u2019s and women\u2019s Hundred. There was no talk of atonement or it being a mixed season. By definition, it will go down as a famous summer.<\/p>\n Further north at Old Trafford things are very different. Manchester Super Giants won the men\u2019s Hundred<\/a>, which you would think means people at Lancashire, 30% shareholders and with crossover in staff, are pretty chuffed; that Daniel Gidney would be sprinkled with red rose petals as he leaves his role as chief executive.<\/p>\n