Three days after winning the T20 Blast title with The Blaze, Grace Ballinger, now of Manchester Super Giants, takes a closer look at The Hundred, which begins on Tuesday.

New team names, new uniforms, new owners: the 2026 edition of The Hundred is here!

A little earlier than last year, this edition of The Hundred kicks off in London this Tuesday, where two of the teams purchased by the IPL franchises, MI London and Sunrisers Leeds, will face off at The Oval.

The Hundred looks different than it has in recent years, and no one, including the players, really knows how it will play out.

This is the first year of privatization within the tournament. While previously centrally owned by the ECB, all eight teams are now independently owned, after host counties were given the option to sell all or part of their team to independent buyers.

This privatization manifests itself in many ways, but the essence of the tournament remains the same.

The eight host fields have been retained and some teams have retained their original names.

Many of the brands that have been built in recent years, on the other hand, have been totally transformed.

When privatization was announced, I wasn’t really sure how it would affect me as a player.

The only indisputable benefit for players, especially in women’s football, is increased salaries.

For example, my salary last year was £16,000 and this summer it increased to £42,500 for the tournament.

The only thing that has become evident so far is that, instead of everything being managed centrally by the ECB, management is now under the control of independent franchises.

For example, last year all the kits were New Balance, while this year there are a variety of kit brands.