The Hundred could save England’s international teams, says Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan has said that the often controversial novelty tournament the Hundred has the potential to save the England team from the exodus of talent away from national squads and domestic tournaments and towards lucrative international franchise events that is already starting to impact on other sides.

Having retired from international cricket after England’s white-ball tour of the Netherlands in June and moved into the commentary box, Morgan has played only two innings in England this summer, both in the Twenty20 Blast. But in the Hundred, whose second season gets under way next Wednesday, the 35-year-old will combine continued duties with Sky with captaining London Spirit, and he believes the competition could come to be vitally important in retaining the cream of domestic talent.

“There are already some tournaments in the world that are bigger than a lot of countries’ fixtures, bilateral series and anything else they play in between [ICC events],” Morgan said. “Ultimately it’s already happening and we’re probably behind the eight ball. We’re very, very lucky the Hundred has been the success it has, so we can develop the product and have the players involved.”

Though the Blast has been running since 2003, Morgan said it has taken the Hundred to insulate English cricket against the prospect of its biggest talents being tempted elsewhere. “For the majority of my career I’ve been a huge advocate for players going abroad and playing in big tournaments and taking on different roles, either as one of the senior players within the group, or one of a number of overseas players within a team,” he said. “There’s a different level of expectation around that. But when we have such a good tournament at home now, there’s no reason