Will Smeed's century in The Hundred "a big line in the sand for English cricket"

Twenty-year-old Will Smeed became the first player to score a hundred in The Hundred after blasting an unbeaten 101 as Birmingham Phoenix defeated Southern Brave.

It was a stunning innings from Smeed, who was a breakout star for the Phoenix in last year's Hundred after impressing for Somerset in the T20 Blast. He is also in England contention, having made his List A debut last month against South Africa for the Lions.

Those games remain his only non-T20 or Hundred appearances and former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan believes Smeed's century has cemented him as a "domestic hero" and that his success is "a big line in the sand for English cricket".

Speaking on Sky Sports, Morgan said: "When you have young players coming in and performing beyond their potential it's a really good sign into the environment that they [Birmingham Phoenix] have created.

"It's a big line in the sand for English cricket. He doesn't play any first-class cricket, he is predominantly a T20 cricketer and clearly exceptional in what he does, so potentially a new avenue for him into international cricket.

"We've seen in other competitions around the world where domestic franchise tournaments, which attract big-name players, create domestic heroes. Tonight, Will Smeed has become one of them."

Reflecting on his hundred, Smeed said: "I never really felt like I was close to a hundred until right at the very end. I knew they were going to bowl wide to me, and I just tried to hit the ball.

"I think my role is to just try and smack it at the top. I didn't get off to a flier but I caught up and kept going from there.

"It was nice to get going, obviously we didn't lose a game here [at Edgbaston] last year so let's keep that going. We had a couple