The ECB have collaborated with house musician Jax Jones to produce a tournament song for The Hundred – and have decided to stick with the term “wickets” rather than introduce “outs”.
The aim of The Hundred, an eight-team men’s and women’s tournament, is to take cricket to a new audience.
To this end, the ECB wanted a tournament song, as seen at World Cups and other major sporting events.
The song, ‘Feels’, was first used by the ECB in an advert for the Hundred released on Wednesday that will be used across on-demand broadcasting services like 4oD and social media.
Jax Jones, real name Timucin Lam, a 33-year-old Londoner, has millions of followers on social media and has enjoyed serial chart success since emerging in 2014.
“The Hundred will showcase world-class sporting action on the pitch and stars from the world of entertainment off it,” the ECB told Standard Sport.
“Music will be at the heart of the entertainment side and when selecting the song to feature on our ad campaign, we wanted to work with an artist that aligns with The Hundred’s high octane, positive energy.
“Jax Jones was the perfect fit. He was working on a track, ‘Feels’, that embodies the upbeat experience we want to create for fans this summer and we felt this was the ideal choice for the campaign.”
The ECB have looked at cricket’s language in a bid to demystify the sport for new followers. It was revealed this month that they were weighing up calling a batter’s dismissal an “out”, rather than a “wicket”.
But to ensure consistency with the other formats of the sport, “wicket” will remain, with the word “out” only involved in its current guise.
Another terminology change set to take place is that the tournament’s equivalent of Player of the Match will be Match Hero.
More details are emerging about the in-stadium look of the tournament. There will be a “Main Stage” in each of the eight grounds, from where musicians and DJs will perform between games, and players will be interviewed, while players will enter the field of play through short tunnels with their names lit up by LED lights.
