An auction has valued eight English cricket teams at nearly £1 billion ($1.3 billion), a coup for the country’s newest competition that only launched four years ago.

The Hundred — a competition similar to T20 but where teams receive 100 balls in an innings — was launched in 2021 in the face of criticism for disrupting the domestic calendar, affecting the longer formats of the game, chiefly test cricket, and leaving at a disadvantage those among the 18 first-class counties who were not affiliated to a franchise.

English cricket has generated around $650M from the sale of stakes in the eight franchises in The Hundred to investors from India and the U.S.

Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets and Welsh Thunder all received investment; the teams are valued at over £975m in total;

English cricket has generated around $650 million from the sale of stakes in franchises in The Hundred to big-business investors from India and the United States, including consortiums involving NFL great Tom Brady and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly.