Posted by 
That joke isn’t funny any more. You know the one. The one where you make up an outlandish format detail about The Hundred in an effort to satirise the ECB.
The problem is that while The Hundred seems like rich source material, it really isn’t. The joke suggestions are too close to home to actually be amusing. The ECB sees your ridiculous idea and raises you a ludicrous one.
The latest – since denied – was that teams would be able to field 12 players or 15 players or something. Can we propose that they make it 100-a-side so that they can keep the name but go back to normal overs?
You see? They’re not funny are they?
We honestly, honestly, honestly believe that the ECB is deliberately spreading disinformation, calibrating our expectations so that when they eventually deliver something semi-normal, there’ll be much less resistance to it. Perhaps even mild rejoicing.
A quick bit of housekeeping
Two other things to mention.
(1) British riders are currently first and second in the Tour de France. If you’ve any interest at all in following the final week of the race and want to catch up, we’ve done recaps of each of the first two weeks over on our cycling site. The week two recap’s here and you’ll find links to other relevant stuff within the article. You can also sign up to get that site’s long but very occasional articles sent to your inbox. Sign-up page here.
(2) There’s an email for this site too. It used to be near-daily, but it probably only goes out three or four times a week these days. You can sign up for that here. We’re also on Twitter (which we do actually use) and Facebook (which is basically just links to the articles).
Spot on – I’m not sure they could surprise me with a rule change now. I’ve gone from frothing fury when the 100 was first announced to a shrug and a dry “of course it will be” when the new proposed rules came out. I’m not even looking forward to seeing how funny it is when they actually play it now.
I propose mixed cricket where teams are made up of the same number of males and females. What’s that you say? There’s 11 players in a cricket team? Well, we’ll just have to introduce a gender neutral player. How about a wardrobe. Five blokes, five women and a fucking wardrobe.
I’d love to have been at the proposal meeting for Twenty20 minus 20 when someone piped up ‘but that doesn’t really work, does it?’ and Lord Wonky Donkey replied ‘Yes, but apart from that, does anyone have any objections?’
Wankers.
Ooooh, Smiths references, thankyou. Much appreciated. More than you’ll, ever know…
Floodlight failure, tense finish… it was dark as he drove to point to get them home.
I am very excited about Geraint Thomas. Interestingly, today’s TdF stage is itself a bit of a strange tinker with the format.
Today’s kind of like the Tour’s version of T20.
Except also not, because they’ve kept all the hard bits. And they’ll actually be harder for the fact that they’ve excised the easy bits.
So not like T20 at all really, except insofar as it’s a short day.
I’d have like to see what Nibali would have done today.
Riders to watch today: Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa, Tom Dumoulin and maybe Primoz Roglic. Highlights 7pm on ITV4.
Given that we’re way off topic now, some of you might be amused by the following, which has had unusually positive feedback so perhaps is funnier than I intended it to be:
http://ianlouisharris.com/2018/07/13/caution-this-restaurant-might-contain-nuts-dinner-at-sanzio-with-kim-micky-13-july-2018/
So let me get this straight. This Tour de France thing is some sort of French Cricket derivative that forms part of the increasingly bizarre “100” proposals, where fielders are allowed to wear lycra, shave their legs and use steroids and bicycles? Must be, otherwise why on earth would it be featured on this site?
What’s stopping them from shaving their legs at present?
Don’t the laws of the game specify sandpaper?
Oh wait, is that what the leg glide’s been about all these years? Please excuse. Sheltered upbringing etc
Adil Rashid’s back.
As in has returned.