The countdown to the revamped Hundred competition, which starts next month, got off to an inauspicious start as one of the teams used a poorly made AI video to promote the launch of their new jersey.
Indian Premier League's Super Giants franchise, who own the Lucknow team, have acquired majority stakes in the Manchester side for the Hundred; the England board received almost £1 billion through sale of stakes across the eight teams.
Three of teams under new ownership have undergone a name change – Manchester Super Giants, MI (Mumbai Indians) London and Sunrisers Leeds.
Those three franchises have also adopted the colours of their IPL counterparts.
On Sunday, Manchester posted a video on their social media to showcase the new colours of their Hundred team. However, the video drew widespread criticism for its poor use of AI, resulting in some bewildering visuals.
In the video, players in Super Giants kits are seen on the pitch with players in Test whites, while in another instance a bowler is seen bowling without a ball in hand and away from the pitch.
In the closing stages of the video, a wicketkeeper is seen diving for the ball while wearing batting helmet and pads.
The Hundred competition, on the other hand, posted a simple video of players wearing the actual jerseys on social media on Monday.
It was another instance that proved why the new-look competition has divided opinions.
Former England captain Mike Atherton believes the Hundred will be forced to expand in order to recover the vast sums of money being invested, which in turn could eat into the share of existing tournaments.
“These are incredible, irrational sums and is hard to envisage how [teams] will get that back in the near term,” Atherton told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
“In order to get it back they may have to think about expanding The Hundred, playing more games, raising ticket prices. There is clearly a lot of uncertainty down the line.”
Last year, fellow England veteran Nasser Hussain said he feared some team owners might insist on having a greater say on important matters.
“If someone owns 49 per cent, someone owns 51 per cent, someone owns 70 per cent, someone owns 100 per cent, who is in charge?” Hussain said in the Sky Sports podcast.
“The ECB might still have control of the tournament but what if the money men insist?”
The Hundred competition will run from July 21 to August 16.
