Explained: Why runs in the Hundred are counted in total T20 runs of a batter

Explained: Why runs in the Hundred are counted in total T20 runs of a batter originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

The Hundred has counted in T20 records since the tournament began in 2021.

ICC classifies both men's and women's Hundred as official List A T20.

Statistician explains the decision matched precedent set by other formats.

Why do The Hundred runs count as T20 runs?

When Jos Buttler recently climbed past Chris Gayle to become men's cricket's leading T20 run-scorer, the news caught plenty of people off guard.

Advertisement

They were not to be blamed, as the runs came in The Hundred, a competition built around 100 balls rather than the traditional 120-ball innings.

That naturally raised the question of why his runs from that format were being added to his overall T20 tally at all.

As it turns out, this isn't a new development at all, since statistics from the Hundred, across both the men's and women's competitions, have counted toward players' official T20 records ever since the tournament launched back in 2021.

MORE: The Hundred: Birmingham Phoenix vs Sunrisers Leeds prediction, lineups and pitch report as Harry Brook eyes another big score

Why is The Hundred classified as T20 stats? What is the technical reason behind it

The explanation largely comes down to how the format is actually structured. While The Hundred does differ from traditional T20 cricket in certain ways, in principle it remains the same.

Advertisement

The teams bowl consecutive overs from the same end, for instance, and a single bowler is permitted to send down two overs back to back. Moreover, it still fundamentally consists of 20 overs per side, simply delivered in sets of five balls rather than the standard six.

According to the ICC's official classification guidelines for recognised cricket, matches can be granted List A Twenty20 status if they involve a single day's play, one innings per side, and a cap of 20 overs per team, alongside a handful of other standard requirements.

MORE: England squad for ENG vs PAK 2026 Test series with Root as captain

That same documentation, specifically within its appendix section, explicitly lists both the men's and women's editions of the Hundred among the official List A Twenty20 competitions played across England and Wales.

Advertisement

David Kendix, president of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians and a member of the ICC's cricket committee, shed further light on how this classification came about.

"When The Hundred was being created, ECB sought ICC agreement that the matches would still be classified as official cricket," he told in an interview with Cricinfo.

"They didn't want an event where the statistics 'didn't count'. ICC clearly wasn't going to create a fourth official format of the game when it is played in only one tournament in one country, but nor was it going to say that it wasn't official cricket because it's 20 balls shorter than a T20."

MORE: ECB unhappy with Cricket Ireland for hosting Afghanistan series despite Taliban policy

Advertisement

Kendix personally suggested folding Hundred matches into the existing T20 category, given its core structure still amounted to 20 overs.

"Wearing my various hats, I suggested including Hundred matches within the T20 category," he said. "After all, it comprises 20 overs, just each of five balls. This suited ICC, ECB and the ACS."

Kendix further pointed out that this approach mirrors long-standing precedent elsewhere in cricket's record-keeping. List A one-day cricket has historically included matches of varying lengths, some featuring 55, 60 or 65 overs, along with weather-reduced games falling below 50 overs, all still counted under the same broad classification.

"We already have List A limited overs matches of various durations (historically 55, 60 and 65; and still less than 50 when weather affected)," he argued.

"So having matches of 20 6-ball overs, 20 5-ball overs plus weather-reduced matches all under the T20 banner is equally pragmatic. Of course, if people want to split out Hundred stats from the rest, they are free to do so," he added, "much as you can split out performances in any other competitions."

Advertisement

MORE: Sooryavanshi will surpass it: Buttler's reaction after breaking all-time T20 runs record

The Hundred is a close cousin of the T20 format

Kendix's reasoning holds up reasonably well once you consider cricket's broader statistical history. The sport has never demanded rigid uniformity across formats carrying the same classification.

That said, the debate isn't entirely unfounded either. The Hundred's unique elements like single-ended bowling and consecutive overs from the same bowler do create different tactical dynamics compared to traditional T20 cricket, even if the total ball count stays roughly the same.

Advertisement

Records inevitably involve some element of compromise, and purists will always find grounds to argue that blending formats dilutes historical comparisons.

Still, given cricket has long accommodated variation within single classifications, from List A's differing over counts to first-class cricket's differing match lengths, treating the Hundred as a T20 variant rather than an entirely separate format feels like a reasonably consistent, practical call rather than a statistical stretch.

Click here to read article