Welsh Fire: Year's delay for the Hundred not ideal but sensible, says Wallace

Welsh Fire cricket manager Mark Wallace says the decision to postpone the Hundred competition launch for a year is probably the right thing to do.

The eight-team city franchise tournament is now due to start in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's crucial this new competition starts off on the right foot," said Wallace after the decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

"So postponing it for a year is far from ideal, but probably sensible."

No professional cricket will be played before July at the earliest this year.

• The Hundred postponed until 2021

Cardiff is due to host all four home games for the Welsh Fire men's team and one women's fixture.

Bristol and Taunton will stage the other women's games, with Gloucestershire and Somerset joining Glamorgan to administer Welsh Fire.

Australian stars Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Meg Lanning were scheduled to represent the franchise, along with England batsmen Jonny Bairstow of Yorkshire and Somerset's Tom Banton, and Glamorgan's South African star Colin Ingram.

South Africa's Gary Kirsten and Australia's Matthew Mott, formerly of Glamorgan, were named as coaches for the event, due to take place between 17 July and 15 August.

"The idea of the new competition is to access new audiences, linking in with kids, and push a new brand identity," Wallace added.

"But with everything which is going on, everyone in lockdown, that wasn't going to be able to happen. Hopefully it'll kick off next season and have a bright future."

The ECB is still to work out how to approach squad selection for 2021, with the possibility that overseas stars may be unavailable, while other picks may have retired or lost form.

"Ideally we'd like to keep the majority of those players, we thought it was the strongest side we could put out for Welsh Fire," explained Glamorgan director of cricket Wallace.

"We'll find out which of those players is able to stay with us but we were very happy with the squad we had."

He is expecting further controversy over the competition, with many county supporters on social media urging the ECB to drop the whole Hundred concept and concentrate on promoting the counties' T20 Blast instead.

"I'm sure the chatter will continue around the Hundred and it's good that people are talking about cricket in whatever guise," Wallace told BBC Sport Wales.

"Ultimately we have had good (ticket) uptake and good enthusiasm around it. Hopefully when we've got world-class players out on the field, it doesn't matter whether you play a hundred balls, twenty overs or a hundred overs, the best players playing cricket in Wales has got to be a positive thing."

In the meantime, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset must wait to see when or if public health regulations allow them to take the field at all, while the scrapping of the women's Superleague including the successful Western Storm side leaves the female side of the domestic game in limbo.

Meanwhile there are no moves to scrap the deal of Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne since he is already under contract for 2021, Glamorgan members have been told at an online forum.