Hundred and MLC coordinate schedules to avoid fixtures clash for 2025

According to reports, The Hundred and Major League Cricket (MLC) have come to an agreement to avoid scheduling a clash for the year 2025. The move is set to help both leagues in securing the services of the world’s most sought after male cricket players. While there are no official dates confirmed as yet for either league’s upcoming season, reliable sources suggest that MLC will take place from mid-June to mid-July, concluding approximately two weeks before The Hundred commences in early August.

The two leagues overlapped by six days in 2024, undermining both competitions. The Hundred's overseas player pool included several late arrivals from MLC, prompting a series of last-minute replacement signings for one-off appearances, while Stephen Fleming left his role as Texas Super Kings coach early to take charge of Southern Brave.

The Hundred will still not have a clear window to itself this year, with a looming two-week clash with the Caribbean Premier League set to affect the availability of West Indies men's players. MLC's finals could also overlap with the long-delayed start of a European T20 Premier League, which is due to take place from July 15-August 3 in Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland.

Fixtures for the Hundred will be released in full next week but the competition has been designated a clear window in August, avoiding a clash with any England matches - men's or women's. It is expected to start immediately after the fifth men's Test against India and run until the finals weekend on August 31.

MLC recently appointed Johnny Grave as its new chief executive, after he stepped down from the same role at CWI in October. Grave has strong contacts within English cricket from his time at Surrey and the Professional Cricketers' Association, and will hope to improve MLC's relationship with the ECB in his new role.

The ECB has raised the top men's salary in the Hundred from £125,000 to £200,000 in a bid to attract leading men's players. The overseas pool was reasonably strong last year, but Pat Cummins caused the ECB some embarrassment when he admitted he had "not thought" of playing in the Hundred, instead signing a multi-year deal with San Francisco Unicorns in MLC.

Cummins, Steven Smith and Travis Head were among the Australia Test players involved in MLC last year though are not expected to be available for much of the 2025 edition due to a clash with a tour to the Caribbean. It raises the possibility that the trio could feature in the Hundred for the first time, if they choose to register for March's draft.

Hundred teams have already opened discussions with overseas players for the 2025 season, with each men's and women's team permitted one direct singing among their 10 retentions. The deadline for retentions is February 24, with the draft expected to take place in mid-March before the start of the IPL.

ESPNcricinfo understands London Spirit have agreed a deal to sign Kane Williamson as their captain, and are also interested in recruiting Jamie Smith from Birmingham Phoenix as their designated central contract player. Southern Brave and Manchester Originals are eyeing the signings of Laura Wolvaardt and Amelia Kerr respectively.

The CPL announced at the start of this month that it will run from August 14 to September 21 this year, effectively ruling male West Indian players out of the Hundred. The women's CPL, a significantly shorter competition which has only been played between three franchises to date, is likely to start in early September, meaning players should be able to feature in both.