Joe Root's grandfather tears into The Hundred tournament, compares it to Covid-19

Don Root, the grandfather of England Test captain and batting legend Joe Root has torn into The Hundred tournament that has been started by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Don Root wrote a letter to The Cricketer Magazine, expressing his views on The Hundred. Comparing The Hundred format to Covid-19, Root stated that people are constantly being lectured about the need to attract more funds into the game and nourish the grassroots of cricket.

Root further opined that the white ball formats have been developed at the cost of Test match cricket, and due to this decision taken by the ECB, England’s fortunes in red-ball cricket have plummeted.

“The Hundred is among us. So is Covid and it’s just about as welcome. We are constantly being lectured about the necessity to attract more funding to spread the gospel and nourish the grassroots of cricket.

Apparently, this can only be done by an increase in some form of the white-ball version of the game. At what cost to the red-ball version? Onwards and downwards would appear to be the new ECB mantra. The results of this policy can be seen in the Test series,” wrote Don Root in his letter.

Every sport needs sound financial resources: Don Root

Don Root further stated that every sport needs financial resources, but at the moment, there is no balance between financial needs and performances on the field, particularly in Test match cricket.

“Of course every sport needs sound financial resourcing, but do we have the balance right at the moment between financial needs and performance on the field? As far as red-ball cricket is concerned, I think not,” wrote Don Root.

England was recently involved in a Test series against India, and the scoreline of the series read 2-1 in favour of India at the end of the 4th Test. The 5th and final Test match of the series that was supposed to take place at Manchester was suspended after a few Covid-19 cases were reported in the Indian camp.