The Hundred, despite its rebirth under private ownership and substantial investment, did not achieve top billing in English cricket this summer. Instead, the County Championship and the England men's team's unexpected struggles captured more attention.
Warwickshire celebrated their ninth County Championship title, with supporters seemingly unfazed by the poor performance of Birmingham Phoenix, a Hundred team 50.4% owned by the county. In contrast, Lancashire, 30% shareholders in the winning Manchester Super Giants Hundred team, were in a state of 'apoplexy' after finishing second bottom in Division Two. Mark Chilton was sacked as director of cricket performance, and an incoming chief executive will lead a review of their performance operation.
The England men's Test team experienced a 'psychodrama' in the first half of the season. This included a late-night drinking incident, Ben Stokes resigning as Test captain, and Brendon McCullum's demotion to white-ball head coach following a 2-1 defeat against New Zealand. However, there is a sense of optimism looking ahead to the winter, with the white-ball set-up showing improvement.