England national cricket team opening batsman Ben Duckett is surprised by the low crowd attendance in the ongoing The Hundred 2026. He is questioning why there has been such low crowd attendance since the beginning of the franchise league. This is a matter of concern for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
There was a sudden drop in total attendance, down by a few thousand from the previous year. Hundred has crossed the one-third stage. The crowds are not overwhelmed by the names of the franchises or even by the Indian owners taking some ownership, especially at stadiums like Headingley and the Utility Bowl.
Ben Duckett surprised by low attendance in Hundred
The ECB expects ticket sales for The Hundred 2026 to be slightly lower than for the 2025 season. According to the ECB, the biggest reason for the low attendance percentage is the major change in operations following the handover of the tournament’s eight franchises from county clubs to new owners.
Vikram Banerjee, managing director of The Hundred, described the change as “unprecedented” for any major sports league in the world.
Ben Duckett was surprised by the empty seats in the stands and believes that this is not to be expected given the quality of the games in this season of the tournament, as every team has amazing players and the battles are enjoyable to watch. He also believes that stadiums will not be packed on weekday afternoons.
Ben Duckett said (as quoted by Cricinfo), “You look everywhere, and it’s just world-class opponents,” he told Cricinfo. “I’m very surprised that the crowd is as good as they are, because I’m desperate to see some of these guys play cricket. They haven’t been great.”
“Looking around the ground there’s got to be a reason for it, so I’m not paying attention to the fans or anything,” he said. “I mean, it’s 3pm on a Wednesday – it’s probably never going to be a full house. But yes, the standard of cricket this year has been fantastic. I’ve been watching every game [on TV].
the crowd of a hundred has dwindled
Earlier, when the tournament was held after Australia or India series, the crowd used to turn up in large numbers. Attendance in both 2023 and 2025 was projected to be around 580,000, while 500,000 in 2022 and 540,000 in 2024.
While playing for the Trent Rockets, the crowd at Trent Bridge was 11,699 in a narrow win over London Spirit on Sunday night, with the southpaw describing it as “awesome”.
Ben Duckett reveals struggle against the new ball
Ben Duckett is currently the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 176 runs from 117 balls in 3 innings. He would like to finish the season on a high note. After scoring a half-century in 43 balls against Welsh Fire, he also explained why he has struggled against the new ball this season.
“There’s a reason I struggled with that new ball: You have [Marco] Johnson, Chris Woakes, Lockie Ferguson. Sam Cook did not even bowl in the powerplay. “There aren’t many weaknesses anywhere you look.”