Manchester Originals
The Hundred franchise at Emirates Old Trafford - fast, loud, family-friendly 100-ball cricket, with the men's and women's sides playing a double-header.
Manchester Originals are the city’s franchise in The Hundred, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s 100-ball competition launched in 2021. Based at Emirates Old Trafford and drawing on Lancashire’s playing strength, the Originals field both men’s and women’s teams, usually playing on the same day as a double-header – which is one of the format’s genuine successes, giving the women’s game prime-time billing and big crowds.
The Hundred is built for newcomers: short, loud, with music between overs, a relaxed crowd and a deliberate effort to make cricket feel like a summer event rather than a five-day endurance test. Purists grumble, but the format has pulled families and first-timers into Old Trafford in numbers the County Championship never could, and the atmosphere on a warm August evening is excellent.
Emirates Old Trafford is in Stretford, reachable by Metrolink. For anyone who finds Test cricket daunting, an Originals night is the easiest possible introduction to live cricket in Manchester.