Tech Titans chief says the Hundred can be a 'multibillion-dollar' IPL

Silicon Valley-based group of investors paid £145m for their stake and have no regrets

- Matt Hughes

The leader of the Tech Titans consortium that has bought 49% of London Spirit believes the Hundred will become a multibillion-dollar competition to rival the Indian Premier League.

Nikesh Arora, the chief executive of the American cybersecurity company Palo Alto, was at Lord's on Tuesday for the first two games in this season's competitions, as the women and men of London Spirit took on their Oval Invincibles counterparts. He was joined by 15 other members of the Silicon Valley-based group, which includes the chief executives of Google, Microsoft and YouTube.

The Titans stunned the sports investment world in January by agreeing to pay £145m for their London Spirit stake, far the highest valuation for one of the eight Hundred franchises sold off by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Marylebone Cricket Club were given the other 51% by the ECB and face the task of setting up professional teams for the first time in the august institution's 238-year history, a challenge that the MCC's chief operating officer, Rob Lynch, describes as "extremely exciting".