How to Watch The Hundred 2026 Abroad
Yes — you can watch The Hundred abroad, whichever route you use. The tournament is split across two UK broadcasters: Sky Sports (or a NOW Sports membership) carries every match, and the BBC shows 16 matches live on BBC Two and iPlayer. Both block your connection the moment you travel — the reliable fix is a UK residential IP, which lets your own subscriptions stream abroad just as they do at home.
The 2026 competition is finished, but the fix is the same whatever's on — here's how that UK connection keeps England's cricket playing wherever you are.
What Is The Hundred — and When Was It On?
The Hundred is the ECB's short-form, city-based competition: eight teams, 100 balls an innings, with the men's and women's matches played back-to-back at the same grounds. It's fast, it's on prime-time telly, and it packs a full season into under a month.
The 2026 edition ran from the Kia Oval on 21 July to both finals at Lord's on Sunday 16 August — 68 matches across the men's and women's draws.
How to Watch The Hundred in the UK
The rights are shared, which gives you two routes:
- The every-ball route — Sky Sports / NOW: all 68 matches live. You can watch through Sky Go or, if you'd rather a flexible, no-contract option, a NOW Sports membership, which carries the same Sky Sports channels.
- The subscription-free route — the BBC: 16 matches live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, eight double-headers including both finals. BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra carry extensive coverage, all 68 matches get ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Sounds, and highlights are on iPlayer.
So if you want every ball, that's Sky or NOW; if you're happy with the pick of the fixtures, the BBC has you covered. It's the same dual setup you'll know from following England cricket abroad.
Why It Won't Play Abroad
Both broadcasters license The Hundred for the UK only. Open the Sky, NOW or BBC iPlayer app overseas and it checks your IP address, sees you're outside the UK, and refuses to play. Reach for a mainstream VPN and you'll usually hit a second wall — Sky and iPlayer are among the most persistent UK services at spotting and blocking VPNs, and they keep their detection up to date.
The upshot: the subscriptions you already pay for — and the BBC coverage you watch at home — simply won't stream on an ordinary connection abroad.
Why a UK Residential IP Is the Fix
What trips ordinary VPNs up is the kind of IP address they hand you. The majority funnel your traffic through commercial data-centre IPs, which broadcasters recognise and block on sight.
Every SmartHub VPN router routes your connection over genuine UK residential broadband IPs — the very sort of address a British home sits behind. To Sky, NOW and BBC iPlayer, your device simply looks like an ordinary UK household, so your own subscriptions keep working while the data-centre VPNs get shut out. It's the same reason a residential IP still gets iPlayer playing when most VPNs don't.
How to Watch The Hundred Abroad, Step by Step
The setup is the same whether it's The Hundred or the rest of England's cricket on Sky Sports and NOW — and it only takes a few steps.
- Order a pre-configured VPN router from Stream UK TV Abroad — shipped worldwide
- Plug it into your internet abroad — home broadband, 4G/5G or Starlink
- Connect your device to the router's Wi-Fi
- Sign in to your own subscriptions — Sky or NOW for the cricket, BBC iPlayer for your other UK viewing — and start watching
There's nothing to install and no codes to punch in — the router supplies the UK connection, and your apps take care of the rest.
The Hundred on the Big Screen — Both Routes, One Router
Phones, tablets, laptops, streaming sticks and smart TVs will all handle the action, and once each one joins the router's Wi-Fi they share a single UK IP. For a proper telly experience, the Netgem PLEIO Freely box is a neat pairing: it runs the NOW app and Freely's live UK channels including the BBC, so it covers both routes on one box.
If you only want the BBC games, either Freely box will do — BBC Two and iPlayer run on the Manhattan Aero as well as the PLEIO. It's only the every-ball Sky route that needs NOW, and that means the PLEIO.
The router isn't only for the cricket, either — the whole household can watch NOW, BBC iPlayer, ITVX and the rest at the same time, all appearing to be in the UK.
Watching The Hundred Abroad: FAQs
Where can I watch The Hundred abroad?
Through your own UK subscriptions, from wherever you are — Sky or NOW if you want every match, the BBC for its 16 picks. Neither will play on an ordinary connection overseas, so put a UK residential IP in front of them and they behave as they would at home.
Can I watch The Hundred on the BBC abroad?
Yes. The BBC's live selection — 16 matches on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer — plus its radio and BBC Sounds coverage all play abroad the same way. The BBC checks your location like Sky does, so you'll need a UK residential IP.
Is every game on Sky?
Yes. Sky Sports carries all 68 matches live, which you can watch through Sky or a NOW Sports membership. The BBC shows only its 16-match selection, so Sky or NOW is the route if you want to watch every ball.
Will a normal VPN unblock Sky or BBC iPlayer?
Usually not. Both detect and block the data-centre IPs that ordinary VPN apps use. A UK residential IP is a real home-broadband address, so the services see a normal UK home instead of a VPN.
Final Thoughts
The Hundred was about as easy a watch as the summer serves up, and heading abroad was no reason to miss it. Whether you followed every ball on Sky or NOW, or stuck to the BBC games, a UK residential IP keeps your own subscriptions playing abroad, exactly as they would at home.
Next up is England's white-ball tour of Australia, starting in Perth on Friday 13 November with Test Match Special on BBC Sounds — and a router ordered today has you set up well before it. UPS Express reaches Europe in one to three working days; DPD is usually next-day to a UK address if you're ordering before you fly.
