By Richard Edwards
20 December 2024
Regardless of the undulating fortunes of England’s men’s and
women’s sides over the past 12 months, it’s likely that 2024 will be viewed in
the years to come as one of the most significant in the sport’s long history.
Back in May, the 18
counties rubber-stamped – some more reluctantly than others – the ECB’s
decision to open up the Hundred to private investment. For cash-strapped
counties - five of which, The Cricketer magazine revealed, had received
emergency financial help from the ECB in the past two years – it was viewed as
a means of securing the future of the domestic game.
The nature of that
equity influx will be far clearer in the New Year, but there has certainly
not been a lack of interest from potential investors from across the world.
Speaking at a recent members forum in Lancashire, Tim Bridge, the leader of the
sports business group at Deloitte, one of the ECB’s financial advisors,
described levels of interest as “unprecedented”.
All
of which is good news for the ECB, and those who stand to benefit. Not least
the recreational game.
The
private investment process will see the host counties gifted 51% of the
shares – Lancashire, for example, would be the majority shareholders in the
Manchester Originals – with the remaining 49% of shares then sold centrally by
the ECB to interested parties. From the money raised by the ECB’s stake, 10% is
set to be ring-fenced for the recreational game.
Given Bridge’s
assessment, that 10% figure could prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime windfall for
the sport away from the professional game.
“It’s needed,” says
Russ Bradley, chairman of Northern Premier Cricket League side, St Annes. Home
of the Flintoff family, St Annes find themselves in a more privileged position
than most, but Bradley says that spiralling costs and the continuing battle to
generate revenue is making life more and more difficult for cricket clubs
in Lancashire and beyond.
“No-one knows how any
money will be distributed at the moment, that’s not clear,” he says. “But what
I do know is that there are a lot of clubs out there that desperately need it –
life is very difficult for a lot of clubs at the moment.
“Now, and I think
every club will tell you the same, to make ends meet is getting harder and
harder. Costs are rocketing and I think the last few years have been the
hardest that most clubs have ever experienced. Clubs are having to get more and
more creative just to stay afloat. They're having to come up with more
innovative ways to generate income. How long the money from any investment
takes to filter down we don’t know but club cricket needs it as quickly as
possible.”
Detail beyond that current 10% figure is hard
to come by.
An ECB Spokesperson said: "Ten per cent
of the proceeds from the private investment process into The Hundred will be
shared across the recreational game, in addition to funds being distributed to
the professional domestic game, securing the long-term financial sustainability
of cricket across England and Wales and upholding the growth of women’s cricket
and the grassroots game."
The continued strength
of the nation’s summer sport continues to be inextricably linked with that of
the recreational game. Rocky Flintoff was named in the England Lions squad for
their tour of Australia this week, and doubtless benefited from the experience
he gained performing for St Annes second and first teams while still at
Manchester Grammar School. His father, meanwhile, came through the club’s youth
rank and reaped the rewards in a similar fashion. The Flintoff family are a
great example, not just of the impact that club cricket can have on a player’s
performance, but also the bonds that are formed and endure between those who
play the game and the clubs that help to forge their technique and character at
every level of the game.
Sussex CEO, Pete Fitzboyden, is a man who knows the
perils, as well as the benefits of private investment. He was brought in by the
RFU to improve governance in domestic rugby following the implosion of Wasps
and Worcester in 2022. Those two clubs were emblematic of the financial mis-management
that led English club rugby to the edge of the abyss.
He’s confident that English cricket won’t
follow a similar path.
“The money from the Hundred franchise sale is
a massive opportunity for us and cricket in general,” he says. “In cricket in
general, it is going to see a huge investment of capital, that if spent wisely
should make the sport sustainable for generations to come.”
The shape and size of that investment will be
announced in January.
For the recreational
game, it can’t come soon enough.