by The English cricket bosses believe that it will be “almost obvious” to expand the hundred after having collected more than 520 million pounds sterling by selling a participation in each of the eight teams of the competition.
The Board of Directors of England and Wales announced Thursday that the eight offers had placed a total business value of just over 975 million pounds sterling on the hundred teams – with 520 million pounds Sterling injected into professional and recreational game.
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However, the ECB estimates that the success and world interest in auction, which has led to a consortium of investors from Silicon Valley undertaking to pay 144 million pounds Sterling for a 49% stake in The London spirit based in Lord, as well as four distinct owners of the Indian Premier League Taking heavy issues in other franchises, which means that competition is likely to develop in the years to come.
“I think expansion is a good sign if that happens,” said Vikram Banerjee, director of commercial operations of the ECB. “So we would be delighted if this is the case. We still have a lot of hard work now. But if the tournament grows and the cricket grows across the country, then it will be obvious to us. »»
However, the Sports Director Body insisted that it would retain control of competition and calendar governance, despite the influx of rich and powerful investors in the game.
“We did not want to sell the competition, because it is really important that the structure of the game, and how the season is structured, is preserved and held by the ECB and our members,” said the Director General of the Organization, Richard Gould, said. “And there must be a majority of two thirds of the articles in the ECB for any change in the county championship, a T20 explosion or any domestic cricket project.”
“What we need to work with the counties is: what is the most effective and effective English summer now?” The hundred has been there for a while. Obviously, it does not disappear. So what does the rest of English summer look like?
A certain number of investors prefer that the hundreds become a Twenty20 competition in accordance with other tournaments abroad once the current television agreement is exhausted in 2028. However, this possibility was minimized by the ECB.
“At this point, we did not have a huge amount of clamor for changing the format,” said Banerjee. “They just want to see a successful tournament that continues to grow. This is what they bought. “”
The ECB has also denied suggestions that the hundred could be staged earlier during the day to call on the Indian market, especially since the T20 World Cup games in the Antilles began at 10:30 a.m. Last year due to Indian television requests.
“What investors are looking to do is things that can succeed with the public in this country,” added Banerjee. “And the aspects of the hundred who worked well in terms of resolution and reaching out to a new market – the fact that he finished at 9:30 p.m., so that families can attend – is part of what attracted the investors. “
Under the terms of the sale – the one that promises basic initiatives of around 50 million pounds sterling – even the 11 counties without a team in the hundred to win between 20 and 27 million pounds sterling each.
Meanwhile, in a letter to the cricket supporters, the president of the ECB, Richard Thompson, said that the auction would cause advantages for the game at all levels. “This investment does not only concern the financial force or the growth of the hundred itself,” he wrote. “It gave us a golden opportunity to protect the future of cricket in England and Wales at all levels.
“It means vital support for the County cricket, cultivate the female game and inspire even more children – and people of all ages – to pick up a bat and a ball.”
