No 131, July 30 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
🟢 The ECB's 'more honest H*ndred argument' 🔴 Lancs, Derby and Durham make signings 🟣 Briggs out for the season 🟤 Wright clears his name 🔵 AC Milan reveal cricket kit 🟠 Lara recreates that 501
It has all gone quiet now. And that is always the period that worries me the most.
The launch of this year’s tournament-that-shall-not-be-named was greeted with its usual man-made PR blitz.
It was especially important this season. Remember, they have to sell it to outside investors at the end of the summer. And given that money is their only yardstick, the pressure is on.
So right on cue, there was a swathe of stories linking all and sundry with buying a stake. Eye-catching names that were designed to… well… catch the eye. There were lots of headlines but no quotes. Funny that. Let’s see how many of these groups ever pick up a phone let alone get around a table. But with the Olympics close it was important to create the key currency of modern media - attention.
The sizzle of this event continues to be sold, not the sausage.
It was no surprise that the ever-excellent Mike Atherton got to the nub of the issue in an interview with ECB CEO Richard Gould. At 10.05 in the video above he asks if the “principal rationale” for introducing the Hundred was “to create a vehicle for private investment” and whether it would have been better for the ECB to say that from the start.
Here’s Gould’s reply:
“I think potentially that would have been a more honest argument. It may have been more difficult at that point because clubs may not have wanted to have such a large slice of equity taken off them in that regard.”
Soooooo……… is he saying the previous regime lied? Or were they actively (or passively) hiding their true intentions? You have as much evidence as I, so you decide. This is the usual soft soap of CEO speak. But, from his words, it is clear they were not entirely truthful.
English cricket calls for outside investment into The H*ndred | FT
The H*ndred sell-off represents a danger to English cricket | Independent
IPL franchises eye controlling stakes in H*ndred teams | ESPNcricinfo
Ryan Reynolds, Red Bull and the Glazers eye H*ndred investment | Telegraph
Newcastle’s Saudi owners ready to buy stake in Durham-based H*ndred team | Times
Meet the billionaires banking on an American cricket league | Forbes
Remember this is a governing body of a sport, not a private enterprise or even a members club. And it was supposed to be working on behalf of those to whom they were being less honest/untruthful/lying. (Delete as you believe appropriate)
This is we-know-better-than-you arrogance. It probably felt akin to the white lies you tell an enfeebled relative who needs to go into a care home for their own good. Something I have done myself in the last 18 months.
From the outside, the argument seems to be ‘we need more money, the current structure will prevent that so we will be “less than honest”’. Gould also talked about the previous regime “not being the most collaborative but they got things done”.
More soft soap. What can we read between the lines of ‘not the most collaborative’?
And whose ‘things’ were being done? Based on whose agenda?
Yet again, it is a governing body, not a private business.
And, also remember when the “less than honesty” and “not the most collaborative" stuff was going on, Blast tickets were at record levels. And Surrey, under Richards Gould and Thompson, were trumpeting their ability to reach new audiences without a new event. Something the former lauds you-know-what for in the video interview.
Gould says his job is now to bring the game together. Best of luck. The problem is that English cricket continues to be bound by the product of this “less than honesty “ and lack of collaboration” meaning that, in my opinion, important parts of the county structure will be annexed and allowed to whither into insignificance.
As Chris Stocks’ excellent piece points out, the existing game will be crushed underfoot in the march for more money because overseas owners will demand power to make a return. For what it is worth, I believe Gould does want 18 counties to continue but his strategy is relinquishing too much control to ever properly ensure that. They are selling a hefty percentage of the custodianship they purport to cherish along with their franchises.
They will say something different. But I do not believe them and now, by their own admittance, they have form.
Former England captain Andrew Strauss in talks about buying H*ndred franchise | The Guardian
Gould Admits ECB Could Have Been ‘More Honest’ Over Private Investment Role In Hundred Rationale | Wisden
ECB on endangerment path while Test cricket thrives in front of Edgbaston sell out | The Cricketer ($)
Why Pat Cummins chose Major League Cricket - MLC - over the H*ndred in England | ESPNcricinfo
Weekend thoughts - The Hindered, One Day Cup and Leicestershire own goal… | Peakfan
Frankly, we would be stupid to trust the ECB in such circumstances. Their approach smacks of that famous quote from boxing promoter Bob Arum.
“Yesterday I was lying, today I'm telling the truth.”
Those in charge at that time got big bonuses. Some are still in the game in positions of power. Or in top positions elsewhere in sport.
Then you have Andrew Strauss, whose review ring-fenced you-know-what and proposed to diminish the county structure. He is now reported to be interested in buying a franchise. He has been Executive Chair to TTB Sport Capital since March 2023.
Surely there are questions over a conflict of interest here?
In any reasonable sport, these would be matters for an Independent Regulator.
Cricket has one of those already but their brief does not include looking at these sorts of governance issues.
Why? Who decided that? And why not change that now?
This country has just produced a huge political vote against, what its electorate clearly believed to be, dishonesty, arrogance, corruption and elitism.
So, clearly, we react to the diminution of these qualities among our leaders. And democracy is the tool for change.
But the people do not have that power in cricket.
The arrogance and autocracy of the previous ECB regime handed its successors a poisoned chalice.
This relationship cannot be reset quickly via cosy chats with genial individuals wearing their old battalion ties when they continue to take us down a path that was only cleared through dishonesty.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
On a similar theme, here are a few other related notes and stories I noticed this week…
TV rights chaos in France should serve as a warning to the Premier League | The Guardian
A lesson on relying too heavily on television to grow your sport when you do not have real bargaining power.
The European Super League debacle: why regulation of corporate football is essential | T And F Online
The ESL was a project about naked greed created by sheer treachery. But, after all the protests, nothing has changed. Following a spell on the sidelines, the leaders have resumed their positions of power. This academic article is about the need for REAL regulation. Something I advocate in English cricket.
Sports business turning down a short-term money grab is now so rare they put it in block capitals. But hey, it is still possible. Not that overseas money is inherently bad by any means and if I ever want to work in the industry again I suspect my salary will be paid by foreign owners. As it has been many times before.
This is newsworthy, and very wrong but, remember, still a whole lot better than English cricket.
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Player - news, contracts, injuries
Joe Leach: Worcesterhire's former skipper to retire at end of season | BBC Sport
England bowlers Jofra Archer & Ollie Robinson sign new Sussex deals | BBC Sport
Martin Andersson: Middlesex all-rounder to join Derbyshire | BBC Sport
Neil Wagner joins Durham for County Championship and One Day Cup | Durham Cricket
Venkatesh Iyer: Lancashire sign India white-ball all-rounder for August | BBC Sport
Will Rhodes set to join Durham after leaving Warwickshire | ESPNcricinfo
Rocky Flintoff: Lancashire make 16-year-old their youngest player | BBC Sport
Danny Lamb to miss remainder of season | Sussex Cricket
County Cricket 2024: Full List Of Indian Players In County Championship And One Day Cup
Here are county losses to the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named…
News, Views and Interviews
Another excellent podcast from Talksport a week or so ago. The sheer exasperation of the discussion over the Blast, you-know-what and the overall schedule is telling
“Mad, stupid, reductive and counterintuitive,” one says.
As they point out, the Blast starts in May, the group stages have not long finished and the rest of it will be played in September. And it is not selling like it used to, especially when the pints are £8 and the fish and chips is £16. But the counties still desperately need the money.
They are scrapping for every shilling because they have been marginalised, their central funding has taken a real-term cut while costs have risen. But rinsing the product is not a long-term strategy.
Here’s another quote from George Dobell’s piece ECB on endangerment path while Test cricket thrives in front of Edgbaston sell out | The Cricketer ($)
Then there is this…
Last week, there were the usual headlines on BBC pay. It received the standard Daily Mail treatment because, as the argument goes, ‘we pay their wages’. The same goes for politicians, who are public servants. But athletes are allowed to grab as much as they can while they can because they deserve it. Why is that? Do we not pay their wages too?
England no longer dictate to counties, they just ignore them and back their own judgment | Telegraph
West Indies set up to fail against England but nobody in cricket cares | Telegraph
They may ignore counties but they still rely on them for talent creation. For me, the emotional split between Team England and the first-class 18 has grown since central contracts were introduced, albeit rightly. I have little interest in buying a ticket to watch England play outside of World Cups and the Ashes. There is no such glory hunting in my approach to the county game
John Stephenson: Essex CEO to take new role with Western Australia - BBC Sport
Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Karen Moorhouse join YCCC Board - Yorkshire CCC
Lyon revels in old school approach to county stint | cricket.com.au
Inside new Edgbaston Stadium hotel with ultimate view for cricket fans | Yahoo
Breaking boundaries - the inside story of cricket's ICEC report | Politics Home
Sussex announces Pride Match | Sussex Cricket
Khalid 'Billy' Ibadulla, the first Pakistani cricketer in the County Championship – obituary | Telegraph
Somerset CCC mourns the loss of Ken Palmer - Somerset CCC
Cricket team fields entire XI from same family | Telegraph
And finally, AC Milan’s cricket-inspired away kit.
The Rossoneri were founded as Milan Football and Cricket Club in 1899 by English expatriate Herbert Kilpin. Serie A rivals Genoa are still officially named “Genoa Cricket and Football Club” in that order.
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The ECB has made a cataclysmic error here. They've decided to create something new, with no support or heritage, and rely on the 'world class' stars to be the differentiator. Now that there's so many other start-up leagues, the stars aren't appearing because they're paid more elsewhere.
That leaves the competition as a new format, new teams, with no stars or really anything else that could make up for the lack of well-known players. They going to try and pay more and more for the stars when they know it will never be enough, because they will just be outbid.
Or they are going to have to come up with another idea. However, as they've marginalised the counties, downplayed the significance of the championship and destroyed the One Day Cup, they haven't got a lot of options.
It's a mess of their own making. Moreover, fewer counties, less interest and you can say good bye to meaningful tests as well.
It will be a case study for years to come - incentivise a group of executives to reach a short-term goal that largely destroys the core business.