ECB set to re-vamp T20 competition in England

[Saj]

The England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] today presented a detailed overview of current proposals around a new T20 competition to its 41 members. If agreed, the new T20 competition would start in summer 2020.

Across two group meetings in central London, the 41 members of the ECB - comprising the Chairmen of the 18 First Class Counties [FCCs], 21 County Boards in Non-First Class Counties, MCC and the Minor Counties Cricket Association [MCCA] - received a detailed presentation, including research and insight from independent experts, on the vision for the new T20 competition, key operational issues and the role of the current County competitions.

This was the latest stage in an extended period of consultation, discussion and dialogue within the game – which has included over 10,000 interviews and significant focus group research - to develop a new T20 competition format to meet the following, agreed key principles:

To have a major positive impact on driving participation

To focus on recruiting the next generation of fans, in particular promoting attendance to a diverse young family audience

To ensure complete differentiation from existing cricket tournaments to protect and support the future of the County game.

Tom Harrison, Chief Executive of the ECB said:

“This is about growth and securing our future. As guardians of the game, it is the responsibility of all of us to steer cricket to a strong future and to pass it on in even better shape.

“A new T20 competition can be the most globally relevant, fresh and dynamic tournament in world cricket, built for here but highly valued all around the world.

“We are putting in place the building blocks where we have more kids playing the game, a fan base that is growing, a financially healthy network, thriving First Class Counties, with each of our England teams and our domestic competitions delivering and having clearly defined roles.

“That was what today was all about and I firmly believe that a new T20 competition - presented, staged and delivered in the right way - can be such a positive catalyst for the game here in England and Wales to attract a family audience.

“We recognise the challenges we face in cricket, including competition from other sports, driving participation, changing viewing habits, different working patterns and financial sustainability.

“This is a huge opportunity here for our game and if we grasp it, the future is truly exciting. We have already come a long way together over the last 18 months. All this progress is taking cricket in England and Wales to a very good place and it has come through debate, discussion, listening and building consensus.”

Key elements of the proposed new T20 competition include:

Eight new teams playing 36 games over a 38-day summer window with four home games per team

All games televised with significant free to air exposure

No scheduling overlap with the NatWest T20 Blast

IPL style play-off system to give more incentive for finishing higher up the league table

A players’ draft to drive excitement and awareness

Squads of 15, with three being overseas players

Venue selection to be based on potential venues’ ability to best deliver the strategic objectives of the new competition

Event presentation to be centrally directed and differentiated from other formats of cricket

Each FCC to receive a guaranteed minimum of £1.3 million, or 1/19 of net revenues [whichever sum is higher]

10% of net revenues to go to a centrally delivered participation programme linked to the new competition.

Colin Graves, ECB Chairman added:

“Tomorrow I will ask the ECB Board to trigger a change in our Articles of Association to enable the introduction of the proposed new T20 competition.

“We face a groundbreaking opportunity in the weeks and months ahead and, if our members and if our members embrace it, the ECB will work with everyone in the game to ensure this huge potential and the investment that will come with this delivers an even stronger future for the game.”

 

[Arham_PakFan]

So it seems that this tournament will run along with the Natwest T20 blast.Should have replaced the Blast with this competition.But I understand why they didn't do this(the counties wouldn't like it).

Also good to know that it will be free to air.

 

[Ph_11]

I think ECB is seeing writing on the wall. After the tremendous success of PSL they know where the money is. There is nothing left in Old Man' cricket. I can easily see IPL and PSL growing to 6 months in next decade. Either join it or keep on complaing that it is not proper cricket.

 

[HitWicket]

So it seems that this tournament will run along with the Natwest T20 blast.Should have replaced the Blast with this competition.But I understand why they didn't do this(the counties wouldn't like it).

Also good to know that it will be free to air.

Taking out the t20 blast would mean less than half the professional cricketers in the country would be playing t20 cricket as well.

Latest report I saw suggested around 10 of the 36 games would be free to air.

The Telegraph today suggested the 8 teams would be :

North London
South London
Trent Bridge
West
South
Birmingham
Red Rose
White Rose

 

[uberkoen]

City-based Twenty20 tournament moves a step closer as ECB reveals more details

A new eight-team, city-based Twenty20 tournament could "absolutely rival the Indian Premier League" says England and Wales Cricket Board chief Tom Harrison.

The competition, proposed to begin in 2020, moved a step closer on Monday as further details were revealed.

ECB chief executive Harrison said it was "not a gamble" for the 18 first-class counties.

"What we are doing here is future-proofing county cricket," Harrison told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.

"I don't think it's so much a gamble, it's about saying, 'What do we want our business and our game to look like?'"

The IPL - and Australia's Big Bash tournament - enjoy huge success, attracting the world's best limited-overs players and drawing large crowds.

A referendum is expected to be dispatched on Tuesday inviting stakeholders to sanction a tournament including eight teams, rather than the 18 counties who traditionally contest the main competitions domestically.

What is changing?

On Monday, the ECB presented a detailed overview of its proposals for a new Twenty20 competition to its 41 members. These included:

• Eight new teams playing 36 games over a 38-day summer window, with four home games per team
• All games televised, with significant free-to-air exposure
• No scheduling overlap with the existing T20 Blast competition
• An Indian Premier League-style play-off system to give more incentive for finishing higher up the league
• A players' draft, with squads of 15 including three overseas players
• Counties guaranteed £1.3m

Why does the ECB want to change?

It says cricket has the chance to be part of "mainstream conversation" and believes the new competition can make the sport "relevant to a whole new audience".

Following a period of consultation including more than 10,000 interviews, the ECB decided on three key principles:

• To have a major positive impact on driving participation
• To focus on recruiting the next generation of fans, in particular promoting attendance to a diverse, young, family audience
• To ensure complete differentiation from existing cricket tournaments to protect and support the future of the county game

"What we absolutely need to do, is start appealing to a younger audience," said Harrison.

"We know that by doing things differently, by building new teams, we can be relevant to a whole new audience and bring this very diverse, multicultural Britain in to our stadiums in a way perhaps we haven't been successful in doing."

Is this the end of county cricket?

This will be the first time in the history of domestic cricket that first-class counties are not represented, hence the need for a change to the ECB's articles and constitutions.

It was confirmed on Monday that all 18 clubs have signed "media rights deeds" to allow the governing body to include the new Twenty20 in their forthcoming broadcast portfolio.

Asked if the move to a city-based format signalled the end of the county system, Harrison said: "Not at all. I think what we are doing here is future-proofing county cricket.

"Cricket has been a sport which has always had the ability to evolve and change where it's needed to, and its shown itself to be incredibly adaptable.

"We are the sport which came up with short formats through T20, and other sports have been trying to find the T20 equivalent of their own.

"So we have demonstrated we are capable of it, we've got the format, we now just need to create the competition which enables these new fans to get involved.

"It's a hugely exciting moment."

Questions remain about schedule and players

The ECB says the proposed competition can rival the incredible success of the Indian Premier League and Australia's Big Bash, which draws average crowds of more than 28,000.

Questions remain around where the tournament will fit into the schedule, and which of the world's best players will be available.

The ECB insists it will not impact on the T20 Blast, which last season featured the likes of West Indies star Chris Gayle and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum.

"We think there's a lot of room for growth in the Blast," said Harrison. "It's done a tremendous job at bringing in a county cricket audience.

"But the evidence we have suggest cricket exists in a bubble and we've got to get outside this bubble."

Free-to-air ambition?

The ECB's aim for "significant" free-to-air coverage is an "aspiration which reaches at the heart of our proposition going forward", according to Harrison.

"We are hoping very much as part of that is a whole new calibration of our reach, so a whole new way of looking at access to our sport whether that's digitally whether it's through social media or whether it's through traditional TV channels," he added.

"But we also understand it has to be the right mix of revenue and reach and promotion of the game which is ultimately what we're searching for."

'It will be a roaring success' - analysis

Cricket needs that moment in this country that changes the way we talk and think about the game. It's got to be good for the game.

The key to the Big Bash is being seen. Every single person in Australia can see every single ball. Cricket is now the number one sport in Australia.

Where the Big Bash has had huge success is they make sure the fan experience is key, and almost the cricket is secondary. The fans, and it's about 50-50 between men and women, and the kids, they all go home having had a great time.

The only thing in terms of a county perspective is this new tournament will be a massive juggernaut, get loads of marketing and the county game may say: 'Why didn't we get that support?'

This board of the ECB, I feel, are very visionary. You are going to get some terrific teams. I believe it will be a roaring success.

It would make a huge difference. I think it's very important that the public are given an opportunity to see cricket on a national level on free to air TV so it will be interesting to see how things pan out and what decisions are made.

I think it's a very good idea. It's great to see it's been given some thought. You look at other competitions around the world and they've been very successful so we'll wait to see what happens in the coming months.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/39407046

 

[Pete Rose]

Better paydays for Pakistanis

 

[Zahid87]

Hmmm...three overseas players. And presumably, there will be no Indians allowed to participate.

If they had just streched it to 4 overseas players, with Indians allowed, would have the potential to compete with the IPL on a global basis. Most things are in the ECBs favour, esp with regards to broadcast timings around various geographies.

But, without Indians, the league is half as marketable. That will forever remain the IPL trump card.

The Blast will have an important place, as that is gives the counties their T20 exposure and still provides a steady stream of income, plus for the players, its the arena where they can showcase their T20 skills to the franchises. Similar to PSL and Haier T20.

 

[princeuk]

Hmmm...three overseas players. And presumably, there will be no Indians allowed to participate.

If they had just streched it to 4 overseas players, with Indians allowed, would have the potential to compete with the IPL on a global basis. Most things are in the ECBs favour, esp with regards to broadcast timings around various geographies.

But, without Indians, the league is half as marketable. That will forever remain the IPL trump card.

The Blast will have an important place, as that is gives the counties their T20 exposure and still provides a steady stream of income, plus for the players, its the arena where they can showcase their T20 skills to the franchises. Similar to PSL and Haier T20.

We all know that the BCCI wont allow their players to take part in other T20 Leagues cos they have a complex about other tournaments doing well other than IPL.

 

[Markhor]

Two T20 comps is overkill.

Feels like we're readily giving up on the T20 Blast where gates have been increasing. Now its going to feel like a second rate event.

We should've put the later rounds of the T20 Blast on FTA TV if ECB wanted to push the sport to new fans and casuals.

 

[HitWicket]

Hmmm...three overseas players. And presumably, there will be no Indians allowed to participate.

If they had just streched it to 4 overseas players, with Indians allowed, would have the potential to compete with the IPL on a global basis. Most things are in the ECBs favour, esp with regards to broadcast timings around various geographies.

But, without Indians, the league is half as marketable. That will forever remain the IPL trump card.

The Blast will have an important place, as that is gives the counties their T20 exposure and still provides a steady stream of income, plus for the players, its the arena where they can showcase their T20 skills to the franchises. Similar to PSL and Haier T20.

With the kolpaks not being overseas players having 4 overseas players + kolpaks would be overkill.

 

[shaz619]

Two T20 comps is overkill.

Feels like we're readily giving up on the T20 Blast where gates have been increasing. Now its going to feel like a second rate event.

We should've put the later rounds of the T20 Blast on FTA TV if ECB wanted to push the sport to new fans and casuals.

Good point, they should have just revamped the Natwest Blast which is in dire need of a boost; it has underachieved because there is a market to be exploited but even Pakistan have left England behind with the PSL

 

[MenInG]

ECB Board Update: New T20 Competition, Review of ECB Articles of Association and Action Plan on Governance


Tuesday 28 March, London


At today’s meeting of the ECB Board, a number of key actions were agreed in relation to the structure, Articles and governance of the game in England and Wales.

Articles of Association

Following the unanimous decision of the Board, the 41 members of the ECB will now have the opportunity to change the Articles of Association to enable the introduction of a new eight-team T20 competition starting in summer 2020.

This decision to send formal documents to all Members today [Tuesday 28 March] follows an extensive development period for the proposed new T20 competition, detailed discussion with First Class Counties, County Boards, MCC and the wider cricket network, regular updates from the development team, then detailed presentations to all ECB members yesterday [Monday 27 March].

ECB members will now have 28 days to respond to the proposed new Article with any change requiring the support of at least 31 Members, three-quarters of the membership. The ECB’s T20 development team will continue to work closely with all ECB members to agree the overall details of the new T20 competition.

On this decision to send amendments to the Articles of Association, Colin Graves, Chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, said:

“The ECB Board today gave their unanimous support to trigger a formal process to change the game’s Articles of Association and allow a new T20 competition.

“Our members have seen the evidence for why the new T20 proposal is the right way to reach new audiences, create new fans and fuel the future of the game.

“Together, we can now take a huge opportunity to not only create a deeper engagement with those who currently follow cricket but to attract a whole new audience and ensure the sustainability of our game. This is a watershed moment for us all to make the whole game stronger.”


Review of ECB Articles of Association

A full review of ECB Articles of Association will start immediately and cover financial regulations to ensure they are fit for purpose and reflect the views and concerns of all cricket’s stakeholders. This process is expected to take approximately six to nine months and will involve extensive consultation, culminating in a proposal to adopt a new set of Articles at the ECB’s AGM in May 2018.

Review of ECB Governance

A review of the ECB’s governance structures will also be undertaken, under the leadership of Ian Lovett, Deputy Chairman of ECB. In particular this will be looking at Board structures and composition, processes, elections and committee selections. This will be evidence and analysis led, collaborative with the game and transparent, with key stakeholders within the process.

Memorandum of Understanding [MoU]

The Board also agreed to extend the current MoUs - due to expire on 31 January 2018 - by eight months to 30 September 2018. This will establish a new MoU between ECB and Counties to be designed for full consideration in May 2018. There are currently different MoUs between ECB and First Class Counties, County Cricket Boards, Minor Counties and Premier Leagues. There is a broad consensus across the game that the aspiration should be to create a single entity for cricket in each County, in line with the shared strategic framework defined by Cricket Unleashed.

On these measures and actions, Colin Graves added:

“Two years ago, on becoming Chairman of the ECB, I promised members open discussion, transparency and accountability with my main objective of attracting more revenue into the game to be passed onto its stakeholders.

“The Articles and Governance reviews I am announcing today are very much part of delivering this vision. Good governance is critical to effective decision-making, minimising risk and protecting reputation – it’s essential for the future success of cricket.”

 

[Hasan123]

Current t20 competition in England is too long. Obviously if it was replaced in place of this new t20 league, it will affect the current counties and the players.

Will be interesting to see how it scheduled.

 

[HitWicket]

ECB wants £1.25bn TV bonanza - on par with Champions League football rights

English cricket is looking to land a television deal worth up to a staggering £1.25billion when it puts its rights – including for its new Twenty20 competition – up for sale in May.

The huge sum of money, on a par with that paid this month for Champions League and other European club football, will secure the future of the domestic game for a generation if the England & Wales Cricket Board can hit the target it has set for its first broadcast auction in five years.

The ECB is looking to land between £230 million-£250m per year for five years from 2020 to 2024, an incredible threefold-plus uplift on the current £75m it currently receives annually from Sky Sports for exclusive coverage of all live cricket in England.

The rights will be split into four packages in order to tempt terrestrial broadcasters to bid in a formal process that will begin in early May, Telegraph Sport understands.

Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, told a meeting of the county chairmen on Monday that talks were at an advanced stage with the BBC, which is confident of becoming the ECB’s free-to-air partner for the new Twenty20 competition and has promised to give it the same level of exposure as the FA Cup.


It is also understood the BBC is about to re-enter the cricket market by agreeing a deal to show highlights from this summer’s Champions Trophy in England, the first time cricket in this country has been broadcast by the BBC since the 1999 World Cup.

But competition from other terrestrial broadcasters for the ECB’s new eight-team, city-based Twenty20 competition will be fierce.

ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 all declined to comment but it is understood the latter is set to bid for any free-to-air matches in the new tournament after broadcasting the Big Bash this winter.

The network is looking to expand its sports portfolio, which already includes highlights of England’s international summer.

It is believed ITV will carefully examine any package on offer before deciding to bid but it has been warned by the ECB it will have to mount a serious financial offer.

Sky and BT will also need to commit to an unprecedented outlay for a sport other than football if they are to land one or more of the other packages.


The ECB’s confidence in landing such an increase in its existing deal stems from three factors.

Firstly, there is an acknowledgement it undersold its last rights deal to Sky, which wisely negotiated an extra two-year option that took them up to 2019.

Secondly the broadcast market has changed massively since 2012 with BT Sport’s buying power enabling Sky to be outbid by its new arch-rival.

Finally, the addition of the new Twenty20 tournament gives Harrison and his executive team another product to sell.

They need to maximise its value in order to meet the staging costs of the venture and pay the counties the annual £1.3m each they have been promised.

The ECB could combine all its Twenty20 content into one package and the governing body has set up a committee to be led by deputy chairman Ian Lovett to decide on the allocation of major matches spanning the new television deal and the host venues for the Twenty20 competition.

The majority of cricket rights will go to a satellite channel but Harrison has pledged that at least eight matches in the new tournament will be priced at an affordable level for a terrestrial broadcaster.


He has also confirmed whichever networks win the rights will have a say in the venues at which the competition will be staged.

The other packages on offer could consist of England’s Test cricket, one-day cricket, highlights and domestic competitions.

Harrison was appointed by the ECB two years ago mainly due to his expertise in the rights market gained while working for IMG.

Meanwhile, the ECB board yesterday recommended changing the constitution of the ECB to allow the go ahead of the Twenty20 tournament without the participation of the counties. The ECB’s 41 members have 28 days to vote with 31 required to pass the motion, with ECB chairman Colin Graves hailing the move.

He said: "The ECB board today gave their unanimous support to trigger a formal process to change the game's Articles of Association and allow a new T20 competition.

"Our members have seen the evidence for why the new T20 proposal is the right way to reach new audiences, create new fans and fuel the future of the game.

"Together, we can now take a huge opportunity to not only create a deeper engagement with those who currently follow cricket but to attract a whole new audience and ensure the sustainability of our game.

"This is a watershed moment for us all to make the whole game stronger."

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...bonanza-par-champions-league-football-rights/

[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION] still want to carry on with your claims that the ECB are struggling to sell their television rights? I mean they're only looking at a 300+% increase in the worth of them...

 

[silentkiller187]

The rights are being sold at a prime time for the market. BT's buying power has provided much needed competition for SKY. SKY missing out on the champions league and a lot of premiership football will now mean they will be even more keen to retain some form of high quality sport on there channels. BT with their spending power will love to add more cricket to their portfolio. Cue a silly bid being put in similar to the one BT put in to secure the champions league, and of course higher subscription prices for us to offset this all.

 

[Markhor]

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...bonanza-par-champions-league-football-rights/

[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION] still want to carry on with your claims that the ECB are struggling to sell their television rights? I mean they're only looking at a 300+% increase in the worth of them...

Wow, lot of stuff to take in that article.

1) 8 out 36 matches on FTA TV isn't anywhere near enough but I understand the need for income from lucrative television rights as the counties are in dire financial states right now.

I'm OK with this if those 8 matches are the latter stages of the tournament. The final surely has to be on FTA if the purpose of this exercise is for cricket to reach new, mainstream, casual audiences. Get cricket on weekend primetime slots like the FA Cup.

2) The fact that the viewing figures for marquee series like the Ashes are dwindling has to be a cause for alarm for ECB. They may get more money having their product on Sky or BT but what's the use if interest in the sport is dwindling in the country ? You have some clubs that are struggling to cobble a side together. You have minor counties who are having to rely on older and older players because there's a lack of youngsters coming through.

Look at BT and their Champions League ratings which have dropped off so significantly that even UEFA officials admit it was a mistake and are now looking to get it back on ITV.

 

[Major]

I feel good about the fact that we were able to introduce a premier t20 league even before england did so.

Just goes on to show that running such leagues aint easy

 

[HitWicket]

I feel good about the fact that we were able to introduce a premier t20 league even before england did so.

Just goes on to show that running such leagues aint easy

Let's be honest, the PSL brought Pakistani domestic t20 in line with the t20 blast. It's not like it's suddenly hugely better than the t20 blast because the teams differentiated themselves from the usual domestic game.

 

[Ph_11]

PSL is a step in the right direction. ECB is finally waking up to the reality.

 

[amit]

Taking out the t20 blast would mean less than half the professional cricketers in the country would be playing t20 cricket as well.

Latest report I saw suggested around 10 of the 36 games would be free to air.

The Telegraph today suggested the 8 teams would be :

North London
South London
Trent Bridge
West
South
Birmingham
Red Rose
White Rose

Rather than this, I would like to see the 8 teams be like Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester City, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur. Name them after the football clubs giving each of them a bit of share and that way many new fans will join in

 

[HitWicket]

Rather than this, I would like to see the 8 teams be like Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester City, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur. Name them after the football clubs giving each of them a bit of share and that way many new fans will join in

For starters what would the incentive be for the football clubs such as those you mention?

Secondly you'd be isolating support to a select few even more than you would by making teams after a city. Name them Chelsea instead of South London and suddenly anyone else from South London that doesn't support Chelsea is alienated because of the link.

 

[Convict]

Interesting move. In terms of population representation, less people have a local team than NatWest.

Would it not have been a better move to get NatWest on free to air?

England can't try and copy the BBL because of the massively different demographics.

 

[Markhor]

Fierce debate on the Switch Hit podcast about this between Mark Butcher and George Dobell which I enjoyed.

Dobell said this move will kill the T20 Blast and the 50 over competition that'll run alongside it will be diluted as the best white ball players won't be featuring ! The players that'll compete in the 50 over tournament will be your regular 4 day players. Also argued that the FTA TV coverage is insufficient.

He also said ECB's claim that this was a "transparent process" is nonsense when counties had to sign non-disclosure agreements, none of the documents from the briefing have been released and some of the counties themselves have said they've been coerced (or bribed) into it.

However both agreed that clearly there has to be one T20 competiton in the long run which is my view too.

Interesting move. In terms of population representation, less people have a local team than NatWest.

Would it not have been a better move to get NatWest on free to air?

England can't try and copy the BBL because of the massively different demographics.

Agreed, for all this talk that the T20 Blast is a failing competition - gates are up 62%.

ECB is going to spend £39m from its reserves creating this new T20 competition that they'll hope will attract a new generation of cricket fans, when they could've achieved the same outcomes by simply investing the same money into their existing T20 competition !

About the free-to-air point generally - unfortunately, we don't have the free-to-air protection for sporting events as Australia do with their anti-siphoning laws. While your administrators have ensured cricket is seen by the widest possible audience, successive British Governments have bowed down to the Murdoch Empire and our list of protected events contracts every year.

Now even the viewing figures for the Ashes have declined whilst adult participation has fallen. Obviously the Sky money is vital to maintain the financially ailing counties, and their coverage is excellent - but how can you promote your sport behind a paywall ? We have NO live cricket on FTA TV whatsoever. We only get highlights of England's home internationals and the odd ICC tournament.

 

[MenInG]

The 41 Members of the ECB have overwhelmingly approved - by a margin of 38 to three - a change to the Articles of Association. This will allow the introduction of a new Twenty20 competition in summer 2020, contested by eight new teams, to complement the existing domestic competitions including NatWest T20 Blast.

Those supporting the change include 15 First Class Counties, all 21 County Boards in non-First Class Counties, MCC and the Minor Counties Cricket Association

Following the unanimous decision of the Board to send formal documents on 28 March, each ECB Member had 28 days to respond to the proposed change to Articles. The amendment required the support of 75% – i.e. at least 31 of the 41 Members – to become effective. Deadline for receipt of documents was Tuesday 25 April 2017.

This decision to seek the amendment to the Articles followed an extensive development period for a proposed new Twenty20 competition, featuring discussion and debate with the First Class Counties and wider game, regular updates from the T20 development team and detailed presentations by independent experts

Colin Graves, Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said:

“We are delighted that such an overwhelming majority of our Members have voted to support the change to the ECB’s Articles. In doing so, they have paved the way for an exciting new era for cricket in England and Wales.

“Over the past year our Members have seen the clear evidence outlining why an additional new T20 competition is the right way for cricket to reach new audiences, create new fans and drive the future of the game. I would like to sincerely thank them for the way they and their members have embraced the process and the debate.

“I passionately believe that the game has chosen the right path. Each of our Members will benefit and, critically, so will the whole game. We can now move on with building an exciting new competition for a new audience to complement our existing competitions - NatWest T20 Blast, the Royal London One-Day Cup, the Specsavers County Championship and Kia Super League - plus the international formats, each with its own clear role to play.

“Our clear ambition is that this new competition will sit alongside the IPL and Big Bash League as one of the world’s major cricket tournaments. It will certainly increase participation in our game, in conjunction with the new All Stars Cricket program for five to eight year-olds, and provide additional income streams for all our stakeholders.

“The ECB Executive and T20 development team will now continue to work with the game as we build the new competition, ensure it is positioned distinctively from our existing competitions and realise its full potential. All decisions - including the creation and base of each team - will be made within the game, guided by our shared strategy and built on best practice, research and insight.

“The benefits it will bring can deliver a sustainable future for all 18 First Class Counties and an exciting future for the game in England and Wales.”

 

[Muhammad10]

Following the Annual General Meeting of the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] - held today at Lord’s Cricket Ground - the following can be confirmed:

FINANCIAL
In 2016 ECB made the highest level of contributions to the cricket network and stakeholders in its 20-year history, with nearly £75 million invested in the professional and recreational game.
Overall group reserves were reduced to £35.7 million, reflecting this increased investment and the four-year business cycle of cricket linked to international series here and overseas.
ECB’s main areas of expenditure were: payments and contributions to the First Class Counties; recreational and grass-roots spend including a new entry-level participation scheme and investment in the Participation & Growth team; supporting England teams and talent pathways across men’s, women’s and disability cricket; and the ECB’s role in leading and supporting the growth of the game.

GOVERNANCE
It was confirmed that, in Autumn 2017, ECB Members are to be asked to approve a package of governance reforms, which will be both compliant with the Sport England Code and reflect best practice in sport. Should these be agreed, changes to the structure of the ECB Board would be confirmed later this year.

MEDIA RIGHTS
ECB confirmed that it has appointed leading law firm CMS to advise on the media rights sale for all competitions for the period 2020-2024, helping to ensure the process meets the very highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability.
An Invitation To Tender [ITT] for ECB media rights will be issued shortly and it is anticipated that the process will conclude this summer. Further announcements will be made as appropriate, ahead of the process.

Colin Graves, ECB Chairman said:

“Last year we invested more in our professional and recreational game than ever before.
“We must ensure the sustainability of the game at all levels, not only supporting existing clubs and competitions but creating new opportunities and investing further in the growth of the game.
“It’s also important that we meet the Sport England Code on governance. Our ambition is to reflect best practice in this area and to progress this over the summer.”

Tom Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of ECB, said of CMS’s role within the media rights process:

“This summer ECB will conduct the sale of media rights for all our competitions, including home-based International matches, the current domestic competitions for both men and women and the New T20 competition.
“It’s critical that the process is right, meets the highest standards of integrity and helps the whole game to get the best outcome. The experience and expertise of CMS will support us in this.”