English board may lose big

The England and Wales Cricket Board stands to lose over £300 million if the upcoming season does not go ahead.

London, April 2: The England and Wales Cricket Board stands to lose over £300 million if the Covid-19 pandemic prevents the upcoming season from going ahead, said its chief executive Tom Harrison, who is among the ECB employees taking a pay cut to deal with the crisis.

In another development, England’s centrally contracted players appear to have said no to the ECB’s offer of taking a 20 per cent pay cut as part of board’s plans to combat the financial challenges arising out of the pandemic, reported ESPNCricinfo.

The ECB on Tuesday announced a 61 million support package to tackle the ongoing crisis.

In a letter of Professional Cricketers’ Association chief Tony Irish, Harrison expressed his concerns on the longterm impact of the pandemic. In this communication, Harrison claimed he himself will be taking a 25 percent pay cut for at least the next three months.

“The pandemic is biggest challenge the sport has faced in the modern era although the full extent and impact of the pandemic on cricket is as yet unknown, it is already clear that it will be extremely significant,” wrote Harrison.

With its reserves going down to £11 million in 2018-19 from 73 million pounds in 2015-16, a cricket-less season could make a severe impact on ECB’s balance sheet.

“.... by way of offering an indication of the potential scale of the loss to the game, losing an entire cricket season — which is not an outlandish scenario — will cost cricket in England and Wales well in excess of 300m,” Harrison wrote.

There are concerns with regards to whether the county season, scheduled to start on April 12, can be salvaged this year amid the uncertainty. “Our absolute priority in the face of this challenge is firstly, to ensure the public safety of our people — our staff, players and colleagues around the game, but secondly, that the cricket network remains intact, and emerges from this crisis in a state to resume our trajectory towards a bright future,” Harrison said.