VAUGHAN’S FEARS FOR COUNTIES
ENGLISH cricket chiefs must do whatever they can to avoid losing out on the bumper TV money that will allow the professional game to survive.
That is the verdict of former England skipper Michael Vaughan, who reckons the game would face its darkest hour if Sky and the BBC end up clawing back the 2020 portion of their £1.1billion deal.
The money paid was primarily for international cricket and the new hundred-ball tournament that is due to start on July 17. But with all professional sport on hold for the foreseeable future, it is unclear how much of the season the ECB will stage and when the doors eventually open.
Vaughan, who played in 86 Tests, 51 of them as captain, said: “It is the financial side of the game that really concerns me.
“We are like rugby league and rugby union. We are so dependent on that cheque from TV.
“The game can survive without selling a ticket as long as the TV money comes in.
“If that money does not come in then we are in for some really dark times over the next couple of years. If the TV games can’t happen and the ECB have to give some of that money back to Sky or the BBC because those games haven’t happened, there will be a massive knock-on effect in the next year or two.
“Without that money, I dread to think what will happen to the counties.
“If there can’t be any international cricket then the Blast and The Hundred are the priorities. That is what the TV companies have paid their money for.”
Whether the inaugural season of The Hundred will actually be launched as planned is another matter if the coronavirus pandemic lasts longer than predicted. Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The ECB have put all their eggs in this Hundred basket.
“They know if it doesn’t come out this year that will be gut-wrenching.
“But if the Olympics are moving back a year and the Euros are moving back a year, don’t be scared of moving The Hundred to next year.
“You might just have to take a backwards step and realise that you can’t launch a new tournament this summer.
“With no overseas stars, that is going to be diluted.
“That is about a new audience but it might need to be played behind closed doors.”