ECB admit collapse of Tests is a major risk

THe england and Wales Cricket board has officially acknowledged that the ‘status of Test cricket’ poses a major risk r to its future financial stability. For the first time, the board has said in its strategic report that it sees any collapse c of the longer form of the game as a being particularly perilous for the organisation’s o future. The admission, found in the latest company accounts, goes some way to explaining e why eCb chairman Colin Graves G has been so keen to push the controversial new Hundred format and appeal to new audiences. The accounts have also highlighted that the sport’s integrity — in particular ‘safeguarding, anti-doping and anti-corruption’ — is another new source of uncertainty. The accounts, which were published this week, show the eCb made a loss of £30.2million in the year and group reserves are down from £35.7m to £8.6m. This loss was in large part due to unprecedented ‘special fees’ of £1.3m being paid to each first-class county between 2016 and 2017, relating to India’s forthcoming tour of england. And the counties will receive a further £1m this year or next, relating to the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Last night, an eCb spokesman insisted that the decision by the directors to describe Test cricket’s status as a major risk factor was in relation to the international development of the format and the ‘challenges that Test cricket has globally’. One of the concerns surrounding the international game is that while england, Australia and India are committed to the traditional form of the game, leading players from other nations are prioritising the plethora of domestic Twenty20 tournaments over forging Test careers, and that the quality and therefore attraction of Test cricket will become diluted. The International Cricket Council are considering imposing restrictions on both the number of overseas players permitted in such leagues and when the tournaments are played, leaving a window specifically for international matches. The ICC are also hoping a Test championship, run over two years and beginning next summer with the 2019 Ashes, will provide the context the five-day game has lacked historically.