Graves defends £2.5m windfall payment
FORMER Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves has welcomed the “healthy and open debate” in a meeting between the England and Wales Cricket Board and representatives from each of the 18 first-class counties.
The corporate governance of the ECB came in for criticism earlier this month when former Somerset chairman Andy Nash made public his resignation letter from the board after a 14year stint.
Central to the complaint was, at the time, an alleged plan to pay Test-hosting counties for the years in which they do not stage a match – and Glamorgan last week announced they had received a £2.5m windfall for agreeing not to be a venue from 2020 to 2024.
It has been reported in some quarters that this has been a cause for concern for some counties that do not stage Tests and was one of the topics up for discussion at the meeting hosted by ECB chairman Graves.
“This was a constructive meeting, with healthy and open debate,” said Graves.
“We addressed a range of questions, including giving a full explanation of the payment to Glamorgan and the process through which the board considered and agreed this.”
Also on the agenda was the challenges facing the game and the ownership structure of the ECB’s new franchise Twenty20 competition, set to launch in two years’ time.
England’s Australian coach Trevor Bayliss admits he is embarrassed by the balltampering shame which has engulfed his compatriots on their Test tour of South Africa.
Bayliss, who oversaw England’s 4-0 defeat in his native country this winter, has echoed the insistence of captain Joe Root and senior seamer Stuart Broad that the Ashes tourists had no reason to suspect any sharp practice from their hosts.
But as a former mentor of Steve Smith’s when the Australia captain was a young New South Wales all-rounder, he has been shocked by events, stating: “I’m obviously disappointed – and as an Australian I’m embarrassed.
“Steve is a lovely young bloke who has made a terrible mistake, and I’m sure Cricket Australia will work out the course of action required.”