Red Rose: Let’s get behind ECB

CRICKET CHRIS OSTICK

LANCASHIRE have backed Colin Graves and say they have ‘full confidence’ in the ECB chairman and board.

And Lancashire’s chief executive Daniel Gidney has urged the other 17 first-class counties to get behind the sport’s governing body and work together for the good of English cricket.

Graves has recently come under criticism from some counties after it emerged compensation of around £500,000 could be paid to clubs who have Test match status in the years they do not host Tests.

It recently emerged Glamorgan had received £2.5m from the ECB for not bidding to host Tests during the latest round of international match allocations. That lead to the resignation of Andy Nash, the former Somerset chairman, from the board in protest, with him claiming such payments had not been discussed.

Some of the non-Test match venue counties have expressed fears the compensation – along with the new eight-team city-based T20 competition which will be held at the main Test match venues – will create eight ‘super counties’, of which Lancashire would be one, although each of the 18 clubs is guaranteed £1.3m a year from the new tournament .

At a meeting of all 18 county chairmen on Tuesday, it is reported that Graves produced minutes of a board teleconference in September 2016 - which Nash was involved in - during which the principle of compensating grounds ‘in exchange for waiving the right to be eligible to host Test matches in the future’ was raised.

It’s reported that those minutes show the proposals were ‘unanimously agreed’ by the ECB board.

And Gidney believes former Yorkshire chairman Graves and the ECB chief executive Tom Harrison deserve praise for the direction they are taking the ECB – and for the lucrative new broadcasting deal they have signed which will see some live cricket return to terrestrial TV for the first time since the 2005 Ashes series.

“We at Lancashire are very supportive of Colin Graves, Tom Harrison and the ECB and what they are doing and have every confidence in them,” he said.

“They have introduced structural change and followed Sport England guidance on Board governance.

“They have also secured a record-breaking TV rights deal for cricket which every county will benefit from.

“The previous broadcast deal the ECB struck was in the region of £370m, the new one is £1.1bn.

“Tom Harrison will go down in history as securing the future of English cricket. It is an unbelievable deal.

“Cricket could probably have got more money and stay behind the pay wall.

“With hindsight, taking the game behind the pay wall following 2005, we have clearly had a drop off in participation.

“And with every county receiving £1.3m a year from the new T20 tournament, it also means everyone will be able to reach the salary cap for players, which means a more level playing field.

“All the counties now need to get behind the ECB and work together to promote the game for all 18 first-class counties.”

Lancashire were allocated a bumper package of international cricket in the latest round of allocations announced last month which will see them host a Test match every year from 2019 until 2024 apart from in 2022. That run includes two Ashes Tests and a number of games in next year’s World Cup. ●● Tom Hulme

‘All the counties need to work together to promote the game’