MIND THE GAP

The new Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report has shone fresh light on first-class county finances ahead of the £520m windfall from The Hundred sale. Its lead author, sports business journalist Jonathan Dyson, breaks down the key findings

OPPOSITE Surrey v Leicestershire in the 2023 Metro Bank One Day Cup; the launch of theLeonard Curtis Cricket Finance Reportat the Kia Oval in July

STEVE BARDENS/GETTY IMAGES

W ith the sales of stakes in six of The Hundred teams now complete, and the distribution of funds to the 18 first-class counties underway, finances across the domestic game are set to come under intense scrutiny over the coming months and years.

After the bidding process for equity in The Hundred franchises earlier this year, which has led to the prospect of around £520m coming into the game, the ECB chief executive Richard Gould said the money raised would be “invested, not spent”, to safeguard English cricket for “generations to come”.

But now the funds are finally arriving, how realistic is it to expect a transformation in the long-term financial outlook for the county game? What opportunities and challenges lie in front of the clubs? And what is the overall picture of county finances currently?

Earlier this year, I teamed up with sports finance academics Professor Rob Wilson, Dr Dan Plumley and Robbie Millar – who have done extensive work on cricket and other sports for over a decade – to produce an in-depth report analysing the financial health of the domestic game in England and Wales.

The report was commissioned by Leonard Curtis, a multi-disciplinary professional services group established over 30 years ago. The company has a strong connection to cricket, with David Brown, who played for Gloucestershire and Glamorgan, and Iain Nairn MBE, former captain of the England Physical Disability cricket team, among its directors.