ECB submits Ashes ‘crown jewels’ response 22/03/2010 |
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The England and Wales Cricket Board has claimed that at least four first-class counties and two Test grounds will be forced to close if the Government adds the home Ashes Tests to the ‘crown jewels’ list of events protected for free-to-air television.
According to ECB research, the total cost to the sport would be £137.4m over four years – largely because of loss of income from the organisation’s lucrative broadcast deal with pay-TV company Sky.
Former Football Association executive director David Davies has recommended that the Ashes be included on the list of protected events and the ECB submitted its response last Friday.
Under the current deal, Sky pays £260m for a contract that runs from 2010 to 2013 and much of that money is reinvested into grassroots cricket.
According to Deloitte, in 2009 the ECB invested 21 per cent, or £19.4m, of its expenditure (rather than its revenues) in "development activities outside the national game".
According to a draft budget for 2014 to 2017 drawn up by the ECB, the majority of that investment would have to be cut if the Ashes were reserved for free-to-air TV.
The Guardian reports that it would also cut the amount distributed annually to each of the 18 first-class counties by around half (£1m) – a move that could lead to the “implosion” of four counties, including two with Test match grounds.
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