Ecb Admits No Evidence Hundred Has Attracted New Fans To Other Forms Of Cricket

Richard Gould, nan ECB’s main executive, has admitted his organisation has nary grounds that caller fans attracted by nan Hundred person gone connected to be different forms of nan game. The governing assemblage of cricket successful England and Wales has agelong boasted that nan tourney has attracted a different assemblage to existing formats.

“The Hundred is each astir throwing cricket’s doors unfastened – and it’s already delivering,” nan ECB’s past main executive, Tom Harrison, said aft nan first tourney successful 2021. “We request to turn cricket, scope much people, and that’s precisely what nan Hundred does.” A study published past October stated that 31% of tickets for nan Hundred person been bought by women, that 23% were bought for juniors and that 41% of buyers attended successful family groups.

But connected nan time that counties received their first downpayment connected nan windfall generated by outer finance into nan 8 Hundred franchises Gould said nary activity had been done into uncovering retired if immoderate of those caller fans stay progressive successful nan athletics during nan 11 months of nan twelvemonth erstwhile nan tourney is retired of action.

“That’s astir apt a spot of activity that we now request to do going forward,” Gould said. “Just to cheque that erstwhile group do travel in, wherever do they go? Because you mightiness get immoderate coming successful to Test cricket [who] past spell to nan Hundred, and Hundred into Test cricket. We haven’t done that activity successful immoderate awesome detail.”

That deficiency of activity is peculiarly astonishing fixed that cross-pollination betwixt formats is 1 of nan ECB’s superior goals.

“Fandom is really important for us, whether it’s England, Leicestershire aliases London Spirit,” Gould said. “That’s nan key. We’ve sewage a really dedicated halfway audience, which is comparatively mini compared to different sports. And past we’ve sewage tons of group that are very willing successful cricket but possibly don’t travel to it arsenic often arsenic we want. We cognize that nan liking is there, we conscionable request to get group to travel much often for each formats, alternatively than conscionable that ‘I’ve been to nan Test erstwhile a year’ type of thing.”

This year’s Hundred, which starts astatine Lord’s adjacent Tuesday, is apt to beryllium nan past earlier caller owners commencement to push done important changes, from squad names and kits to nan magnitude of nan format itself. “That’s nan benignant of speech we’re starting to get into now,” said Vikram Banerjee, nan tournament’s managing director. “It would beryllium somewhat overseas to bring each these awesome group successful and past conscionable time off it arsenic it is.”

Deals for nan waste of portion aliases afloat stakes successful six of nan 8 Hundred franchises were finalised this week, pinch nan last 2 expected imminently. The full finance has been put astatine £520m of which an first sum of “just northbound of £400,000” has now been released to each county. In each big counties tin expect to person a minimum of £18m, and non-hosts astir £25m.

The anticipation of adding a ninth squad to nan title has already been discussed, but existent non-hosts person been warned against spending their windfalls connected unnecessary stadium upgrades arsenic they jostle for position successful nan queue.

“When giving guidance arsenic to what a early description squad needs to look for illustration successful position of facilities, we’re not going to beryllium mounting immense capacities,” Gould said. “What we don’t want is simply a load of quiet integrative seats astir nan place. We’re not looking to spot finance going into creating achromatic elephants.”