The vexing problem of how to maximise revenues from domestic Twenty20 appears no nearer a solution with the first-class counties set to reject proposals this week to create an English Premier League in 2017. Instead, the tournament is likely to remain in its present format as a regional competition, albeit played in two blocks during July and August.
A steering committee headed by Andy Nash, the Somerset chairman and including Andrew Strauss, director of England cricket, has been working on proposals for a new structure for county cricket since October. There is broad, but not unanimous, consensus concerning its suggestions for 50-over and championship cricket, but widespread dissatisfaction with the proposition that T20 should become a divisional competition, based on 2016 standings with promotion and relegation thereafter.
The 50-over competition would be played in April and May, with a July final, and there would be a reduction in championship cricket from 16 matches to 14, with eight teams in the first division and ten in the second.
With the T20 competition also played in two blocks during high summer, the principal advantage of the new format will be greater simplicity for spectators and benefits for players, who will face far fewer changes from format to format, six under the new proposals against a bewildering 26 last year.
But the commercial considerations around T20 are causing most anxiety and there is little consensus among counties who are disparate in their aims, ambitions, views and requirements. There is a general acceptance that the domestic T20 will drive revenues and growth in the future, most likely at the expense of international bilateral cricket, but the steering group’s starting point was that growth should come from “within our current county infrastructure”, which meant that a more radical alternative structure was never considered.
Advertisement
The proposal that the T20 competition in 2016 should lay the basis for a two-division competition in 2017 has met a withering response from some county chief executives and at least ten counties — a majority — are against it. A variety of objections have been put forward: clubs fear the loss of revenue streams from their local derbies: the Roses matches generated about £300,000 of profit each for Lancashire and Yorkshire last year. The net revenue for Middlesex’s derby against Surrey was two and half times that for any other fixture.
Some of the bigger clubs fear their ability to compete in next year’s tournament should England players not be made available. Yorkshire have sometimes contributed as many as five or six players to international matches and could be at a disadvantage if T20 divisions are based on next year’s standings alone, should they continue to provide so many international players.
Others have expressed a concern that counties would prioritise T20 next year, to try to get into the first division in 2017, at the expense of the longer form of the game, leading to a possible reduction in quality of four-day cricket and a penalty for those clubs competing in first-class competitions. Analysis from one of the bigger clubs shows that 9 per cent of its supporters are prepared to travel more than 50 miles for a T20 match, as opposed to 27 per cent for a Test match, which could mean a reduction in attendances should the games not be played on a regional basis.
Most of all, they are concerned at the lack of serious, empirical analysis behind the proposals. Counties look enviously at the IPL and Big Bash and recognise that their survival, and the financial health of the domestic game, rests on getting the next proposal right so that it becomes as attractive as possible to spectators and potential broadcasters and sponsors. Since pioneering the shortest format of the game 13 years ago, England now lags behind in offering a world-class competition to help grow the game.
More than one county recommends that a thorough independent review be undertaken of the cost and benefits of the proposed changes, as against the present model, so that an informed decision can be made. Some think the present steering group’s proposals are not independent, contain numerous unverified assumptions and have little supporting evidence.
Advertisement
The chairmen of the first-class counties meet at Lord’s today, followed by a gathering of the ECB board. The board could push through proposals if it is so inclined, but is unlikely to want to do so if there are such strong feelings against the T20 proposals.
Everyone in English cricket knows that T20 holds the key to future prosperity and growth, but that is where consensus ends.