14/08/2022
guardian article
If he sticks to his convictions new ECB chairman will be a boon to counties.
Mike Atherton.
The Times.
Thursday, 11 August 2022.
PTG 3963-19456.
After almost a year of dithering, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) finally has a new chairman. After numerous false starts and dead-end manoeuvres, it came down to a shortlist of three, which, remarkably, included two present members of the board. Had the final choice been for the status quo, it is highly likely that there would have been a revolt among the counties (PTG 3957-19431, 6 August 2022).
Richard Thompson, the chairman of Surrey, was the only conceivable choice, therefore. He is an intriguing pick for two reasons: first, he had previously been an ECB board member before resigning citing “ igniticant differences" having witnessed it at its dysfunctional worst; second, the relationship between Surrey, the biggest and most financially powerful county, and the ECB has been a fractious one under his leadership. He has a perspective from both inside and outside the tent.
Thompson resigned from the ECB in March 2018 over a number of critical decisions — payments to Glamorgan being one — of which he, a board member, was unaware (PTG 2402-12162, 28 March 2018). Either side of that decision, his county led the opposition to the ECB’s new competition, the Hundred. They were the only club to vote against it, ultimately, and were unhelpful to the ECB’s efforts to persuade the other counties of the need for it.
Surrey is the powerhouse county of the game. It is the only club to have grown its membership in the past 15 years — almost doubling in number — at a time when memberships throughout the county game have almost halved. Fortunate in its physical situation near the City of London, the club regularly sold out its T20 matches on Friday nights and is financially independent of the ECB. It was able, as a result, to stand firm in the face of a £UK1.3 million-a-year ($A2.3m) inducement.
If Thompson’s quotes in the aftermath of his decision to step down from the board four years ago tell us anything, it is that his election to the chairmanship may shift the conversation back towards the counties after a period when ECB has centralised power and control. Of course, with the new 100-ball competition in its second year and with an extension to the television deal recently signed, pragmatism will likely win the day.
Unless he has had a change of heart — always a possibility when ambitious people arrive at their destination — we can expect him to tackle the ECB as an organisation first of all. The board has shown itself to have fundamental weaknesses. There is an absence of cricket knowledge and a lack of county representation and this combination has resulted in a failure to hold the executive to account on key decisions.
As an organisation, the ECB has become overstaffed and overpaid. Its latest financial accounts for 2021-22 showed an increase in the average number of employees to 458 for the year. According to those accounts, payroll costs increased by £UK11m ($A19m) to £UK54m ($A93.2m) (wages of £UK46m - $A79.4m - and pension and social security costs accounting for the rest), putting the average salary at over £UK100,000 ($A172,545). A rookie professional cricketer for a county gets £UK18,000 ($A31,060).
Expect Thompson to take a direct interest and involvement in Andrew Strauss’s “high-performance review”, which so far has taken a limited view of the English game — that it is there to serve the interests of the England team alone. A structure and schedule that encourages all areas to thrive — recreational, county and elite — and serves the needs of spectators, players and media-rights holders is the key immediate task facing the game, and Thompson and the new chief executive, whoever that may be, should exert some influence over the process. Simplicity, coherence and balance should be the aim.
Internationally, there is a limited amount that can be done. The Future Tours Program is set in stone, as are International Cricket Council events, and these will see out Thompson’s five-year term. As for the future of international and Test cricket, it is already far too late to counter the prevailing trends whereby the franchised leagues will come to dominate the calendar, leaving less room for everything else. Having been given a free leg-up by naive administrators, franchise owners (in India) are now expanding their reach.
That said, these trends will impact on the English game and demand careful thought around the future of media-rights deals and player engagement. Those on central contracts are looked after immensely well but if bilateral cricket fades in importance, what is the value of central contracts? And then, if they disappear or fall in value, how does the ECB hold any control over its cricketers? It is a problem that Cricket Australia is currently grappling with as new tournaments spring up in its prime scheduling months (PTG 3963-19459, below) .
Thompson will also face some tricky domestic hurdles in the near future that will need some careful handling and humility. It is hard to think that inflationary trends and the cost-of-living crisis will not have some impact on discretionary spend at sports events. The 'Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket' has had more than 4,000 responses since its formation in late 2020 and it is unlikely to make for happy reading when it lands shortly (PTG 3592-17745, 30 July 2021).
The role of the governing body in the Yorkshire crisis has been opaque and Thompson would be strongly advised to instigate an independent inquiry, something that the ECB should have done a year ago rather than engaging the Cricket Discipline Commission (PTG 3963-19457 below). The original allegations, Yorkshire’s initial and subsequent response, the problems around due process, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport inquiry all need more scrutiny than has so far been achieved.
Time will tell, but Thompson’s election feels like the start of a potentially different conversation. For the past few years the ECB has centralised power and attempted to marginalise the county game, and those who support it. But judging from his comments shortly after stepping down from the ECB in 2018, Thompson feels differently.
He said then: “Cricket is the only national sport owned by its membership. Rugby clubs and football clubs are controlled by oligarchs but cricket isn’t and cricket should be more democratic . . . Cricket, in its ownership structure, should have a stronger debate and should engage its supporter base more. In that six-month block there must be a way that you can run it where, taking into account all the issues and challenges, the broadcasters, members, spectators and players can all be satisfied”. He has now got a chance to make his mark.
Mike Atherton.
The Times.
Thursday, 11 August 2022.
PTG 3963-19456.
After almost a year of dithering, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) finally has a new chairman. After numerous false starts and dead-end manoeuvres, it came down to a shortlist of three, which, remarkably, included two present members of the board. Had the final choice been for the status quo, it is highly likely that there would have been a revolt among the counties (PTG 3957-19431, 6 August 2022).
Richard Thompson, the chairman of Surrey, was the only conceivable choice, therefore. He is an intriguing pick for two reasons: first, he had previously been an ECB board member before resigning citing “ igniticant differences" having witnessed it at its dysfunctional worst; second, the relationship between Surrey, the biggest and most financially powerful county, and the ECB has been a fractious one under his leadership. He has a perspective from both inside and outside the tent.
Thompson resigned from the ECB in March 2018 over a number of critical decisions — payments to Glamorgan being one — of which he, a board member, was unaware (PTG 2402-12162, 28 March 2018). Either side of that decision, his county led the opposition to the ECB’s new competition, the Hundred. They were the only club to vote against it, ultimately, and were unhelpful to the ECB’s efforts to persuade the other counties of the need for it.
Surrey is the powerhouse county of the game. It is the only club to have grown its membership in the past 15 years — almost doubling in number — at a time when memberships throughout the county game have almost halved. Fortunate in its physical situation near the City of London, the club regularly sold out its T20 matches on Friday nights and is financially independent of the ECB. It was able, as a result, to stand firm in the face of a £UK1.3 million-a-year ($A2.3m) inducement.
If Thompson’s quotes in the aftermath of his decision to step down from the board four years ago tell us anything, it is that his election to the chairmanship may shift the conversation back towards the counties after a period when ECB has centralised power and control. Of course, with the new 100-ball competition in its second year and with an extension to the television deal recently signed, pragmatism will likely win the day.
Unless he has had a change of heart — always a possibility when ambitious people arrive at their destination — we can expect him to tackle the ECB as an organisation first of all. The board has shown itself to have fundamental weaknesses. There is an absence of cricket knowledge and a lack of county representation and this combination has resulted in a failure to hold the executive to account on key decisions.
As an organisation, the ECB has become overstaffed and overpaid. Its latest financial accounts for 2021-22 showed an increase in the average number of employees to 458 for the year. According to those accounts, payroll costs increased by £UK11m ($A19m) to £UK54m ($A93.2m) (wages of £UK46m - $A79.4m - and pension and social security costs accounting for the rest), putting the average salary at over £UK100,000 ($A172,545). A rookie professional cricketer for a county gets £UK18,000 ($A31,060).
Expect Thompson to take a direct interest and involvement in Andrew Strauss’s “high-performance review”, which so far has taken a limited view of the English game — that it is there to serve the interests of the England team alone. A structure and schedule that encourages all areas to thrive — recreational, county and elite — and serves the needs of spectators, players and media-rights holders is the key immediate task facing the game, and Thompson and the new chief executive, whoever that may be, should exert some influence over the process. Simplicity, coherence and balance should be the aim.
Internationally, there is a limited amount that can be done. The Future Tours Program is set in stone, as are International Cricket Council events, and these will see out Thompson’s five-year term. As for the future of international and Test cricket, it is already far too late to counter the prevailing trends whereby the franchised leagues will come to dominate the calendar, leaving less room for everything else. Having been given a free leg-up by naive administrators, franchise owners (in India) are now expanding their reach.
That said, these trends will impact on the English game and demand careful thought around the future of media-rights deals and player engagement. Those on central contracts are looked after immensely well but if bilateral cricket fades in importance, what is the value of central contracts? And then, if they disappear or fall in value, how does the ECB hold any control over its cricketers? It is a problem that Cricket Australia is currently grappling with as new tournaments spring up in its prime scheduling months (PTG 3963-19459, below) .
Thompson will also face some tricky domestic hurdles in the near future that will need some careful handling and humility. It is hard to think that inflationary trends and the cost-of-living crisis will not have some impact on discretionary spend at sports events. The 'Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket' has had more than 4,000 responses since its formation in late 2020 and it is unlikely to make for happy reading when it lands shortly (PTG 3592-17745, 30 July 2021).
The role of the governing body in the Yorkshire crisis has been opaque and Thompson would be strongly advised to instigate an independent inquiry, something that the ECB should have done a year ago rather than engaging the Cricket Discipline Commission (PTG 3963-19457 below). The original allegations, Yorkshire’s initial and subsequent response, the problems around due process, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport inquiry all need more scrutiny than has so far been achieved.
Time will tell, but Thompson’s election feels like the start of a potentially different conversation. For the past few years the ECB has centralised power and attempted to marginalise the county game, and those who support it. But judging from his comments shortly after stepping down from the ECB in 2018, Thompson feels differently.
He said then: “Cricket is the only national sport owned by its membership. Rugby clubs and football clubs are controlled by oligarchs but cricket isn’t and cricket should be more democratic . . . Cricket, in its ownership structure, should have a stronger debate and should engage its supporter base more. In that six-month block there must be a way that you can run it where, taking into account all the issues and challenges, the broadcasters, members, spectators and players can all be satisfied”. He has now got a chance to make his mark.
CSA survey
Well worth completing, according to Daily Mail, no Ashes Test, no Test at all, in August 2023.
ReplyDeleteThis so international players can play all Hundred. Hundred to have "international window" , like the
extended IPL
The high command of the ecb and the majority of county clubs are traitors.
ReplyDeleteSadly, yes they are.
DeleteIndeed they are.
DeleteI am hoping, with all my heart, he will fight for County and Test Cricket.
ReplyDeleteStating the obvious, for one of them to survive, so must the other.
But some do not seem to get that anymore, here, and with domestic First Class, everywhere.
If it doesn’t work out he can always go back to fairport convention. Foxy
ReplyDeleteLike that !
DeleteAccording to The Mail, ECB agreed to have no more Tests in August, after this year, until at least 2028, at the request of the God, Sky TV, to avoid distraction from The Premier League.