Cricketing lunch

Ivan Conway and I had a bet, not the Pargiter kind, that if either of our two teams – Middlesex or Sussex – won a trophy the unsuccessful supporter must host lunch. Ivan kindly invited me to the GB 1 fish restaurant at the Grand in Brighton yesterday

Conversation soon turned from our grilled turbot to the state of cricket and whether the demise of Durham was good for the game. Readers will probably know that in return for a bail-out of just over £3m the county was subjected to severe punishment: demotion to the second division, a 40 point deduction and salary cap. On one hand it will teach the counties a lesson that this the answer is not to achieve test status for the ground at whatever cost. The cost is the £972,000 fee to the ECB to stage a test and ground refurbishment. Durham were apparently losing £2m a year, were up for sale and ran out of cash. The other route to financial salvation is the T20 but the blue print now is for 2 competitions, a metro and a county one, and it’s unclear how the existing counties will benefit from the latter, if at all. Middlesex won their first championship in 23 years but are unique as they are tenants at Lords and therefore earn nothing from tests staged there, unlike the richest county Surrey who always have a summer test. Sussex made a wise move after receiving the Spen Carma inheritance of not selling up their ground, a lucrative piece of real estate in central Hove, and building a out of town test ground as Hampshire did. Ivan pointed out that Sussex have no debt and own their ground and are therefore one of the more financially stable (if not successful) counties. If you live beyond your means, as the Leeds United story tells, eventually the debt has to be repaid often when you are least able to do so. Some have sympathy for Durham as the ECB clearly wanted cricket to be extended to the North East and the punishment is draconian. But there was clear absence of financial prudence  here.

So over our creme brûlée we asked “What is the answer?”. Too much T20 may result in supporter overkill and no proper preparation for test match cricket. There does seem to be an imbalance with the ECB sitting on enormous cash reserves and many Counties having to take their distribution of £2m prematurely in order to survive In my opinion test grounds should return to six (Lords, Edgbaston, Old Trafford, Headingley, Trent Bridge and the Oval). The ECB should pay a staging fee of £1m and not the other way round (Durham could not pay their’s anyway). Half of the fee should be distributed to the other Counties. The new test grounds (Swales, Chester Le Street, Agius Bowl) should get an ODI match and a T20. Instead of a second competition they should increase the number of T20 games v tourists to 5 again at the new test grounds and a couple of counties who should pay a fee but keep the takings and bar receipts. Sorted.