The England and Wales Cricket Board may not sell all Hundred franchises over the next year and is prepared to take some of them off the market if any offers fall short of their full value. Richard Thompson, the chair, said the ECB “do not want to just feel bounced into selling them [when] we could have got a lot more if we’d held back”.
Richard Gould, the chief executive, said on Wednesday the governing body had been negotiating with “about 100” parties interested in 49.9% stakes in the eight Hundred teams. “They’ve come from a variety of different angles – a lot of Indian interest, also from America, from other sports, investment houses. We’ve got the full gamut,” he said. “There are going to be a few tyre-kickers, but it’s a good number.”
Next week potential investors will be asked to produce formal offers as the sales process moves to its next phase. But they are braced for the possibility that not all franchises will be the subject of acceptable bids, and have promised not to simply accept the best offer. “We’re pretty fluid in terms of timescale,” said Gould. “There isn’t a hard stop. Some deals will progress faster than others. If they are not all in place by next summer that’s fine. We may choose not to sell them all at the same time.”
Thompson said: “It could be a hybrid, it could be five and three, it could be a combination. What we don’t want to do is just feel bounced into selling all of them and thinking we could have got a lot more if we’d held back, because that particular team wasn’t ready to go.”
The status of the Champions Trophy, which is due to start in Pakistan in February but whose schedule has still not been confirmed amid continuing construction work at host venues and Indian resistance to travelling to their neighbours, where they have not played since 2008, will be discussed at a meeting of the International Cricket Council’s committee this weekend but is not expected to be decided.
Gould said it was unlikely the tournament would be played without Indian involvement; a hybrid tournament, in which they might play their games in the UAE, is among potential alternative solutions.
“I know Pakistan are expecting India to travel,” Gould said. “There are lots of different alternatives and contingencies available if that doesn’t happen. I wouldn’t have thought [it would be played without India], because if you play the Champions Trophy without India the broadcast rights aren’t there, and we need to protect them. Hopefully we can have the fullest possible competition in Pakistan.”
