Northamptonshire county cricket needs ‘voice’ in Hundred sale

A new county cricket club chairman said they must have a “voice” in the structure of cricket, including the sale of the Hundred.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has begun the process of selling stakes in the eight franchises.

Gary Hoffman took over at Northamptonshire earlier this month, having previously been heavily involved in football.

“We have an ownership interest in the Hundred, so we’re acutely interested in what is happening in the sale process,” he said.

The ECB is selling a 49% stake in each of the eight teams, some of which belongs to the counties, with the other 51% then given to the hosts of those teams, who can opt to keep the stake, sell all or part of it.

Mr Hoffman said Northamptonshire needed “to have the right voice at the national level”.

“We have a voice, but we’re not always listened to and I want to try and change that somewhat,” he said.

The former chairman of the Premier League said the biggest issue was the impact the Hundred had on the rest of the domestic calendar.

“It’s really strange that at the height of the summer we’re not playing cricket at [home ground] Wantage Road,” he said.

Northamptonshire should have say in the sale of the Hundred, he said, adding: “I’m much more interested in how the calendar and competition structure changes in the future.”

Mr Hoffman, who moved to Northamptonshire when he became chief executive of Barclaycard, said the club was “one of the most stable counties” financially.

He said: “We have a different model compared to big counties like Surrey, Warwickshire or Lancashire.

“We’ve got a model that is stable and we’ve got no debt. We’ve got finances that give us a platform to build on and means we are in a good place compared to quite a lot of smaller counties.”

Earlier this year, the county parted company with head coach John Sadler after three years in the role.

Mr Hoffman would not be drawn on who might take over, but said “Northamptonshire is attractive” to potential coaches.

“We will run a robust process,” he said.

“It was great in early September to see, in a windy somewhat wet evening, us playing in front of a full house, and it just shows what success and the right product looks like – and more of that I hope to come.”