CRICKET chief Tom Harrison says the financial catastrophe hitting the game is worse than he originally feared.
Harrison, chief executive of the ECB, now anticipates cricket will lose up to £380million if no matches are played this summer.
That is an increase from his previous estimate last month of £300m.
And he admits that, even if England play all 18 of their scheduled matches and the ECB’s broadcasting deal with Sky is honoured, cricket will still take a hit of at least £100m.
That shortfall comes from ticket sales at international and county matches as well as hospitality, beer, food and grounds being used for meetings and conferences.
The ECB have already bailed out counties and clubs to the tune of £61m by advancing their annual payments.
Harrison outlined the cash crisis caused by Covid-19 while appearing by video link yesterday before the Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee, alongside EFL chairman Rick Parry and Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the RFU.
Harrison said: “The worst-case scenario is that it could be as bad as £380m with the loss of 800 days’ of cricket. And there will be a £100m-plus loss whatever happens.
“This is the most significant financial challenge cricket has ever faced.”
Harrison offered a vehement defence of the Hundred, the controversial new competition that has been delayed until 2021, refusing to accept it is a risk.
He insisted: “I wouldn’t categorise the Hundred as a gamble. It’s a profit centre for cricket, as has been demonstrated.
“We’d sold 170,000 tickets in February for this year’s men’s and women’s Hundred. But we couldn’t guarantee overseas players and coaches would be able to come from different parts of the world. Also, a huge number of staff at venues are furloughed.
“We’d never sold so many tickets at that speed with the exception of a World Cup. So we were in a strong position to achieve our aim of growing the audience for cricket.
“There was huge momentum building around the Hundred which we’ll carry into next year. The Hundred is a drop in the ocean financially compared to the losses we’ll experience elsewhere.
“I understand there’s significant resistance to the Hundred and has been for two years.
“That doesn’t make it a bad idea. Or an idea that’s not likely to succeed. We’ll put even more effort into the Hundred post this crisis.”
England’s summer continues to take shape with three one-dayers against Ireland planned for late July and early August.
The Irish will train and practise at Trent Bridge with the games behind closed doors at Old Trafford.
It is thought Ireland’s players will be tested for Covid-19 and arrive in England up to 14 days before the matches. Lancashire’s ground in Manchester is favoured as a ‘bio-secure’ venue because it has a hotel on site.
The games were scheduled for September and that spot will now be filled by white-ball fixtures against Australia, who were originally due to play here in July.
So England’s season will start with three Tests against West Indies.
Following that will be three matches against Ireland, red and white-ball cricket against Pakistan with the Aussie games as the conclusion.
This is dependent on Government approval but the ECB have been analysing the logistics and feasibility of matches behind closed doors for several weeks.
