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« Previous EntriesStanford close to luring ECB
By Will 1 month ago, 39 Comments »
Allen Stanford and Lalit Modi. Two entirely different characters, both from opposite ends of the world - geographically and, arguably, morally - but both with a shared love of money and cricket. Why do I worry less about the Wild West cowboy, and more about Modi’s modus operandi?
Perhaps it’s because he’s American and has no historical connection to a cricket board. Maybe it’s because he appears to have no dirty agenda to the politics of the sport: he’s seemingly happy to pile money into the flayling West Indies cricket, and anyone else who wants to join in the fun is more than welcome. This sounds naive - of course, billionaires crave and adore money: it is their driving force - but his come-follow-me attitude is refreshing and progressive, which cannot be said of Modi. Modi’s business is power and politics; the IPL has already made him millions, but it is a vehicule to global dominance. We’ve seen this season how the ECB have been tied up in knots banning (and subsequently unbanning) various players who represented the Indian Cricket League - the antichrist to the sanctioned IPL - which demonstrates just how much power the BCCI wields.
Anyway, I digress. I like Mr Stanford and am quite excited by what he could do to counter Modi’s unquenchable thirst for dominance. He has met with the ECB - significantly, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Dr Julian Hunte, was also present - to finalise plans for an England v West Indies All Stars XI later this year (and possibly running over five years). The matches themselves aren’t too significant, but it could signal the start of a business relationship which expands far beyond any of our imaginings. Stanford’s 20/20 in the Caribbean was a rollicking success - some say he should be in charge of ICC’s World Cups - so it’ll be fascinating to see what he and England come up with.
39 Comments »The lure of money
By Will 2 months ago, 3 Comments »
We return to England after six weeks of toil, and not much has changed. We have reversed a decline in Test cricket, but realise that sterner ones wait in the form of the touring South Africans later in the season. Also, all the talk is now returning to the IPL, and its influence on the game’s future. I can’t believe for one moment that there aren’t going to be changes to the game. Money talks too loudly, but exactly what they are and when they will come is for others to decide. For the England players, we have just had a timely reminder of what money can’t buy, playing and winning for your country.
Dean Headley on the ECB’s attitude towards the IPL:
3 Comments »“If the ECB ignore these opportunities for players, it could have catastrophic results in terms of losing a star player or several star players,” Headley told The Sunday Telegraph.
“Even if we don’t see an exodus we might have a lot of disgruntled England players and that’s not healthy. Where would that leave our game? It might only take a few brave players to start the ball rolling. We need all parties concerned to come together and reach an agreement that keeps everyone happy.”
BCCI flex their muscles
By Will 3 months ago, 24 Comments »
There is yet more evidence of the power that the BCCI wield, and the influence of the Asian bloc, with the news that the Indian board have bluntly warned Australia not to pull out of their tour of Pakistan. What right do they have to “warn” Australia? Not a lot, you would think. After all India is only one of ten members. But such is their immense financial clout, they will always get support from the Asian bloc (and support any Asian country who, in the BCCI’s opinion, need it) and Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa are easily swayed to help give India a 7-3 majority.
BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said Australia would face major repercussions if it abandoned the six-week tour, due to begin mid-March.
“There will be serious consequences because you can’t just pull out a committed tour when the host board is giving you assurances about security and so is the government,” he said.
“If the host board and government is willing to give assurances, you have to accept that you can’t just cancel a confirmed FTP tour,” he said.
From Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
A deeply worrying development. Cricket is as unstable now as it has ever been, and I have absolutely no idea where it will all end up in five, 10, 20 years. Asian bloc v the rest? You wouldn’t bet against it.
24 Comments »Cricket’s wealth in Australia
By Will 3 months ago, 3 Comments »
We talk and moan about India’s vast financial grip over the game, but however much it narks us, it is of little surprise: with a growing economy and a colossal population, the majority of whom love the game, India have the two crucial ingredients to making a lot of money out of an entertainment sport. The same goes for football in the UK: it’s watched and loved by millions, and advertisers know they’ll get decent exposure and are willing to pay for it.
The same can’t be said for cricket in the UK. After the Ashes, in particular the following summer, advertisers were swarming like bees over all things cricket. Even this humble blog was targeted. But the interest, like England’s Test form, has slipped away with depressing haste and we’re back to where we were pre the 2005 Ashes.
The same can’t be said for cricket in Australia either, and they come up with some brilliant advertising campaigns. I’m not a sales man and nor will I ever be, but I do find it fascinating how each country uses advertising to exploit the interest of a game to attract new visitors. Inevitably Australia do it with humour, and do it pretty well. Thanks to Duncans.tv here is Mike Hussey in an advert for the CB Series:
…continued…
…and…
3 Comments »Notes from the pavilion for November 2nd
By Will last year, at the start of November, 1 Comment »
Links of note from the past 24 hours:
- Loadsa money - Here’s a fun fact: On arrival at Derbyshire, Wavell Hinds will make more money than highest paid West Indies cricketer
Travelling in style with the ICC
By Will last year, mid-April, 3 Comments »
What does the hard-working ICC official travel in from game to game? A brand spanking new BMW of course. Here’s one of nineteen, imported specially for the World Cup (spotted on Flickr).
I suppose they’ve struck a sponsorship deal with them or something. Not a bad way to travel around the islands if you’re into luxurious German vehicles, dripping with leder. Incidentally the photographer has a few other photos worth looking at. It’s always much more interesting seeing photos from the fans themselves, inside the grounds. It gives a more human perspective to what’s actually going on, and they’re not bound by the laws of commercial interest, worrying what their photo editors will want etc.
3 Comments »Beckham and his billions
By Will last year, mid-January, 5 Comments »
I have nothing much to say about the news that David Beckham, the celebrity’s celebrity, is to earn £500,000 per week in his move from Real Madrid to the American league side, Los Angeles Galaxy. By my reckoning, going on us average UK mugs who work a minimum of 78 hours/week, that amounts to £6410. Per hour. (£1.78 per second) It’s football; he’s Beckham; it happens. More interestingly is wondering what he might spend his millions on. He could buy four of these Aston Martin DB9s (Volante, naturally) each week and still have enough spare to buy a terrace (or probably two) in Bradford.
Beckham in Bradford…the mind boggles. What do you actually do with all that money? I can’t imagine him turning to Posh and asking “So. Fancy a DVD and some telly tonight?”. Instead of paying your bill at a restaurant, you’d pay everybody’s. Or buy the restaurant outright.
Can we expect Beckham Airlines in the future? Posh and Becks Train Travel: guaranteeing you a vacuous journey to faux-stardom.
5 Comments »Â£15m richer
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of October, No Comments; be the first!
I forgot to mention yesterday that the ECB will next week sign a new deal with nPower, the electricity company, worth £15m. Their current deal is £7m which means a 40% increase. That’s quite staggering. Full article at Cricinfo.
It was very long ago that an England cricketer (never mind a county professional) earned very little. Yet the increase in popularity of the sport, so it is thought, is reaping rewards for all involved in the game…well, nearly everyone 
It’s an encouraging sign, so long as the money is managed properly and used for all the right reasons.
Hair: ‘I’ll retire…but only for $500,000′
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of August, 60 Comments »
As if the whole situation could not worsen, or become even more extraordinary, Darrell Hair offered to stand down or resign…but only with a bounty of $500,000. What the hell’s going on? Only just got back, and no time to make sense of it - it’s Friday, and I’m pickling the liver shortly - but leave your thoughts below.
Incidentally the blog might be a bit dry the next few days. Hopefully Scott will feed and water it (and therefore you ‘orrible lot) but ’tis a busy time.
Darrell Hair offered to resign as a member of the ICC’s Elite Umpires Panel in return for a payment of $500,000, Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, told a press conference near Lord’s.
Speed said Hair’s resignation letter was forwarded to Doug Cowie, the ICC’s umpire manager. A copy of that letter was also made available to the Pakistan Cricket Board.
In the letter, Hair asked for “a one-off payment to compensate for the loss of future earnings and retainer payments over the next four years, which I believe would have been the best years I have to offer ICC and world umpiring.”
Read the full story at Cricinfo.
And here’s the full email transcript which is circling its way around, well, just about every site you can think of:
From: Darrell Hair
Sent: Tuesday 22nd August 2006
To: Doug Cowie
Subject: The way forwardDoug, just to firm up what we discussed earlier this evening. I appreciate the ICC may be put in a untenable position with regards to future appointments and having taken considerable time and advice, I make this one-off, non-negotiable offer.
I am prepared to retire/stand down/relinquish my position on the elite panel to take effect from 31st August 2006 on the following terms:
1 A one-off payment to compensate the loss of future earnings and retain a payment over the next four years which I believe would have been the best years I have to offer ICC and world umpiring. This payment is be the sum of [US dollars] 500,000 (£264,000) - details of which must be kept confidential by both parties. This sum to be paid directly into my account by 31st August 2006.
2 ICC may announce the retirement in any way they wish, but I would prefer a simple ‘lifestyle choice’ as this was the very reason I moved from Australia to settle in the UK three years ago.
3 No public comment to be made by me as to possible reasons for the decision.
4 This offer in no way precludes me taking legal action and/or instigating libel suits against various sections of the electronic and print media for comments made either previously or in the future.
5 This in no way precludes me taking civil action (and exercising my rights as a resident of the UK in any court of law and by any other avenue open to me) against any organisation or persons currently part of ICC and in particular, members of the Pakistan cricket team and the Pakistan Cricket Board.
I reiterate this is a once only offer and if I fail to obtain your agreement I shall continue to be available under the terms of my current contract till March 31 2008 to fulfil umpiring appointments as and when ICC sees fit in any country at any time in any series or matches involving any affiliated teams.
I would also insist that my ongoing contracted employment continue in its current form until such time as an ICC performance assessment deems me to be no longer able to perform the duties to the high class expected of an international umpire.
Would you please let me know at your earliest convenience of your acceptance or otherwise of this offer.
Sincerely, Darrell Hair.
What a hairy mess this is.
60 Comments »Lord’s Taverners net some dosh
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of June, No Comments; be the first!
This must have passed me by.
I am very pleased that the National Sports Foundation has made its first award. This was to the Lords Taverners for £177,500, to support their excellent work to promote the growth of grass roots cricket through the provision of cricket equipment bags to junior cricketers. This funding, which will help ensure that we capitalise on the explosion of interest in cricket among our young people following last summer’s Ashes series, was matched by a donation from the England and Wales Cricket Trust.
I understand that the Foundation is in continuing discussions with potential sponsors as well as sporting organisations and they are hopeful that further awards will be announced shortly.
So said Richard Caborn in the commons.
No Comments »I’m not yet rich
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of April, 1 Comment »
I’m a glutton for punishment. Every year, without fail, I buy the Sunday Times Rich List. I know I’m not in there - don’t worry, I’m not completely insane - but I’m fascinated and depressed, in nearly equal measure, by just how much some people have hidden under their beds. Thousands of millions, in some cases. Picture a thousand anything - marbles, plates, people, breasts socks - and it’s a lot. But a thousand million? That’s an awful lot, and damn them for not sharing it. One Thousand Million Pounds. A thousand million. I only want one million; they’d have 999 million left (I think).
Annoyingly while the List contains a seperate entry for Footballers, there isn’t one for sport. On this basis, if you don’t play football you’re relatively skint (which we knew anyway). Wayne Rooney is one of the richest young people, as is the runt who plays Harry Potter in the, er, Harry Potter films. Bastards.
Amusingly, I fumbled in my pocket for some coppers to buy the paper after leaving work, but was 12p short! I found it hilarious (”Ah! The irony of it all! Me, buying the rich list, and I’m 12p short!”). The cashier was totally disinterested. I doubt he even knew what it was I was buying.
As Del Boy’d say, “This time next year…”
1 Comment »I’m not a betting man….
By Will 2 years ago, mid-April, 2 Comments »
…but WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! All three of my nags came in the top 4!
SHOW ME THE MONEY!
2 Comments »Howard feeds his addiction
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of April, 5 Comments »
Ah, John Howard. Rarely does a week go by, seemingly, in which “cricket” isn’t uttered by the self-confessed addict. And yesterday it was revealed he spent AUD$90,000 during his time in London last year to go to the cricket. Now, Australian readers will grab the Corridor shaped voodoo doll when I say this, but sod it: it must be brilliant to have a PM that loves cricket.
Ours - for all his good points - doesn’t like the game. Ha! Actually, he does like it, but the New Labour dictatorship, brewed in 1997 and currently resting in a Tuppawear container in Gordon Brown’s apartment above Number 10, decided football was far too cool to ignore. And so it was that our Tony chose the “beautiful” game over the five-day drinkathon, otherwise known as cricket.
I thought I’d mentioned this before, that Tony was a closet-cricket fan, but alas couldn’t find it.
Anyway, have a look at Johnnie Howard’s expenses:
JOHN Howard and his entourage spent more than $90,000 on accommodation and meals in a four-night stay at one of London’s most exclusive hotels.
The visit last July, which included two visits to Lord’s for the Ashes Test cricket series, was part of a 10-day trip in which the Prime Minister visited his fellow Iraq war leaders, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the US President, George W.Bush.Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show the trip cost taxpayers $613,947.57, or $61,314 a day.
5 Comments »
Grass roots funding
By Will 2 years ago, mid-February, No Comments; be the first!
I confess to being mildly ignorant to the figures afforded (if that’s the appropriate word) to English cricket, and sport’s governing bodies worldwide, so these published from the government made interesting reading.
Kate Hoey questioned Richard Caborn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much each sports national governing body (NGB) has received from the community club development programme in each of the last three years; and how much NGBs have allocated to
grass-roots sports development under the terms of the compact with her
Department on income from broadcasting in each year.
And he replied:
There is a "community club development programme" which provides funding for sport in Britain, and here are the figures since 2003:
| £ | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| NGB | Year 1 (2003–04) | Year 2 (2004–05) | Year 3 (to date) (2005–06) |
| All England Netball Association | 436,500 | 222,665 | 781,547 |
| Amateur Rowing Association | 1,657,056 | 199,445 | 436,510 |
| Amateur Swimming Association | 0 | 6,720 | 763,502 |
| Badminton England | 134,227 | 666,644 | 448,389 |
| British Canoe Union | 519,500 | 635,431 | 645,985 |
| British Cycling | 588,136 | 216,389 | 598,630 |
| British Gymnastics Association | 60,076 | 690,000 | 645,110 |
| British Judo Association | 45,625 | 329,694 | 1,236,712 |
| England Basketball | 205,809 | 110,000 | 597,442 |
| English Cricket Board | 2,996,330 | 1,592,513 | 2,233,388 |
| England Hockey | 185,000 | 248,800 | 623,308 |
| English Table Tennis Association | 14,777 | 31,485 | 1,446,738 |
| Football Association | 6,706,197 | 2,236,017 | 678,816 |
| Lawn Tennis Association | 4,413,234 | 2,394,918 | 1,610,800 |
| Rugby Football League | 38,188 | 260,591 | 994,598 |
| Rugby Football Union | 7,442,027 | 1,772,009 | 1,141,316 |
I don’t quite understand why or how the figures plummet for some sports, notably the Football Association (FA). Over £6m in year one, down to £678,816 in the third year. If anyone can offer an explanation, please do…
No Comments »Lottery, Euromillions
By Will 2 years ago, mid-January, 3 Comments »
Nothing to do with cricket, this, but I got a text this morning from a friend who told me Euro Millions’ jackpot has now reached £70m. SEVENTY MILLION MOOLARS. What in the name of all that is sane would you, dear reader, do with that much money? Naturally, I’m convinced tomorrow morning I’ll wake up a multi-millionaire - I’ve bought a ticket, in case that wasn’t abundantly clear - and have oodles of ideas as to what I’d do with it. Despite living in London, I’d almost certainly buy two cars, and use neither of them; a Cooper (JCW, the lot) and either a DB9 or a well-conditioned Jenson Interceptor.
Then I’d buy a few flats in London, start one of the dozens of ventures I keep promising myself I’ll do but, frankly, I think I’d still work. I’d get bored otherwise. I’d probably pile a large amount into a cricketing-based project, perhaps a new ground or something ridiculous like that.
And you?
3 Comments » « Previous Entries