The Hundred | Confidential survey reveals counties' discontent over ECB's process, impact on other formats

A confidential survey conducted by The Telegraph Sport has painted a grim picture about the health of the long format of the game and growing discontent among counties for the perceived adverse impact of ECB's flagship tournament—The Hundred.

The responses made by counties chief executives that have not been made public have also raised objections about the overspeeding processes followed by the board and its impact on the health of the game in the country.

Only half of the counties (out of 18) have responded positively to the question of the impact of the new format on the long-form of the game as they believe the advent of The Hundred will marginalise the County Championship. Also, more worryingly, the counties believe The Hundred will sideline their cash cow — The Vitality Blast T20 tournament which has been used as a revenue booster by them over the years.

Their fear over the long-lasting impact is so huge that as less as only nine teams believe they will continue playing the four-day cricket in a decade’s time from now.

The counties came hard at ECB’s speedy process before the launch of The Hundred. Only six out of 18 teams vouched their opinion on ECB's handling of the process of the launch of The Hundred was in the category of either “good” or “very good”.

However, in an optimistic sign for the ECB, counties have given the board thumps on its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent financial downturn. Notably, ECB’s efforts to host West Indies and Pakistan last year amidst pandemic cut down the losses from the earlier estimated £300million in broadcasting revenue.

Also, the ECB paid a dividend of £1.3million to county teams for The Hundred irrespective of the postponement of the tournament in the wake of the pandemic.

The survey has come out at an important time for both the ECB and county sides as the upcoming edition of the county championship is set to start on April 08.

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