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The Hundred: ECB’s overstretch diluting purpose of county clubs feels Surrey’s outgoing CEO

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Right from its inaugural season, or even before it, The Hundred seems to be becoming the marquee tournament for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Surrey’s outgoing Chief Executive Officer, Richard Gould feels that this would dilute the purpose of having county clubs. 

“I think the ECB could perhaps understand the role and value of county clubs better,” Gould was quoted as saying to The Cricketer. 

Explaining the role of the national sports body and how it should be different from the clubs, Gould gave the example of the English Football Association and Rugby Football Union. “I also wonder if the ECB are overstretching themselves. Governing bodies like the FA and RFU look at governance, grassroots and the running of the international teams,” he said. 

“But the ECB organise competitions themselves, and over the last three or four years, we have seen a deepening of that centralisation. The ECB are now running teams – in The Hundred, and women’s cricket (earlier Kia Super League and now The Hundred Women),” added the 61-year-old administrator. 

Gould conceded that investment on the part of ECB is a great initiative and what it did for counties during the pandemic is equally appreciated, but its role as governing body should not conflict with earning profit from the very sport it governs. 

“It’s been good to see investment, but it’s diluting the purpose of clubs. Clubs are being given money in lieu of purpose. If you lose purpose you lose the ability to sustain yourselves in the long term,” he said. 

The Bristol-born then criticised the board for introducing something like The Hundred, trying to replicate IPL by having a team for just one month of the year and neglecting counties that have built a tradition of the game for almost 200 years. 

It’s easy to underestimate the value of the county network. Surrey have developed players for 170 years. Look at the annual cost of setting up new teams for The Hundred. More money per team per year than they are putting individually into Surrey, Somerset, Yorkshire and so on…That’s difficult to understand sometimes,” Gould said. 

“These new teams will exist for 33 days a year. They have no player pathways. No academy. No age-group teams. No regional community projects. They don’t have international venues. Our domestic clubs do so much: they provide focus and pride.”

Gould, who was once touted to become the ECB Chairman said that the ideal situation would have been maintaining a two-division T20 League with promotion and relegation, but the idea was shot down as not being financially viable. 

“Our preference was for a two-division T20. Six or seven years ago that was also the majority view of the counties. That only changed when the ECB said that there was no terrestrial broadcast interest in county cricket,” said the man who will be joining the English Football Championship side Bristol City as its manager in the upcoming season. 

“They said they could get £35m a year for a competition with new teams. They said they would get far less – £5m – if it was a county competition. I’m sceptical about that,” he added showing his scepticism for the ECB plan. 

As far as The Hundred is concerned, it will start on July 21 with the women teams of Oval Invincibles taking on Manchester Originals before the men of the same teams collide the next day at the Kia Oval. Surrey are currently in the fourth position in the Group 2 of the County Championship 2021. 

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