Middlesex CCC needs saving from oblivion so ECB must take bold action Sport Business As the English cricket season begins again, the demise of Middlesex should be ringing alarms bells at fat cats Surrey and the ECB, writes Ed Warner. Of course the forecast is for biting winds across the country this weekend. What did you expect? The English cricket season starts tomorrow. Expect confected hoopla about The Hundred, [...]
Welsh Fire Hundred owner still in mix for $1.7bn Rajasthan Royals IPL team Sport Business The co-owner of The Hundred team Welsh Fire remains in the hunt for Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals despite a rejected $1.7bn bid, City AM understands. The Royals, who won the first season of the Indian Twenty20 competition in 2008, are one of two high-profile IPL teams currently up for sale. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, [...]
Analysis: Could £1bn IPL RCB cricket windfall begin Diageo’s comeback? Sport Business It’s been a tough few months for Diageo – and a tough few years for Diageo shareholders. The London-listed drinks giant has seen its share price melt away amid a slump in demand for premium spirits, rising production costs and a flurry of tariffs from across the pond. The stock is already down by an [...]
Sunrisers Leeds X account suspended after Hundred auction backlash March 13, 2026 Sunrisers Leeds have been caught up in backlash after buying Pakistani player Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred auction. The franchise – owned by India’s Sun Group and a sister team to the IPL’s Sunrisers Hyderabad – had its X account suspended in the early hours of Friday morning after Indian social media users urged others [...]
Hundred auction: Welsh Fire spend big, Coles lands £390k contract March 12, 2026 Welsh Fire were the big spenders in the morning session of The Hundred auction, splashing £540,000 on Joe Root and Jordan Cox. Wicket-keeper-batter Cox – who was the leading run scorer in last year’s Hundred competition – fetched the highest price before the lunch break, being snapped up by the Cardiff-based franchise for £300,000. Former [...]
Hundred auction: Wong and Cortneen-Coleman get 700 per cent pay rises March 11, 2026 Rising stars of English cricket Dani Gibson, Issy Wong and Tilly Cortneen-Coleman have cashed in after attracting some of the biggest bids in the inaugural auction for The Hundred. Sunrisers Leeds secured the signing of all-rounder Gibson, 24, for £190,000, making her the most expensive Englishwoman in Britain’s first auction in a major sport. Pace [...]
Harry Kane-endorsed Skechers to sponsor Tom Brady-backed cricket team March 5, 2026 Harry Kane-endorsed footwear brand Skechers is expanding into cricket as the main sponsor of the Tom Brady-backed Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix. Skechers will replace Butterkist in the prime front-of-shirt position for the men’s and women’s Birmingham Phoenix teams as The Hundred enters a new era this year. Following the acquisition of stakes in all eight [...]
English cricket facing tragedy if ECB doesn’t change, warns county boss March 3, 2026 English cricket chiefs risk the “tragedy” of counties going bust unless they offer more support to those without international matches or The Hundred, says Hampshire chief Rod Bransgrove. Sussex are among those to have suffered financial difficulties, leading to a points deduction from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the departure of chairman Jon [...]
Hundred cricket stake sales help Glamorgan clear debts March 2, 2026 Glamorgan’s sale of a stake in The Hundred franchise Welsh Fire has wiped the county cricket club’s debts, despite making a loss last year. The England and Wales Cricket Board sold eight minority stakes in eight Hundred franchises, handing the majority stakes to host counties. Glamorgan’s divestment saw them enter into a 50-50 partnership with [...]
Cricket lawmakers MCC relax bat rules amid worldwide run on willow February 3, 2026 The soaring cost of English willow has forced cricket’s lawmakers the MCC to rewrite their rule book and allow the use of previously-banned laminated bats. Top-of-the-range Grade 1 bats have more than doubled in price to around £1,000 over the last decade, fuelling fears that swathes of would-be cricketers are being priced out. Those concerns [...]