SA20 future in doubt as Big Bash sale process squeezes cricket investment January 7, 2026 The SA20 franchise tournament is facing an uncertain financial future amid the threat of fresh competition for funding from Cricket Australia’s Big Bash, which is preparing to sell off stakes in its franchises to private investors later this year. All six SA20 franchises are owned by Indian Premier League teams, many of whom have expressed [...]
Why private capital could make this the last Ashes series as we know them December 18, 2025 This is likely to be the last Ashes as we know it; but not because England might finally win a series down in Australia, or because the format is suddenly about to change. By the time the iconic bilateral series returns for its 75th iteration in 2027, it will be against the backdrop of a [...]
MI London and Sunrisers Leeds: All Hundred deals completed December 3, 2025 All eight deals for Hundred franchises have been completed after the Ambani family concluded negotiations with Surrey CCC. Six of the eight deals in the short-form competition, which saw eight 49 per cent stakes owned by the England and Wales Cricket Board sold to overseas investors, were completed earlier this year but two deals remained [...]
LIV Golf is the clear winner of tussle with PGA Tour – it forced change November 29, 2025 Those who see the convergence between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour as a victory for the old order fundamentally misunderstand how disruption works, writes Matt Readman. “What are we even doing here anymore?” That was the reaction of golf journalist and vlogger Dan Rapaport to the news that LIV Golf was shifting from its [...]
Prem Rugby should consider radical shake-up of player transfer market November 28, 2025 The best thing about the football off-season is the transfer speculation, deal agreements and player announcements. Watching teams bid £100m for a player is somewhat grotesque but it is also addictive, and transfer deadline day is some of the best live sports news around. Rugby has none of this. That’s mostly because players tend to [...]
England Ashes win will trigger major windfall for ECB, says Nielsen Sports November 20, 2025 England cricket chiefs can expect a major windfall if Bazball sweeps the men’s team to a first Ashes series victory in Australia for more than a decade. The England Wales Cricket Board is already riding high from reporting record turnover last year and has since boosted the coffers further by signing up Toyota as principal [...]
Cricket’s biggest problem isn’t the format, it’s the marketers November 15, 2025 The fireworks have faded, the John Lewis ad has landed, and the smell of gunpowder is giving way to the scent of linseed oil. It can only mean one thing: cricket’s oldest rivalry is back. On 21 November England face Australia once again in the Ashes. As Jofra Archer (hopefully) starts his run-up or Zak [...]
Formula 1 and The Hundred offer lessons in governance for fragmented likes of rugby November 1, 2025 To succeed, sports need governance structures that empower one entity to steer it, as in Formula 1, The Hundred and SailGP, writes Nevin Truesdale. The increasing commercialisation of sport has seen historical governance structures come under scrutiny. As in any business, governance structures are central to the ability to evolve in response to a changing [...]
The Hundred: New owners relax salary rules to attract top talent October 31, 2025 The Hundred’s new overseas investors have rung the changes for next year’s competition, confirming that an auction will replace the player draft and that franchises will have new maximum and minimum salary budgets. In moves designed to attract more top global talent to the summer white-ball cricket tournament, individual player salaries will be uncapped and [...]
My dozen questions to get inside the minds of English cricket fans October 9, 2025 An invitation from the England and Wales Cricket Board arrives, forwarded by Middlesex Cricket. A survey no less, and one with a laudable aim – to find out what it would take to entice the respondent to take up or extend membership of their favoured cricket county. It starts with questions about age, gender and [...]