Moeen Ali to miss the Hundred and leave county cricket February 24, 2025 The Hundred chiefs have suffered a setback after Birmingham Phoenix captain and former England all-rounder Moeen Ali opted out of this summer’s tournament. Moeen, 37, will take on a player-coach role for the final year of his contract with Warwickshire, which will see him try to help the Birmingham Bears win the T20 Blast. That [...]
Ahead of the Game: Tottenham in crosshairs as Ratcliffe eyes more cuts February 19, 2025 Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are set to continue cutting their investment in sport beyond Manchester United with the company’s commercial deal with Tottenham Hotspur unlikely to be renewed. Spurs signed a five-year contract with Ineos Grenadier as their official 4×4 vehicle partner in 2022, having previously partnered with Ineos Hygienics as official hand sanitiser [...]
Hundred: Who are winners and losers from £1bn cricket sale? February 14, 2025 When a collective £975m valuation was placed on the Hundred this month many were surprised a competition in its infancy could fetch such a number. But the franchise competition through, largely, eight 49 per cent stakes being sold by the England and Wales Cricket Board, has exceeded expectations – around £700m was seen as a [...]
Manchester Originals investors ‘happy’ despite missing out on London Spirit February 14, 2025 The owner of Indian Premier League side Lucknow Super Giants, RPSG Group, says it is “extremely happy” to have bought a stake in the Hundred franchise Manchester Originals despite initially bidding for Lord’s-based London Spirit. RPSG was gazumped in the auction of a 49 per cent stake in London Spirit by a consortium of Silicon [...]
ECB open to playing Hundred matches overseas after £1bn sale February 13, 2025 The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) says it would be open to staging Hundred matches overseas following the sale of stakes in all eight franchises that values them at close to £1bn. The ECB will retain control of the competition but has pledged to engage with its powerful coterie of new investors, who include [...]
Ambanis and Boehly: Who owns the Hundred teams after £975m sale? February 13, 2025 With the sale of Southern Brave confirmed on Wednesday, all eight of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s 49 per cent stakes in Hundred franchises have been sold. Sellers, counties and buyers will now enter into exclusive negotiations on the details but it is expected to run, mostly, without a hitch. The valuations placed on [...]
Ahead of the Game: Six Nations TV rights tender hit by delay February 12, 2025 The Six Nations TV tender has been put on hold due to delays in finalising the format of the new global Nations Championship, which will launch next year. The 12-team tournament will definitely take place, with each nation playing three games in each hemisphere followed by play-offs in London, but the Six Nations and Sanzaar [...]
Kolkata Knight Riders lose Trent Rockets Hundred team to Chelsea owner February 11, 2025 The face of Chelsea’s US ownership group, Todd Boehly, has won the auction to purchase 49 per cent of the Trent Rockets Hundred franchise. The deal, which would value the Nottingham-based team at £79m, is the penultimate Hundred franchise to be sold, with Southern Brave expected to be auctioned to Hampshire owner the GMR Group [...]
Surrey to keep majority as Mumbai Indians owners confirm Oval Invincibles stake February 10, 2025 Surrey have confirmed that they will remain majority owners of the Hundred franchise Oval Invincibles after taking investment from super-rich Indian family the Ambanis. The family, through Reliance Industries Limited, have agreed to purchase a 49 per cent share in the south London side in a deal that values them at around £125m. It was [...]
County cricket windfall from Hundred sale must be spent properly February 6, 2025 With every county cricket club set to profit to the tune of millions from the Hundred sale, the ECB must ensure the windfall is money well spent. I dreamt last night that DeepSeek bought my favourite football club. Trouble was that the stadium PA played Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur as the players took to the [...]