The number of County Championship matches could be cut from next summer after England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Rob Andrew admitted it will be a live option during the latest review into domestic cricket.
Andrew, the former Sussex chief executive and England rugby union fly-half, is overseeing yet another evaluation of the domestic schedule he hopes will be agreed upon by July and implemented in time for the start of the 2026 season.
There is consensus across the game that too much cricket is being played, with 81 per cent of men’s players saying they had concerns about workloads in a Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) survey that was released last May.
Yet the timing of Andrew’s admission that reducing the number of County Championship matches is “not off the table” will go down badly with county members and supporters given it came on the eve of the start of the new season on Friday.
It comes three years after Sir Andrew Strauss undertook the ECB’s high-performance review that, among other things, advised cutting the number of Championship matches per team from 14 down to 10.
That was eventually defeated by the counties, two-thirds of whom have to vote through any changes to the domestic schedule.
But the problem of too much cricket, with the Twenty20 Blast and One-Day Cup also in line for cuts, has not gone away.
Domestic cricket in the UK faces ongoing financial pressure (Photo: Getty)Andrew insists this latest review will be more collegiate, with the ECB, PCA and the Professional Game Committee (PGC), comprised of four county chairs, all working together to find a solution.
“This is not the ECB dictating,” he said.
“This is very different to what happened in the high-performance review. This is a county-led process. We’re basically facilitating a discussion around how can we improve the current schedule.
“Everybody recognises the schedule is not optimal. We’ve got 18 counties that agree it’s not right but 19 different versions of what the answer is.”
Asked if that meant reducing the number of matches across the board, Andrew said: “I think it’s probably the heart of the debate we’ll have.
“The PCA have made their position pretty clear in terms of how they and the men’s players feel about the intensity of the schedule. So that is something that will be looked at.”
On whether that means fans turning up to matches should expect a reduction in the number of Championship games, Andrew added: “Nothing’s on the table and nothing’s off the table.
square CRICKET
My bold County Championship predictions for 2025 - and why Surrey won't win it
Read More“We think the County Championship is the blue-riband of red-ball cricket in the world. We need to protect it, grow it and strengthen it. What that looks like and how many games will be played will come out in the wash.
“The reality is, as happened in 2022, the decision lies with the counties. And if we can’t get agreement then there’ll be no change to domestic cricket.
“Ultimately, there has to be at least 12 of the 18 counties agreeing. We’re hoping we don’t get to that stage. We hope the game can come together and find a way.
“If that involves a reduction in volume it will be something the game decides on.”
Andrew admitted “the desire” is to implement any changes by next summer.
That timeframe might be doubtful given counties should know what the new structure looks like before this season begins given the possible ramifications over promotion and relegation.
In 2018, during his time at Sussex, Andrew advocated doing away with promotion and relegation and splitting the County Championship into three conferences.
Strauss’s review in 2022 called for a six-team top division and two conferences below it.
The future model that will be floated this time is unknown but any cut to the number of Championship matches is likely to be resisted.
There should be less resistance to cutting the number of Blast matches, traditionally the biggest earner for counties who do not host Tests, given the £20m-plus windfall each will receive from the sale of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises.
‘No issues’ with Hundred franchise sales
Oval Invincibles celebrate after the men’s Hundred final in 2024 (Photo: Getty)The ECB insist none of the deals for investment in the eight Hundred teams are in danger of collapse despite an extension to the deadline to complete purchases.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould returned from India on Wednesday after holding talks with some of the parties who have flagged concerns over aspects of the participation agreement, the main legal document between the buyers and the ECB.
Four investors – the Ambani family, whose company Reliance Industries bought a 49 per cent stake in Oval Invincibles, the Silicon Valley tech consortium who struck a £295m deal for London Spirit and the Indian buyers of Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers – are understood to have concerns that revolve chiefly around future broadcast rights for the tournament.
Yet Gould played down fears that any of the deals could fall through, saying: “My sense is very positive on all eight opportunities. We’re very relaxed. I don’t see any risk at this point.”
Gould also denied there might be any reduction to the £520m pot the English game is set to bank from the Hundred sell-off.
“The valuations [agreed for teams] are absolutely locked in and there are no issues with regards to that at all,” he said.
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