Caught in the deep Hundred franchise sale windfall 'saved up to six counties'

The windfall generated by the sale of shares in the eight Hundred franchises may have saved as many as six first-class counties from imminent crisis and possible collapse, according to an expert in sport finance who co-wrote a new report.

- Simon Burnton

The Leonard Curtis cricket finance report analysed the 18 first-class counties over a decade, identifying a "yawning gap" between the most successful clubs – with Surrey by some distance the most profitable – and the less well-off. Of the £306.1m generated in 2023 just three teams – Surrey, Lancashire and Warwickshire, with income boosted in all three cases by hosting Ashes Tests that year – were responsible for 44%.

By contrast the three poorest counties – Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire – between them generated just 5.56% of the total.