Durham imagine England captain Ben Stokes would “leap on the probability” to entrance a brand new Hundred team within the area, however settle for they could have to attend till 2029 for the event to develop.
Discussions are nonetheless persevering with between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the non-public funding teams who’ve agreed to plough round £520million of recent cash into the competition, with a variety of areas but to be ironed out earlier than contracts are signed.
A kind of pertains to the phrases for any future enhance from the present eight-team construction, one thing Durham have lengthy positioned themselves to profit from.
The ECB‘s director of enterprise operations, Vikram Banerjee, has described the concept as a “no-brainer”, however some potential co-owners are extra guarded about probably diluting their stake in future broadcast offers.
Tim Bostock
Durham chief government Tim Bostock nonetheless believes it is going to occur and is optimistic about bringing the Hundred to the Banks Residence Riverside, however accepts there could also be no motion till the present rights cycle ends in 2028.
“The way in which the gross sales have gone, with the cash that has been dedicated, the clear message is they’re unlikely to develop earlier than the top of the printed deal,” he stated.
“I feel there will likely be enlargement and when that day comes we’re prepared. When it comes to amenities, demographics, having a global stadium, probably funding, placing a crew collectively, we’re able to go.
“Have a look at the standard of gamers we produce for England. We now have high-profile gamers who could also be interested by fronting up a Durham franchise…we’ve acquired the England captain right here.
“I’m positive at some stage Ben would leap on the probability at being the face of it, undoubtedly. All of that works. It’s all about timing, however I don’t see a greater candidate than us.”
Northern Superchargers
Stokes has been aligned to the Headingley-based Northern Superchargers because the Hundred launched however has performed solely a handful of video games. He opted out of this 12 months’s version in a bid to handle his health and subsequently was not retained.
Bostock believes including a ninth crew could be a comparatively simple change and might be finished with out including to the event’s general footprint.
At current groups play their nearest geographical rivals dwelling and away and each different aspect as soon as. But he additionally expects an expanded fixture record to be on the agenda sooner quite than later as buyers search to maximise worth.
“9 is definitely a greater quantity than eight, everybody performs one another as soon as, so it may be finished fairly simply,” he stated.
“However they may resolve there’s a demand for extra video games. I don’t assume they’ll be proud of simply 4 dwelling matches.
“The standard county watcher would possibly concern for the 27 days (the competitors’s present window). It will be naive to assume they gained’t get extra days, however I don’t assume it is going to ever be an IPL state of affairs of two or three months.
“There are two methods to extend the matches, extra video games between themselves or deliver extra groups in. I feel it is going to organically occur.”
