Potential buyers may assemble at Lord's on July 5 for earth cricket conference
Five IPL franchises have expressed a" soft" interest in buying a stake in London Spirit, the Lord 's-based Hundred team, according to Mark Nicholas, the MCC president who is set to take over as the club's chairman in October.
Nicholas was speaking at Lord's to proclaim plans for the annual" World Cricket Connects" symposium- an event expected to be hosted by MCC on July 5, and intended to "help shape cricket's continued international success and provide balance across its big spectrum of stakeholders".
The program reflects MCC's purpose to "improve its international factor" by offering a natural canvas on which the sport's most prominent figures can meet and discuss the future of the game. In addition to the 110-plus visitors, senior statistics from the sports and operational sides of the game, top IPL figures, a number of influent current and former cricketers, including Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum, and Rahul Dravid, are expected to be among the important 110-plus attendees.
MCC's own ambitions are a crucial part of cricket's changing landscape, with the chief executive, Guy Lavender, recently writing to its members to ask whether the club should accept the ECB's offer of a 51 % stake in London Spirit as part of the drive to privatise the Hundred.
Under the proposed model, the eight Hundred "hosts"- seven counties plus MCC- will be given majority stakes in their respective teams, with the ECB selling the remaining 49 % to private investors, which will be finalised through a bidding process.
Although the club's rules allow a final call without a vote, Nicholas stressed MCC wanted to ensure it had the backing of its 24,000-strong membership, describing the move towards private equity as a "monumental" step which would eventually prove beneficial for the growth of game at all levels.
" What we are putting to a vote is to accept the ECB's offer of a 51 % share of this franchise," Nicholas said. " We will always be a members ' club. Membership harmony is the first goal, [because you have a view as a member]. Because they're challenging, it's very easy to turn people away, but activism actually has a lot of good thinking. You have to treat people with respect, and hear their view. "
It was only wise for the English game, MCC included, to capitalize on the original Twenty20 Cup concept, which was missed more than 20 years ago, because it was a "booming franchise opportunity" according to Nicholas.
" We missed out on T20 in 2003 where we could have grabbed it," Nicholas said, recalling how English cricket squandered its first-mover status, with the IPL coming into being in 2008. India frequently thought more quickly and wisely than we do, as does India. India makes extraordinary strides to ensure that everything works.
" So the Hundred has given us another opportunity. The [MCC] membership quite likes being part of the chat, not being consigned to a piece of history. The team concept and opportunity that it offers are both adored by the people I speak to. There will be financial opportunity, either in growth of the equity or in sale of the equity. "
For the Hundred privatization, the ECB has appointed Deloitte and Raine Group as advisors. While there's no formal deadline, the ECB is eager to finalise terms by the end of the year, but as Nicholas conceded, there are a number of issues that still need resolving.
He said," The real truth is that not everything is crystal clear." " For example, how would the bidding process take place? What's the rollout of these franchises in the bidding? We do n't know that yet. The ECB have n't declared that. We have met the investment bank- I'm not sure they even know yet. There's still a lot for us to learn. "
Some of the potential bidders will be present at the World Cricket Connects event, which takes place on the eve of the MCC World Cricket Committee meeting, and Nicholas said it was important to listen to those voices.
" They have dominated to this level by owning teams, driving forward a new financial model, and developing it extraordinarily," he said. " There's a very wide list of attendees, and I think that's the advantage of the event. They would never otherwise come together. "
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