Ahead of the Game: India want rule change to World Test Championship
India are pushing for an overhaul of the International Cricket Council’s points system for the World Test Championship after missing out on the final for the first time.
Australia’s 3-1 Test series win over Rohit Sharma’s side secured their place in the final against South Africa at Lord’s this summer, condemning India to third in the table.
The current scoring system gives equal weight to all matches in the World Test Championship, which are worth 12 points for a win, six for a tie and four for a draw.
India want more points to be awarded for victories in matches between the bigger cricket nations, such as Australia and England, not least as they play each other more regularly.
South Africa’s progress to the World Test Championship final for the first time has led to complaints that they have effectively gamed the system by targeting wins over Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh.
The Proteas only played 12 Test matches during the two-year qualifying cycle, whereas England and India played 22 and 19 respectively, 10 of which were against each other, thus making it harder for them to qualify.
India’s case is likely to be helped by the fact that the former boss of their cricket board, Jay Shah, became chair of the ICC last month.
Any change would not take place until the 2027-2029 edition of the World Test Championship, which would fit in with plans, also being championed by India, to introduce a two-tier system to Test cricket.
LIV Golf eyes UK TV deal
LIV Golf is making renewed attempts to obtain a UK broadcast deal ahead of its fourth season, which begins at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia next month.
After streaming events on YouTube and Facebook during its first season in 2022 the rebel tour broadcast its competitions on the LIV Golf Plus app for the past two years, but has stepped up efforts to gain a more mainstream audience this year.
The UK’s biggest golf broadcaster, Sky Sports, has an exclusive and extensive rights deal with the PGA Tour however, so is unlikely to be tempted into talks with its direct rival until the much-delayed merger of the two tours is finally completed.
TNT Sports and Premier Sports are also understood to have been sounded out, although their level of interest is unclear.
LIV Golf appears to be having more success in landing a major broadcast deal in the US and is reportedly close to signing a contract with Fox Sports, having also held talks with TNT Sports.
For the past two years their events have been screened by children’s channel The CW Network in the USA, but LIV opted to not to trigger an extension in the contract for a third year due to frustration at low viewing figures, which fluctuated between 100,000 and a peak of just 500,000-per-round.
ECB expects clean sweep of Hundred sales
The England and Wales Cricket Board is increasingly confident that all eight Hundred franchises will be sold to private investors before the start of the 2025 domestic season as the third and final round of the auction approaches next week.
Vikram Banerjee, the ECB’s director of business operations, had warned before the first round of bidding in September that the process could drag on beyond this year due to the complexities involved in finding the right partner and price for each of the eight teams, but the first two rounds are understood to have gone better than the governing body had expected.
All eight franchises attracted multiple bids in the second round of the auction, which concluded last month, leaving the ECB confident of raising more than £350m from the 49 per cent stakes it is selling, while yesterday saw fresh reports of late interest in the two London franchises from Silicon Valley heavyweights.
The first round of bidding led to a total valuation of more than £650m for 100 per cent of all Hundred franchises, with the ECB hopeful that competition to complete in the final round could drive that figure up further.
The ECB’s biggest worry ahead of the final round is completing the sale of the Southern Brave, as their host venue Hampshire are now owned by Indian conglomerate GMR Group, which is also part-owner of Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Capitals.
GMR Group is also bidding for Southern Brave and, given they already own their home at the Utilita Bowl, there are concerns about the integrity of the process and the level of competition they will face.
As revealed by City PM, the ECB was sufficiently concerned to warn Hampshire in September that it would withhold the 51 per cent stake in Southern Brave they are due to be given by the governing body if GMR Group does not pay a fair market value for the remaining 49 per cent in the auction.
The fair market value assessment will be conducted by the Raine Group, which could delay the sale.
Reading sale back on as CEO returns from ban
Reading FC will intensify attempts to complete a sale of the club following the return of chief executive Nigel Howe from a suspension this week.
Howe has been tasked with selling Reading by under-fire owner Dai Yongge, but has not been involved for the last three months after being banned from all football activity for allegedly agreeing to give an agent payments in relation to the future transfer of a player.
Following almost a year of sales talks Reading released a club statement last week stating they were in “exclusive negotiations” with an unnamed buyer, who is believed to be Paul Taylor, a property tycoon.
Taylor has kept an extremely low profile since leading an abortive £10.5bn takeover bid for Sainsbury’s on behalf of the Qatar Investment Authority 18 years ago, having made his fortune working for London property magnates Robbie and Vincent Tchenguiz.
The large amount of land at Reading makes the deal attractive for property developers, with 120 acres at the Bearwood Park training ground in addition to the hotel at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, while Taylor also has a personal interest as his wife supports the club.
The Reading sale process stalled when Yongge pulled out of a £30m deal with former Wycombe owner Rob Couhig in September and Howe’s ban started the following month, but it is hoped his return to work could yield significant progress.