Lancashire Cricket Club is all set to break new ground in the sport by partnering with an Indian Premier League franchise to co-manage the Manchester Originals in the ECB’s The Hundred from 2025. This collaboration forms part of a wider strategy by the England and Wales Cricket Board to bring external investments into its eight Hundred teams.
Lancashire’s meeting with potential partners in the last month reflects the club’s aspirations to cement its influence in India, with which it has been actively building up a relationship over the past five years.
Prospectuses are set to be released by the ECB, with potential investors able to buy stakes in these franchises. Lancashire hopes to retain a 51 per cent stake in the Manchester Originals during the sale process. While some teams may seek purely financial backers, Lancashire has explicitly stated that it wants a “sporting partner” – one who can improve its cricketing prospects.
According to the chief executive, Daniel Gidney, Lancashire would not say no to a tie-up as they have been building an affinity with the land since a couple of years ago by taking preseason tours and friendlies against sides representing IPL teams such as Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“Our preference is a partner who will partner with us on cricket, who can really help us grow our cricket, and clearly we have a strong interest in India,” Gidney said. “We’d love to work with an IPL team, of course, because of the opportunities that would bring – both for us and for them… our pathway is the best in the country, and so is our medical staff.”
Lancashire has also seen high-profile Indian players like Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, and Venkatesh Iyer being signed by the club to further deepen its association with the Indian cricket setup.
The bidding process has already attracted interest from IPL franchises — officials of teams such as Lucknow Super Giants have visited Lancashire — but the potential involvement of the Glazer family, as co-owners of Manchester United, in The Hundred is unpopular with locals, making a Manchester Originals bid less likely.
“If you want an ego and to pay a lot of money, then London is your gig. There’ll be loads of people who want London, but there are only two teams, and one of those only wants a passive investor so it narrows your choice down. Outside of that, I said to people: ‘If you want cheap, we are not it. If you want the best value, we are it.”
Lancashire is also leading calls for reforms to The Hundred, including expanding overseas players and revamping the draft system to give local talent more prominence. As far as Gidney was concerned, he argued that the player remunerations needed to be hiked to make sure top cricketing talent across the world came into the tournament.
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