Have they sold out or is this potentially one of the biggest things to happen to cricket in this country-
Earlier this month, it was announced that the RPSG Group has agreed to purchase a 70% stake in the 100 team Manchester Originals who are based at Old Trafford
The remaining 30% is owned by Lancashire Cricket Club and it forms an aspiration on the part of both parties to become a major part of the sporting landscape in Manchester – one of the world’s leading sports cities – alongside its two famous football clubs.
For those that don’t know,RPSG is one of India’s fastest growing conglomerates and owns Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Durban’s Super Giants in the South Africa T20.
There is much enthusiasm from both sides -Lancashire’s Chief Executive David Gidley said that his eyes were opened back in 2019 during the World Cup game between India and Pakistan describing the passion in the crowd as something to aspire to
The club had already started strengthening its links with India recognising a 1.4 billion population who adored cricket and wanting to bring that to Manchester
Originals, Lancashire and England International Phil Salt-described it as an extremely exciting new era-
“It gives us an opportunity to create a stand out team and bring a great product into the country”
While RPSG owner Sanjiv Goenka,said cricket was one of the few sports thot unite the world -It is a meeting of minds he said
Lancashire was not the first destination of choice for Goenka.He had eyes on Lords the home of London Spirit and had reportedly bid £290m for that franchise,instead he settled for a cool £107m in Manchester
The money will come in handy, reducing the club’s debts after the latest Old Trafford developments and a new ground in the making at Farrington
And it will benefit English cricket in general, The Hundred sale clocked in at a £975 million valuation for the eight teams, bringing an initial £520 million into the game’s coffers,certainly good new for the counties outside of the Test Arena allocation
Much to the disappointment of the cricket purists the 100 is here to stay and without the influx of money, it was increasingly doubtful that the current structure could have survived financially
The clubs are looking at what the IPL did in India.It didn’t take cricket to a new level it took it to a new universe
“IPL is bigger than the Premier League says Gidney
“We have a lot to learn from the brand -the way cricket is presented in the U.K. has changed little in thirty years” he maintains”
As Originals Chair, James Sheridan said
“We want to offer our fans an experience never before seen in English cricket – looking to the IPL, and other major sports, for inspiration, as we take our match day and fan experience to a completely different level. Whether in stadia or via digital channels, Manchester will be the team to follow in The Hundred as we will look to bring the world’s top cricket stars, both female and male, to Manchester every August and provide sporting entertainment of the highest level to the people of Manchester and the wider North West
Elsewhere the Ambani family, India’s wealthiest and owners of the Mumbai Indians got the prize of the Oval Invincibles, Birmingham Phoenix were sold to Tom Brady’s Knighthead Capital group while Welsh Fire were sold to Sanjay Govil, owner of Washington Freedom US cricket franchise while across the Pennines, the Northern Superchargers became the only franchise to be sold 100 per cent going to the Sunrisers franchise in India
In total of the eight franchises half have ended up being owned by IPL concerns which will satisfy some of the purist who didn’t want the competition to be IPL two
All the indications are also that it will remain a 100 ball competition and not be subsumed into a 20/20 format and at least from the moment, the names will remain the same
