ECB to lose over 300 million pounds if English cricket gets cancelled in the wake of coronavirus

The global pandemic of the coronavirus has created an economic crisis around the globe. Several institutions are facing the effect of this global economic crisis and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is one of them. The ECB suspended all forms of cricket in the country until May 28. The upcoming English summer could be at a loss if no cricket is played even after that. Due to the global pandemic, ECB could be losing over 300 million pounds if no cricket is played through the English summer.

Due to this situation, ECB had talked about a 20 per cent pay cut for centrally contracted players. According to the sources, players haven’t agreed to this. ECB Cheif Executive Tom Harrison wrote a letter to the Professional Cricketers’ Association chief, Tony Irish. In the letter, Harrison expressed his concerns regarding the matter.

ECB writes a letter to Professional Cricketers’ Association to approve 20 per cent pay cut

“The pandemic is the biggest challenge the sport has faced in the modern era although the full extent and impact of the pandemic on cricket is as yet unknown, it is already clear that it will be extremely significant,” wrote Harrison as quoted by The Times of India.

“We can only estimate the total financial impact on the game, which will not be clear for some time, but by way of offering an indication of the potential scale of the loss to the game, losing an entire cricket season – which is not an outlandish scenario – will cost cricket in England and Wales well in excess of 300m,” added Harrison.

“Our absolute priority in the face of this challenge is first, to ensure the public safety of our people”, the ECB CEO stated. The situation in the United Kingdom are quite bad. At the time of writing, there are nearly 30,000 cases of coronavirus patients in the UK, while the death toll is more than 2,300.

In the letter, Harrison further stated that he will be one of the employees who will take a 20 per cent pay cut. He further urged players to support the board at this moment. As far as the pay cut is concerned, he stated that it would be for April and May for now.

“Whilst the health of the nation is under threat, the future of our sport depends on every single one of us sharing the load right now.

“In light of this, I am encouraging the PCA and all professional players to support the recommendations the first-class counties present to you next week, which may very well propose a 20% reduction in salaries for April and May, with a view to revisiting this on a monthly basis until we have navigated through the crisis”, added the chief executive.