ECB hits back over Lalit Modi’s ‘Ponzi scheme’ blast at Hundred

Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has hit back at an accusation from the Indian Premier League founder Lalit Modi, that the Hundred is “a big fat Ponzi scheme”.

‌Modi took aim at the ECB this week, saying the board was “overly optimistic and disconnected from reality” over the sale of the Hundred, the controversial short-form tournament that launched four years ago after years of bitter wrangling.

Modi poured particular scorn on figures quoted in a prospectus for potential investors that predicted strong growth in overseas broadcast rights.

‌The sale process of the eight teams opened in recent weeks. It was expected to finish in time for the 2025 season, but Vikram Banerjee, who is running the sale for ECB, admitted this week that it could be delayed.

‌In an interview with Test Match Special, Gould was quick to remind Modi that he had valued the competition at US$1 billion when making a proposal to buy the competition in Telegraph Sport earlier this year.

‌“We see the amount of interest, not just in the Hundred, but in English cricket, both internally and globally,” said Gould. “I don’t recognise his particular comments. Indeed, it wasn’t so long ago that he had an article in the Telegraph saying he wanted to buy the competition for a billion [pounds]… so. No thank you. When you are in these investment processes, it is all about opinions. We’ve had incredible levels of interest.

‌“We have 100 or so interested parties, which is a huge number. It’s steady as she goes, we take nothing for granted, there is a really good process that is being run.”

‌The proceeds of any sale will be spread throughout the county game. The ECB has not put a firm figure on the amount it hopes to raise, but it turned down an offer of £300 million for 75 per cent of the competition from private equity firm Bridgepoint in 2022 and is understood to want £500 million across the eight teams. Gould admitted that he also has a figure in mind that would be too low to accept a sale.

‌“We hope that will deliver a really positive outcome,” he said. “If it does, we are looking to use the money to underpin the county game for the next generation, the next 20-25 years. We will see. We are not taking anything for granted.

‌“There will be [low] amounts that we have in mind, that our stakeholders, the counties and the venues have in mind as well. It’s a significant process that we are doing through collaboration and mutual understanding. Everyone knows that the money that comes in, we want to use to protect and supercharge the game throughout our county network and beyond.”