'Putting Test cricket on free-to-air television could bankrupt the game,' warns ECB chairman Colin Graves

Colin Graves has started his final year as chairman of the England & Wales Cricket with a stark warning to the next government about the danger of listing Test cricket on free-to-air television.

Graves has told Telegraph Sport that forcing the ECB to put Test cricket on terrestrial television would bankrupt the game at every level.

The House of Lords communication and digital committee last month called for the Ashes to be shown on terrestrial television and returned to listed status meaning it cannot be sold to satellite broadcasters. Ian Lucas, the MP for Wrexham, called on the ECB to not take Test cricket off free-to-air television again when Graves and Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the ECB, appeared at a government select committee hearing in October.

Now Graves, who ends his five-year term as chairman in November 2020, has warned the next government not to interfere in how the sport sells its rights and believes the eight matches in the Hundred and two England Twenty20 matches that will be shown live every year by the BBC from next summer is enough.

“One of the first things I said as chairman was we want cricket back on terrestrial television. We have done it but Test cricket on terrestrial television is a totally different ball game,” he said. “If you talk to broadcasters, none of them want it. It does not fit into their schedules. The cost to do a Test match is astronomical from a broadcasting point of view. For a five-day Test you are talking production cost of a million quid so there is not going to be a queue even if they push it that way.

“If any government starts pushing free to air and says it has got to happen, they are going to take a chunk of money out of English cricket. That is not just professional cricket. It will take a chunk of money out of recreational cricket, women’s cricket, schools, the whole shooting match so we have to be very, very careful when we talk to governments and make sure they are aware of the situations they might want to get in to.”

Graves’s legacy will be defined by the success of the Hundred next year and he has admitted the ECB will be happy if they sell only 60 to 65 per cent of tickets. He denied the tournament is a gamble and believes it will pay off in the long run with the ECB determined not to make the same mistake with the Hundred as they did with Twenty20 by letting other countries take the format on and leave England behind. It is why the board have trademarked the Hundred.

“That is the intention and what we will be judged on,” he said when asked if the grounds will be full next year. “All our budgets are starting off at 60-65 per cent in year one. If we can achieve that it will be a great success. Some of the matches we will not have any problems with. The big headers Manchester, Leeds, two in London. But some of the others we might have to work harder but 60-65 per cent is what we are starting off with. If we get above that, which I’m pretty sure we can, it will be a success.

“How can it be a risk when you have the money banked from the broadcasters for five years? If I was running my own business, five years is a long time. If I was running Costcutter and I could bank that income for five years I would be doing somersaults. That is a fantastic position to be in. I do not see that as a risk one iota. We launched T20 but we missed a massive opportunity. We gave it away to the rest of the world and did not do too much with it because again there were a lot of soothsayers out there calling it Mickey Mouse cricket. Look what has happened to T20. That is why we have done what we have done. We are not going to fall in the same trap twice.”

The next chairman will be the first to be paid a salary, in the region of £150,000, and the board have contracted headhunters, Odgers, to find Graves’s replacement. Sources have indicated Hugh Robertson, the former Sports Minister, could be a candidate and he already has the backing of several counties. But the chairman is no longer elected by a ballot of the counties and will instead be chosen by a nominations committee. Graves has stood down as chairman of the nominations committee and been replaced by former England cricketer Lucy Pearson. Lord Patel, the current deputy chairman, is the most likely internal candidate.

As for Graves, his time in cricket is unlikely to be over. He is expected to return to his old club Yorkshire where his family trust has invested more than £20m in Headingley.

Before he goes he would like to see a redrawing of the ECB’s drug policy after the Alex Hales case earlier this year. Hales was banned for failing a second test for recreational drugs. Under current guidelines agreed with the Professional Cricketers’ Association, counties and the ECB are only informed when a player fails a second test. Graves would like it tightened up so counties and the ECB are told after a first positive test.

“We have been having discussions with PCA on that,” he said. “I think if anybody is tested positive, both the county and ECB should know straight away so we can work with them, not crucify them, but to be there to help and assist. If you don’t know after the first time then you are in the wilderness.”

Graves supports the Test championship but believes more money needs to be on offer to encourage countries to stick with Test cricket, which struggles to attract audiences around the world.

“We were the ones who have pushed the Test championship off the ground at ICC because Test cricket needs something to keep it all together. The worrying thing is you look at Test cricket around the world and most of the grounds are empty and that is the sad bit,” he said. “Fortunately we don’t see that in England but ICC has to get its act together and make sure Test championship is marketed properly.

“They have to put finances behind it. I don’t think new members coming to the ICC should play Test cricket for the first five years. They should just play white ball cricket until they can make sure they are sustainable financially because they could lose a fortune. We know if you don’t have full grounds you will struggle to make revenue from a Test match. Time will tell.”