Lancashire wants IPL link for Manchester Originals

LONDON (Agencies): English Cricket County Lancashire wants to partner with an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise and run Manchester Originals as a joint venture from 2025. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will distribute prospectuses to potential investors early next month, with stakes in each of the eight Hundred teams for sale, and Lancashire have met with various interested parties over the last month. The club had actively grown its profile in India over the last five years, with a strategy which has included men’s and women’s pre-season tours, friendlies against teams linked to Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and the signings of Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar and Venkatesh Iyer as overseas players. As the owners of Emirates Old Trafford, Lancashire will be gifted a 51% stake in Manchester Originals by the ECB as part of the Hundred’s sale process. They have made clear that they are looking for a “sporting partner” rather than a purely financial investor, and their chief executive, Daniel Gidney, said that they would “love” to work with an IPL franchise.

“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.” The ECB is running the sale of stakes, with the Raine Group ––– the American bank involved in the recent deals at Chelsea and Manchester United ––– and Deloitte acting as financial advisors. But Lancashire will be actively involved in choosing a partner, and hosted officials from several franchises ––– understood to include Lucknow Super Giants ––– during the Hundred.

The two London Hundred franchises ––– London Spirit (Lord’s) and Oval Invincibles (The Oval) ––– are expected to be worth the most, with Manchester Originals and Birmingham Phoenix (Edgbaston) following. “As I’ve said to different people from that part of the world, the first round is being run by the ECB, so you need to get your number up,” Gidney said. “If you want an ego and to pay a lot of money, then London is your gig. There’ll be loads of people that want London, but there’s 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.” Avram Glazer, the co-owner of Manchester United, owns Desert Vipers in the UAE’s ILT20 and is understood to be considering a bid for a stake in a Hundred franchise, with representatives attending matches over the past few weeks. But the Glazer family’s ownership has been unpopular with United fans, meaning a bid for a stake in the Originals appears unlikely.

“You can’t have a scenario where [Shaheen Shah] Afridi is choosing to play in Canada over us. That’s just nonsense.” “We are unique in the cityscape of the UK in having two massive brands and Premier League football teams that both [feature] the name of the city,” Gidney said. “All I’m going to be drawn on that subject is I think it would be very difficult for Manchester Originals to be renamed either Manchester United or Manchester City.” Gidney believes that the ECB should consider increasing the number of overseas players per team in the Hundred from three to four when private investment arrives and salaries increase. He would also favour a tweaked draft system which would allow for more “local heroes” in Hundred squads, with two of Lancashire’s best players – Liam Livingstone (Birmingham Phoenix) and Saqib Mahmood (Oval Invincibles) – not involved in the Originals set-up in the Hundred’s first four seasons.

“I would absolutely see the benefit of some form of consolidated contracting,” Gidney said. “An opportunity for us to have a bit more Lancashire personality would be great. You’ve still got to be best vs best, you’ve still got to get in the XI, but originally, we talked about having some local heroes within a squad and I would love to see that come back in.” “The key for the success of the Hundred going forward is that player salaries have to go up – on both the men’s and women’s side – to attract the best talent. You can’t have a scenario where [Shaheen Shah] Afridi is choosing to play in Canada over us. That’s just nonsense. “I think there’s probably 30 to 40 players who are currently playing in the Hundred but I don’t think they should be. I think they should be playing in the One-Day Cup… if you’re looking at the investment, you have to have best vs best. On some occasions, have you had the best players in the world playing in that game? I would say the answer is no.”