Counties face points deductions for financial losses under strict new ECB rules
Cricket counties will face automatic points deductions for making repeated losses under strict new financial rules that will be introduced next season.The Guardian has learned that the England and Wales Cricket Board is planning to bring in its own version of football’s profit and sustainability rules underpinned by points deductions in a shadow form next year to give counties time to adjust, before fixed punishments for clubs that fail to break even are introduced in 2028.The proposed new rules are understood to be similar to the financial framework operated by the Premier League and EFL, whose clubs are limited to making losses of £105m and £39m respectively over a rolling three-year period.The Premier League is dropping PSR next season in favour of new regulations that will cap player spending to 85% of a club’s football revenues, but the EFL’s profit and sustainability limits will remain in place.Under the ECB’s version of PSR, counties would be required to show they are running profitable businesses over a four-year period, with fixed tariffs in place for those that consistently lose money.
The counties’ accounts would be monitored in real time by the ECB, who would have powers to intervene at the end of each financial year,An overspend in year one would result in an official warning from the ECB, followed by a suspended points deduction in year two and points being docked in year three if they continued to post losses,The ECB says it is acting to ensure the counties operate as sustainable businesses rather than relying on handouts from Lord’s and windfalls from the sale of the eight Hundred franchises, which raised about £500m for the sport last year,The allocation of the Hundred money – with £18m due to the host venues and £24m to the non-hosts – is already a source of tension with the counties, with the ECB insisting it can only be used for infrastructure projects or to pay off debts, rather than assisting with operating costs,The proposed new rules are also a response to the financial plight of Sussex, who were docked 12 points at the start of the season after being placed in special measures by the ECB for posting an operating loss of £1.
33m last year due to high spending on player wages,Yorkshire and Middlesex have also experienced financial problems in recent years, but the latter have been unable to access any of the Hundred funding as they have no debt and as long-term tenants at Lord’s do not own their ground,Counties are already subject to an annual salary cap of £3,17m for their men’s squads (£3,52m for Surrey and Middlesex), but will be forced to demonstrate profitability for the first time from next year.
This is likely to be challenging for the 11 non-Hundred counties in particular, of whom only Gloucestershire are forecast to make a profit this year,There are growing fears among the smaller counties that the sale of the Hundred franchises will cause them to fall further behind the bigger venues, particularly if the new owners demand a bigger share of the ECB’s next TV deal, which will go to market next year before starting in the summer of 2028,The Hundred is sold as part of a package with all England’s home international cricket, and given a value of around £50m a year by Sky Sports, but many of the new franchise owners would like to test the market by trying to sell it separately with a view to keeping most of the revenue,
Democrats are playing with fire in trying to reclaim tax cuts from Republicans
Senator Chris Van Hollen and other Democratic lawmakers are embracing a policy that hardly benefits the middle classSoul-searching within the Democratic party is to be expected after its loss in the 2024 election. Donald Trump’s edge over Kamala Harris in voters’ perceptions of economic competence (perplexing though it now appears following a year of erratic policymaking) was bound to inspire a call to rethink the party platform.Yet the second-guessing is steering the Democrats down a dangerous path to embracing a tax-cutting strategy that risks defeating the project to enable a healthier, more equitable society.The most prominent proposal bouncing around Democratic circles comes in a bill from Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland senator. In a nutshell, it proposes cutting taxes for Americans earning up to $80,500 ($161,000 for married couples) and funding the $1
Oil prices climb after Trump dismisses Iran’s response to peace plan
Oil prices have climbed after Donald Trump condemned Iran’s response to US proposals to end the war as “totally unacceptable”.The president’s rejection of Tehran’s overture in a post on his Truth Social platform triggered a jump in Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, by as much as 4% on Monday to $105.50 a barrel, before easing back to settle at $103.50.The US had presented a peace proposal a week ago, said to consist of a 14-point memorandum of understanding that would reopen the strait of Hormuz, while setting a framework for further talks on Iran’s nuclear programme
US Senate expected to confirm Kevin Warsh as next Federal Reserve chair
The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh this week as chair of the Federal Reserve, as Donald Trump continues his campaign to influence the world’s most important central bank.The Fed’s influence over the economy spans from the job market to mortgage rates, and its every move is carefully scrutinized by investors on Wall Street. Warsh’s confirmation comes at a turbulent time for the central bank, which has fallen under intense scrutiny from Trump for not lowering interest rates.The vote is expected to be split along party lines. Democrats criticize Warsh for being Trump’s “sock puppet” at a time when the president has pushed past the typical boundaries between the White House and the nonpartisan Fed
UK households bracing for new cost of living crisis, report finds
British households are bracing for a new cost of living crisis, as the impact of the Middle East conflict dampens confidence in the economy and personal finances, a survey has suggested.Consumer confidence in the UK has dipped over the last three months at the fastest rate since June 2022, when inflation in the UK was soaring as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the spike in commodity prices.The quarterly survey from the accountancy firm PwC, which measures factors such as consumers’ spending intentions and how well off they feel, recorded a score of -13 in April, a sharp fall from -1 in January and the lowest level since autumn 2023.PwC said confidence about household finances was down across all age groups, although young people were still more optimistic than older people, despite there being a 20% fall in those under 35 who feel financially healthy and a 9% increase in those who are struggling or in trouble with their bills and finances.Almost 90% of 2,068 consumers surveyed by PwC said they were concerned about the cost of living, and almost 80% plan to cut back on their spending in the next three months
Delayed Great British Railways’ first station to open at Cambridge South in June
The delayed Cambridge South station will finally open in late June – and become the first station to be given full Great British Railways branding, the government has announced.The station sits beside the city’s Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest medical research centre, and will connect it with direct trains to London, Brighton and Stansted airport, as well as up to nine trains an hour to the centre of Cambridge itself.Services will begin calling at Cambridge South on Sunday 28 June, the Department for Transport said, with 1.8 million passengers expected annually.The DfT said the adjacent Biomedical Campus was forecast to contribute £18
Full nationalisation of British Steel expected in king’s speech
The full nationalisation of British Steel is expected to be announced in the king’s speech this week, a year after the government took over the daily running of the loss-making business from its Chinese owner.The steelmaker, which employs 3,500 people at its plant in Scunthorpe, came under government control last April amid fears that its owner, Jingye, was planning to shut down the site.British Steel operates the last two remaining blast furnaces in the UK, but its economic control remains with the Chinese company, which bought it out of insolvency in early 2020.An announcement confirming the plans is expected in the king’s speech on Wednesday, according to the Sunday Times, but details of the speech are still being finalised.British Steel was bought by the private equity group Greybull Capital in 2016, but it collapsed into insolvency three years later
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