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Chairman attacks ECB over unequal funding
Neil Davidson, the Leicestershire County Cricket Club (LCCC) chairman, has criticised the England and Wales Board's (ECB) distribution of funding following Leicestershire's triumph in the Twenty20 competition.
Davidson launched a stinging attack on the ECB, claiming that the Leicestershire Foxes – as they are known in the one day game – will only earn £2,000 from their triumph in the Twenty20 cup.
"Yes, we won £42,000 in prize money as winners," Davidson said, "but under established conventions, that goes to the players. "We had to fight to get £14,000 for taking part in the semi finals at Trent Bridge when it was indicated that we would get £7,000."
In contrast, he estimates that Nottinghamshire, the hosts of the finals day, and beaten finallists, could net up to £300,000 – an imbalance which has left him incensed: "Of course, Trent Bridge needs to be properly recompensed for hosting the day because they carry the overheads of running a major match venue, but not to the extent which we have estimated and not at the expense of other counties who have played their part in the success of the competition."
Davidson claimed the Twenty20 finals were "symptomatic of the current malaise" within the ECB, and insinuated that there was a clique developing within the ECB which favoured counties with Test status grounds.
"The ECB is owned by the counties and the MCC. Collectively, we own the rights to stage international cricket and major matches in this country. The annual fee payment we receive is not a handout, but effectively a shareholders dividend payment from the total net income generated. There is a major distortion to this dividend distribution system."
Davidson added: "The larger counties naturally generate more local income than smaller counties but as most of them are major match hosts, this differential is greatly enhanced and compounded by these major match hosting agreements.
"This is having a knock-on effect on players' wages and the ability of smaller counties to recruit and retain England qualified players."
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