COVID-19 poses a real threat to English cricket

Ta, will read that sometime this arvo Paul.

I just found a really good article on the BBC website that seems to cover everything about Kolpak and county cricket, Bob. There are currently limitations and plans are already being thrashed out post Brexit, according to this piece. https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/51387075

Hmm, clear as mud to me. Does that mean that while it was in force a county could conceivably have a team made of 11 Saffa's? I say that because of the reference to quotas.

I found this on the interweb thingie, Bob. It seems to be based on Agreements with EU countries and as GB is not longer part of the EU, I'd assume these agreements would be void, unless they have some sort of sunset clause. "the Kolpak Ruling declares that citizens of countries which have applicable Association Agreements with the EU, and who are lawfully working within an EU country, have equal rights to work as EU citizens, and cannot have restrictions such as quotas placed upon them. Such countries include those within the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states, such as South Africa, Jamaica and Zimbabwe."

Is Kolpak still a thing now that England is no longer a part of the EU?

No, I wouldn't like to depend on the banks playing nice either but it would create some much needed goodwill for them so they would gain a little something out of it as well. It's not as though they can't afford to stop gouging every cent they can for a while either.

Not just England players, many of the counties use Kolpak rules to use players from around the world, especially South Africa. With the Hundreds most squads had Aussies, and remember the Hundreds had a men's and women's team.

Good idea. I imagine the banks will go to the government and ask them to pay them to cover the loss of payments. otherwise they will just put the payments up in later years of the loan/mortgage. Given what the banks did before, during and after the GFC of 2008, and then in an Australian context after the recent hearings that exposed the banks policies, it is not a happy thought to depend on banks doing something good for its borrowers and savers.

Wow, what a mess the ECB has to deal with. Ignore the financial implications, I'd have thought the Poms would have used their summer to fine tune their squad for the T20 World Cup, as well as trying to score points for the Test Championship. I guess if they can get in some sort of summer, they might still be okay, but it looks like a bit of a train wreck season right now.

It occurred to me that for the duration of this disaster this site could change its name to 'theSilence'.

Hmm. That's tricky then. Maybe your banks could forego their reptilian ways for a season and ease up on the counties a bit. There's talk in Oz of our banks wiping business loan and mortgage repayments for 6 months or more so maybe there's some possibility of British banks doing something similar.

When the intangibles disrupt the almighty pursuit of the pound! It is interesting though when hypothetical questions are tested for real. There's often been queries as to what impact empty stadiums would have on atmosphere for purely televised sport and the AFL would've found out in a coupla weeks how fans will watch anything, but spectators need stimulation. No roar from a crowd to denote a goal, or umpiring howler makes for insipid viewing. Anyone who's watched a great innings in Sharjah, or Dubai can attest to that as the lack of crowd involvement changes your viewing. You could only imagine trying to initiate a new slogball 'product' with no immediate response to the action!

The counties will need the money, those with test grounds have some leeway, but the others are hand to mouth. They were not happy at the competition being started, so that is why the bribe was given. If the season is a wipe out, then they lose other ECB funding, plus the money from T20 Blast. Financially they will be up the creek, without a paddle, or boat and 'talking' to a few very hungry looking crocodiles [called banks].

If they do postpone till next year does it necessarily follow that they need to find another 60 mill? Surely the counties will understand that this is all far beyond the ECB's control and be prepared to cut them some slack. Or is there some compelling and non-negotiable reason the ECB will need to fork out again.

If they postpone till next year then where do they find another 60 million? They would have to borrow and this would mean they would be in a weaker position when it came to negotiating with TV companies and sponsors. Further, they could try to cut the amount to be borrowed, in the above scenario, by cutting the amount given to the counties. This would mean some counties going bust asap and less players at all ages and levels playing the game.

Right. I see. .. Gee, they must have been very confident about its financial potential then. Any business that commits 85% of its reserves into one venture would have to be almost totally convinced about its chances of success. .. I'm guessing there will be some nervous boys on that board atm.

The teams are not based on county teams, the ECB decided to keep ticket prices low, bribe the counties to accept the Hundreds [1.3 million per county, as there are 18 counties that is quite a pay out] and attract top players. These are just some of the reasons why the cost is high.

"The new form of the game the Hundreds has led the financial reserves of the ECB go from c£70 million to c£10 million." - Why has the hundred cost the ECB 60 million? It seems rather a lot.