London: English cricket could lose as much as £380 million if the entire season is wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has claimed.
The projected loss takes into account the international as well as domestic games. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had last week suspended county season until July, with nine rounds abandoned.
"We anticipate that with no cricket this year — as a worst-case scenario for our planning purposes — that could be as bad as 380million. That would be the loss of 800 days of cricket across all our professional clubs and the ECB as well," Harrison was quoted as saying by thecricketer.com.
"If you take all of that revenue and put it at risk, that is the worst-case scenario for us this year. Unquestionably, for cricket it is the most significant financial challenge we've ever faced.
"Our ability to mitigate the potential financial impact does require us to try, where it's safe to do so and with government support, fill that hole. We are staring at a 100million-plus loss this year, whatever happens," Harrison said.
The ECB has already created a £61 million rescue package for the 18 county sides and has been offering grants and loans to recreational clubs, impacted by the outbreak.
"Cashflow is a very significant issue which we've tried to address as quickly as possible through the stimulus package we've put into the professional game," Harrison said.
"We came into 2020 in the best financial state that county cricket had been in for several decades, frankly, and this has thrown that into some uncertainty. We will continue to work with the counties to make sure we get through this."
He also claimed that The Hundred, which has now been postponed to next year, was expected to make a profit of £11 million.
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