ECB handouts cut as costs rise

The ECB cut payments to the counties while increasing spending on the national team and their own administration, according to figures in their annual report.

They also increased the amount of money they hold in their reserves despite a drop in turnover of more than £40m.

The figures will increase concern around the counties that they are being pushed into a situation where they have to accept the ECB executive's plans for a city-based domestic T20 competition to meet short-term financial requirements.

While the Ashes contest may remain the most emotive for supporters in both England and Australia, the figures in the report leave no doubt that encounters with India are now by far the most profitable. So while 75,000 more spectators watched international cricket in England and Wales in 2015, when Australia toured England, the total income for 2015-16 was £134m. That compares to £174.7m for 2014-15, which encompasses the period when India toured England.

As a result of that widely anticipated drop in revenues, the ECB was forced to look at cost across the game. But while community expenditure - effectively spending on the grassroots of the game - was cut by £3.4m (from £24.2m to £21m) and spending on the professional game - effectively the first-class counties - was cut by more than £15m (from £63.8m to £48.4m), the cost of the England teams increased by £3m (from £27.5m to £30.6m) while the cost of the game's administration increased from £12.4m to £14.1m.

The ECB also increased their reserves by £3m from £70.04m to £73.11m. County debts total roughly double that amount - the result primarily of ground improvements over the past decade.

The report also contains details on the growth in women's cricket - there were 93 women's clubs in 2003; there are 615 now - and the number of spectators who watched professional cricket in 2015. There were 2.3m in all, with 1.5m attending domestic cricket. The NatWest Blast attracted 827,654 spectators in 2015.