Latest news with #WorldCricketConnects
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
The Hundred set for 'enormous boost' after ECB decision and new 'silver bullet'
MCC, the organisation of which Nicholas is chair, kept its 51 per cent stake in London Spirit, with Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of US-based tech entrepreneurs, snapping up the rest. Mark Nicholas believes the incoming injection of private funding into the Hundred will give the competition 'an enormous boost' and help address the fact it has 'eased off'. The ECB sold its 49 per cent stake in each of the eight competing teams earlier this year, with host clubs then deciding how much of their stake to retain. MCC, the organisation of which Nicholas is chair, kept its 51 per cent stake in London Spirit, with Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of US-based tech entrepreneurs, snapping up the rest. London Spirit was valued at £295million, the most of any team, and Nicholas – who was on the board of Southampton-based Southern Brave before moving to Lord's – is excited to see how the investment takes the competition to new heights. 'It's interesting that it seems to have eased off a bit,' he said. 'If you'd asked me at the end of the first year, I'd have said 'eureka'. I was astonished, and the impact on the women's game in particular was fantastic. I can't quite get why audiences have gone down a bit, but I like The Hundred, I like the format, I think it's a bit more nuanced than T20. I am a big fan of it. 'I think it will get the most enormous boost next year. Once these private owners take over and you suddenly get that 'brand feel' to each of the franchises, their own marketing impact and fan engagement modelling, I have no doubt the tournament will be really successful here. 'It will be a great venture. Whether it can be the silver bullet, I don't know, but I think it will be a very strong product for English cricket in the years to come.' Nicholas was speaking ahead of the second World Cricket Connects forum at Lord's, at which franchise cricket will be among the topics debated by a collection of key figures from within the sport as well as external commercial voices. Other themes including the state of the game, women's cricket and 'is cricket cool?' will be up for discussion at Lord's, while Australia captain Pat Cummins will be interviewed as part of a panel surrounding climate issues in cricket. 'This year is a little bit more driven by the business of the game,' he said. 'Last year we had the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jos Buttler and Brendon McCullum, whereas this year we have gone for big players in the various markets. 'That was to some degree driven by the ICC wanting some input to the event but driven more by our thinking that it needed a different angle this year. 'There are still big names who will be speaking – Kumar Sangakkara, Sourav Ganguly, Andrew Strauss. We really did have some exceptional presentations last time and I think we are well on course to have the same this year.' World Cricket Connects is an initiative dedicated to bringing together cricket stakeholders from around the world to discuss and shape the future of the sport. Through events, discussions, and collaborations, World Cricket Connects aims to foster innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability in cricket.
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Pakistan Super League needs marketing, says Mark Nicholas
A separate panel will debate the question of whether cricket is 'cool' – and Nicholas believes there is work to do in that regard. 'The answer is, currently, it is not cool enough,' he said. 'In its shortest format, certainly in India, maybe with The Hundred and the Caribbean Premier League, and probably with SA20, there is an increasingly younger audience and more examples of kids saying to their parents 'I want to go to the cricket' rather than the other way round. 'It's getting cooler again and I would say India and the IPL has driven that. 'People throw stones at marketing, but good marketing is unbelievably powerful. 'I would say that here (England) with the Hundred, South Africa, India, they do it well. 'I did two weeks of the Pakistan Super League, and one outstanding observation would be that they don't market as hard or as successfully as some of the other leagues.' World Cricket Connects, which brings together influential figures from across all aspects of cricket, was Nicholas' brainchild and is expanding to a two-day event in 2025 after a successful start last year. A 13-strong World Cricket Connects Advisory Board, chaired by Kumar Sangakkara, has been established since the inaugural forum was held and one of its members, Mel Jones, has had a significant impact in helping Afghanistan's displaced women's team find opportunities to play in Australia. The MCC founded the Global Refugee Cricket Fund earlier this year and its initial focus is supporting the Pitch Our Future campaign - an Australian-led programme that empowers and supports players from the former Afghanistan Women's Cricket Team – after the topic was raised at World Cricket Connects. 'People wanted action, they were horrified by what had happened to Afghanistan's women's cricketers,' Nicholas said. 'Once it became obvious there was a way to support it through our foundation, we were very quick to do so. 'One of MCC's great strengths is that we give back to cricket to an extraordinary level, a level that cuts our surplus every year in half. 'I feel we should always try and help initiatives like that, that's exactly where MCC can fit. I really feel that was in our wheelhouse.'
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Nicholas hails Cummins as cricket's statesman
Cummins is to be interviewed on day two, June 8, as part of a session entitled 'The Commercial Opportunity of Sustainability', which also features a presentation from the Cricket for Climate group. That organisation was co-founded by the seamer, who regularly uses his platform to voice concerns surrounding environmental issues in cricket, and Nicholas believes his impact is only growing. 'Pat has got enormous respect both on and off the field from everybody,' he said. 'There is nobody in the game that would say a bad word about him or doubt him. There is nothing about him that looks false, he is the real deal. So, when he speaks, it is interesting. 'His heart is in climate control, without a doubt. He has always been environmentally aware, he is not talking from a sudden bout of care, this has always been in him. 'He is probably, right now, cricket's foremost representative. Now that Virat Kohli has stood down (from Test cricket), Pat Cummins has moved into that spot alongside Ben Stokes. 'If you were asking who the superstars are who command global respect, in a way that people listen to what they say, applaud their performance and they still stay top of the rankings, they are the three.' Themes including the state of the game, franchise cricket, women's cricket and 'is cricket cool?' will be up for discussion at Lord's, with panellists from a range of backgrounds invited to take part. Nicholas, who has been a regular contributor to Channel 9 over the years, is particularly intrigued to hear from Australian representatives regarding franchise cricket amid what he sees as a drop-off in the impact of the Big Bash. 'The Big Bash has gone quiet,' he said. 'It sure came in with a big bash, it was fantastic. 'But to me, from afar – and I haven't been in Australia full-time for seven years now – it needs to look at itself internally. Quite a few of the important Australians are going to be here, not least the new CEO (Todd Greenberg), so it will be interesting to see where they are with that.' A World Cricket Connects Advisory board, chaired by Kumar Sangakkara and featuring former Australia captain Mel Jones, has been established since the inaugural forum last year. Jones has had a significant impact in helping Afghanistan's displaced women's team find opportunities to play in Australia while the MCC founded the Global Refugee Cricket Fund earlier this year. Its initial focus is supporting the Pitch Our Future campaign - an Australian-led programme that empowers and supports players from the former Afghanistan Women's Cricket Team – after the topic was raised at World Cricket Connects. 'People wanted action, they were horrified by what had happened to Afghanistan's women's cricketers,' Nicholas said. 'Once it became obvious there was a way to support it through our foundation, we were very quick to do so. 'One of MCC's great strengths is that we give back to cricket to an extraordinary level, a level that cuts our surplus every year in half. 'I feel we should always try and help initiatives like that, that's exactly where MCC can fit. I really feel that was in our wheelhouse.'
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Mark Nicholas welcomes private funding into the Hundred
MCC, the organisation of which Nicholas is chair, kept its 51 per cent stake in London Spirit, with Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of US-based tech entrepreneurs, snapping up the rest. London Spirit was valued at £295 million, the most of any team, and Nicholas – who was on the board of Southampton-based Southern Brave before moving to Lord's – is excited to see how the investment takes the competition to new heights. 'It's interesting that it seems to have eased off a bit,' he said. 'If you'd asked me at the end of the first year, I'd have said 'eureka'. I was astonished, and the impact on the women's game in particular was fantastic. 'I can't quite get why audiences have gone down a bit, but I like The Hundred, I like the format, I think it's a bit more nuanced than T20. I am a big fan of it. 'I think it will get the most enormous boost next year. Once these private owners take over and you suddenly get that 'brand feel' to each of the franchises, their own marketing impact and fan engagement modelling, I have no doubt the tournament will be really successful here. 'It will be a great venture. Whether it can be the silver bullet, I don't know, but I think it will be a very strong product for English cricket in the years to come.' Nicholas was speaking ahead of the second World Cricket Connects forum at Lord's, at which franchise cricket will be among the topics debated by a collection of key figures from within the sport as well as external commercial voices. Other themes including the state of the game, women's cricket and 'is cricket cool?' will be up for discussion at Lord's, while Australia captain Pat Cummins will be interviewed as part of a panel surrounding climate issues in cricket. 'This year is a little bit more driven by the business of the game,' he said. 'Last year we had the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jos Buttler and Brendon McCullum, whereas this year we have gone for big players in the various markets. 'That was to some degree driven by the ICC wanting some input to the event but driven more by our thinking that it needed a different angle this year. 'There are still big names who will be speaking – Kumar Sangakkara, Sourav Ganguly, Andrew Strauss. We really did have some exceptional presentations last time and I think we are well on course to have the same this year.' World Cricket Connects is an initiative dedicated to bringing together cricket stakeholders from around the world to discuss and shape the future of the sport. Through events, discussions, and collaborations, World Cricket Connects aims to foster innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability in cricket.
Glasgow Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Nicholas hails Cummins as cricket's statesman
Cummins is to be interviewed on day two, June 8, as part of a session entitled 'The Commercial Opportunity of Sustainability', which also features a presentation from the Cricket for Climate group. That organisation was co-founded by the seamer, who regularly uses his platform to voice concerns surrounding environmental issues in cricket, and Nicholas believes his impact is only growing. 'Pat has got enormous respect both on and off the field from everybody,' he said. 'There is nobody in the game that would say a bad word about him or doubt him. There is nothing about him that looks false, he is the real deal. So, when he speaks, it is interesting. 'His heart is in climate control, without a doubt. He has always been environmentally aware, he is not talking from a sudden bout of care, this has always been in him. 'He is probably, right now, cricket's foremost representative. Now that Virat Kohli has stood down (from Test cricket), Pat Cummins has moved into that spot alongside Ben Stokes. 'If you were asking who the superstars are who command global respect, in a way that people listen to what they say, applaud their performance and they still stay top of the rankings, they are the three.' Themes including the state of the game, franchise cricket, women's cricket and 'is cricket cool?' will be up for discussion at Lord's, with panellists from a range of backgrounds invited to take part. Nicholas, who has been a regular contributor to Channel 9 over the years, is particularly intrigued to hear from Australian representatives regarding franchise cricket amid what he sees as a drop-off in the impact of the Big Bash. 'The Big Bash has gone quiet,' he said. 'It sure came in with a big bash, it was fantastic. 'But to me, from afar – and I haven't been in Australia full-time for seven years now – it needs to look at itself internally. Quite a few of the important Australians are going to be here, not least the new CEO (Todd Greenberg), so it will be interesting to see where they are with that.' A World Cricket Connects Advisory board, chaired by Kumar Sangakkara and featuring former Australia captain Mel Jones, has been established since the inaugural forum last year. Jones has had a significant impact in helping Afghanistan's displaced women's team find opportunities to play in Australia while the MCC founded the Global Refugee Cricket Fund earlier this year. Its initial focus is supporting the Pitch Our Future campaign - an Australian-led programme that empowers and supports players from the former Afghanistan Women's Cricket Team – after the topic was raised at World Cricket Connects. 'People wanted action, they were horrified by what had happened to Afghanistan's women's cricketers,' Nicholas said. 'Once it became obvious there was a way to support it through our foundation, we were very quick to do so. 'One of MCC's great strengths is that we give back to cricket to an extraordinary level, a level that cuts our surplus every year in half. 'I feel we should always try and help initiatives like that, that's exactly where MCC can fit. I really feel that was in our wheelhouse.'
