It wasn't so long ago that Surrey were serious skeptics of The Hundred, concerned about the tournament's impact on the running of their successful company.
With control of the tournament shifting from the England and Wales Cricket Board and more back to the host ground, Surrey sees the potential for growth.
Under the new plans being set out, the eight host clubs will be given a 50 per cent equity stake in their franchise, giving them a golden windfall that threatens to widen the gap between Test grounds and smaller clubs. They will be able to generate income if they wish by selling their shares to private investors. If the ECB sells its shares, the money is spread throughout the game.
This is a huge opportunity for Surrey given the Oval's historic name, but chairman Oli Slipper has a different view. Surrey are lucky because of their £60m turnover, which puts them alongside Premier League clubs like Aston Villa in financial terms, minus the income from the Premier League's huge television rights deals. That protects them from the need to quickly generate income by selling their shares. Instead, the aim is to make the Oval's Hundred team more recognizable in Surrey. The Oval Invincibles could become the Surrey Invincibles.
At 47 years old, Slipper is young for a provincial chairman. He was appointed in October and succeeded Richard Thompson when he left for the ECB. He is a former Surrey staff member who played second-team cricket with Ben Hollioake. He is an Oval man through and through, but in business he is fully aware of the challenges of the game. He is executive chairman of Pitch International, a media rights company that buys and sells broadcast deals for cricket and other sports, and acts for six of the 12 Test nations. He understands the challenges bilateral one-day and Test cricket faces in franchise competitions.
"The Hundred is a major part of the domestic TV deal, the main financial backer of cricket, so The Hundred is here to stay. We have to embrace it," he told Telegraph Sport. 'The Hundred cannot stand still. We need to ensure that it has the best players, the best budgets and that it becomes the ultimate white ball showpiece for cricket in this country.
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"There are a number of things I would like to do. The teams are currently 100 percent owned by the ECB. There will be a degree of ownership returned to locations. That is very important to us at Surrey. We can then feel that it is our team. From a branding perspective I hope we can brand it as a Surrey brand team and part of our cricket ecosystem. Last summer we sold 125,000 Hundred tickets, but I would like it to be something that all members can get behind. If we can make a few minor adjustments to the property branding, this could be an extremely important product for Surrey, and not just for the game as a whole."
As Telegraph Sport revealed this week, the Hundred will expand to 10 teams in the future. Last week there were meetings between the ECB and the provinces to discuss the latest proposals, with Deloitte estimating the value of the competition at around £750 million if the ECB decides to sell shares, which is their planned next phase of development.
"The game needs capital. Certain provinces need investments. We are luckier than most that short-term cash is not something we need right now," Slipper says. "We could consider that we can finance the salaries to take the Hundred team to the next level, so if investments are needed, they will come from the ECB's equity in these franchises or from other countries who may need some capital in the shorter term.
"When you sell your 50 percent, you give up your future annuities. You then give up income streams forever. For me, look at the challenges that Premiership Rugby had. They sold large stakes to private equity, who then first had to rely on that income before the clubs themselves could rely on it. I am not against investment, but I think we have to be careful about whether we need it now, but other clubs may need some money for the stadium and the sale of their shares gives them the opportunity to raise more capital without taking on more debt.
"There is broad agreement that ten teams makes sense. I don't think this will affect the quality of the field product. I don't think we'll get to 10 anytime soon. I think there will be a qualifying period. Then there is the question of relegation or promotion, because the idea is that the entire match will be against the Hundred in that month of August."
Slipper refers to the ECB's plan to launch a second division of the Hundred, with the eight below the main division playing the format in August with future potential for promotion and relegation. "It is up to the match to decide on promotion and relegation, or until we receive information on the value difference between a closed group and an open group. The game needs more data on what it means for the values, we're waiting for that," Slipper said.
He is aware through his work at Pitch that bilateral cricket faces challenges, and that the ECB, like any other board, needs a back-up plan. "Franchise cricket is growing. I am still a big supporter of bilateral cricket, but we need to make it as relevant as possible. Certainly from a testing perspective, there are only four to five very viable testing countries left in the world. For the rest, a funding mechanism will be needed to ensure they continue to play and drive the growth of Test cricket."
Slipper is speaking before Surrey hosts a dinner for staff and players to celebrate winning a second straight district championship. With a membership base of up to 19,500 and many signed up for Test tickets and championship cricket, the red ball game remains the club's focus. "Many people forget that Test cricket is still by far the largest revenue generator for the ECB. Test cricket 100 percent does not exist without the County Championship. We have to make sure the championship is a vibrant product. We have had huge commercial success in recent years. It is a working part of our business model and drives the Test cricket agenda that is so important to the economics of cricket in England and Wales."
