Howzat? The Financial Health of English Cricket: Not Out, Yet

In 1997 a review of the financial health of English county cricket highlighted strategic weaknesses within the professional game, principally an over-reliance by clubs on the annual grants provided to them by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Without such grants the teams, in general terms, would be insolvent. Using the financial statements of the First Class Cricket Counties, this paper explores how the financial position and performance of the county game has changed, 20 years on from the seminal study. A series of structural changes to the game had been made, yet financial problems are still evident. Counties are as reliant on central grant income as they were in 1997, although there are cases where clubs have made strategic enhancements and are becoming self-sustainable as going concerns. Rather than the ECB directly funding county revenue it should be working in collaboration with individual clubs to achieve developments in the game from the grassroots upwards, in order to help clubs grow their own revenue streams.</jats:p

The effect of central contracts on the stability and performance of the England Test cricket team. [El efecto de contratos centrales sobre la estabilidad y el desempeño del equipo inglés de Test cricket].

In 1999 the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to implement central contracts for elite player management to give them control over a group of players to represent the England national team in Test cricket. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that this change in policy has had on the stability and performance of the England Test team, and discuss implications thereof. Using a sample of 13 seasons pre-central contracts (1987-1999) and 13 seasons post-central contracts (2000-2012), the results, from secondary analysis of England’s Test match scorecards from both sample periods, allowed investigation of team performance and stability. To gain a greater understanding of how central contracts impacted on the England Test side, eight interviews were also organised with key stakeholders in English cricket. The results showed that both the stability and performance of the England Test side improved considerably in the sample period postcentral contracts (2000-2012) with a much greater consistency of selection (fewer changes per match) alongside an improvement in England’s on-field performance (better win ratio and points per match). The paper identifies two key challenges facing the current player management system in England from domestic and external sources

Investigating the "twelfth man" effect in five European domestic football leagues: a Covid-19 induced natural experiment.

This study examines whether there is a quantifiable change in the magnitude of home advantage (HA) when football matches are contested behind closed doors. The study incorporates the highest divisions of football leagues in England, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, 506 fixtures were played without crowds across these leagues during the 2019/20 season. We conducted inter-season analysis comparing HA between the 2019/20 season and the 2018/19 season (when crowds were present). We also conducted intra-season analysis comparing HA between fixtures played with and without crowds during the 2019/20 season. The Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga were the only leagues where any evidence of a significant decline in inter-season HA (between 2018/19 and 2019/2020) or intra-season HA (between fixtures with and without crowds in 2019/20) was found. Overall, there is insufficient evidence to generalise that the absence of crowds affects HA in football

The perceived influence of sport event spectatorship on subjective wellbeing

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived influence of major sports events on the subjective wellbeing of spectators. The research covered three sporting events featuring racket sports held in the UK between 2017 and 2018 and was concerned with spectators (aged 16 and over) who attended one of these events. Four aspects of subjective wellbeing were considered: life satisfaction; happiness; feeling worthwhile; and, anxiety. A composite subjective wellbeing measure encompassing these aspects was also developed. Primary data was collected from spectators at each event and an overall spectator sample of 362 was achieved. Respondents perceived that their subjective wellbeing was enhanced significantly as a consequence of attending major sports events across all measures. We also found that frequency of event attendance and being inspired by events to be more physically active were positively and significantly associated with perceived improvements in subjective wellbeing attributed to attending events. Our study indicates that there are two potential mechanisms through which improvements in subjective wellbeing from attending major sports events are manifested. First, a direct effect of being at an event on subjective wellbeing. Second, an indirect effect of event attendance on subjective wellbeing that stems from a feeling of inspiration

The relationship between team ability and home advantage in the English football league system

AbstractThe existence of home advantage (HA) has been found in a variety of team sports including football. There is a paucity of research on the relationship between team ability and HA in domestic football leagues and the findings of previous studies are inconclusive. Using longitudinal data from the top four football divisions in England, this study investigates the influence of team ability on the HA of teams. The data collected for this study spans 24 seasons from 1995/96 to 2018/19 and includes 48,864 matches from the English Premier League (n = 9120), the Championship (n = 13,248), League One (n = 13,248) and League Two (n = 13,248). Team ability was interpreted in two ways: (1) the division in which teams play and (2) their league table position within each division. For both the divisional and positional analysis, HA was calculated as the ratio of home points to total points achieved by teams in each season under review. Evidence of a statistically significant HA was found in all four divisions and for teams of all abilities within each division. Small but statistically significant differences in HA were observed between divisions and between high, moderate and low ability teams within divisions.</jats:p

Piloting the use of Football Club Community Trust's to create social Hubs for older adults

Objectives The research summarises the findings from a three-year pilot delivered through the EFL Trust and eleven Club Community Organisations. The aim was to create local social Hubs for older adults, to bring together local people to increase social connections, which may lead to additional physical activity, rather than a targeted physical activity intervention. Study design The study was a three-year evaluation of the pilot, to track changes in attitudes and behaviours of participants, and gather feedback on the delivery mechanism and the service providers. Methods The study included participant tracking surveys alongside interviews and focus groups with participants and service providers over the three-year pilot. Results The greatest impact was on participants’ mental wellbeing as opposed to their physical activity levels or attitude/motivation for physical activity. Covid-19 restrictions were felt particularly hard by the most vulnerable in society and the tracking of participants quantified the negative impact of lockdown on life satisfaction and happiness, which the presence of the Hubs helped to redress. Conclusions The Hubs model can offer a relatively low cost community based solution which adds to the menu of options in local health systems. The Hubs can help to tackle loneliness, enhance social interactions using the power of the football club to generate demand. The learning showed how to recruit, retain, and sustain networks of older adults using Hubs. The pilot showed the value CCOs can have in local service delivery for older adults, providing semi-structured Hubs which act as a conduit to wider engagement

Federated networks in England and Australia cricket: a model of economic dependency and financial insecurity

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to critically examine the financial health and performance of the English and Australian cricket networks. This includes the county cricket clubs (CCC) and state and territory cricket associations (STCA) affiliated to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) respectively, as well as the ECB and CA themselves. We apply resource dependency theory to understand if there are any financial dependencies within the networks of cricket in England and Australia. Research Design: The data for this research was obtained from the financial statements of the ECB, the 18 affiliated CCCs, CA, and the six affiliated STCAs. This sample covers the last 5 years of financial information (2014-2019) for all the organisations at the time of writing. Ratio analysis was conducted on all organisations within the sample to assess financial health and performance. Findings: Both CCCs and STCAs show signs of poor financial health. There is a clear dependence on the financial support they receive from the ECB and CA respectively and this dependence appears more prominent in Australia. The ECB and CA have better financial health which ultimately allows them to financially support the CCCs and STCAs. Originality: The ECB and CA are facing difficult financial decisions to remain financially secure themselves due to the impact of COVID-19 but also to support their affiliated clubs. The affiliated clubs do not generate sufficient revenues and must diversity their revenue streams if they are to become financially self-sustaining. This financial structure and distribution mechanism will be vital in safeguarding the future of some of England’s and Australia’s most important cricket organisations