On The Front Foot Episode 213: The merits of NZ Cricket partnering with MLC

getting upside too with umpires in the Prakistan League. But some interesting cricket points to talk about this week, and I've invited along two of my financial experts to help me in this adventure that New Zealand cricket game for Jeremy Coney with a fist of shares in every major company the world over, and Peter Holland who sold them to him, have how along to day to help me decide what is going on? Do you think we can sort this issue out? Guys? Just a quick one before

we explain what it is. How do you feel about the venture idea?

with the proliferation of this franchise cricket. So yeah, I'm on the fence each way, but but I do have some views around what I've picked up and can glean. So we can talk about that a bit later.

and VJ. Sheron of Arsen are the majority owners of entities which hold exclusive rights to own and operate to MLC expansion franchises. There's a lot of words, isn't it, The first of which will be launched by TNS and twenty twenty seven. Now, this guy Trinavasen owns the television company that or is the chief executive of the television company.

of their new franchises. We'll also have an opportunity to invest in that franchise as well, you know, take an equity stake. But for our high performance team it you know, it means that there's a pathway for both players, coaches, managers, strength and conditioning experts, physios to actually do some work in franchise cricket in another part.

them and pay some money for it. So it feels that at this stage you just don't know quite what to say from a cricket perspective rather than investment one. You know, if New Zealand are offering players and a place for coaches to go and a place for management to go and high performance they've talked about and as he mentions, a seven figure sum there, so that's between one and nine million, isn't it Can New Zealand Cricket

afford that? Is sport the right place to put the money. Anyway, if they want to diversify a bit their revenue stream, it would be disappointing to me if New Zealand Cricket cut, for example, a competition in order to pay for this, like say the Under seventeens or an a tour or the Hawk Cup, in order to lower domestic costs to enable it, that would be a disappointment if their development things.

of that. But I suppose, as you say, we have to look for other ways to finance the game because the ic C quite clearly through television rights and not going to fund it the same way as they have in the past.

is not players. This was coaches, psykes, physios, essentially the infrastructure in setting up a franchise club for which they'll have to do anyway. But INSI see, will deliver the intellectual property and therefore the people around that, as I said, not players for which they will receive compensation remuneration. I understand that they've actually getted some sort of option to invest into the franchise, which seems to make some sense.

Now one can invest into that. So say, for instance, the seven figure fund for fund for the setting up of this business and supplying of coaches, pikes, physios, etc. We'll say five million. What they could easily do is say, well, I'll take three and a half, but i'll leave one and a half in the bin, for which I will be given in inequity share in other words, it's the phrase used for that as an earning or otherwise known as sweet equity. In other words, I've worked for it,

so I leave that in the business. So it may be that in terms of, you know, in banker terms, it's a cash neutral. They're not actually putting money in, but they are getting to their revenue line. In my example here three and a half million or what they could elect to take the lot the fight, in which case that would be reinvested into the end zen cricket. In other words, what they're doing, what they're implying when it was implying, was we get our revenue streams as

they currently are. But this is another way to boost what cash in the coffers by supplying and delivering talent in the form that we just described to this franchise. The other thing that strikes me about this is that I'll compete with other franchises. It seems to be very well capitalized and others. There seems to be a lot of cash in behind this the MLC as it is, So if you're going to go into something, you might as well go where the money is, and that may

have some benefits. Bearing in mind that the MLC has also played out of season for US, so that works as well. So it shouldn't interfere with a lot of what cricket delivers during our summer long and lengthy. But I hopefully that sort of breaks it down a bit.

GMR Group. They own the Delhi Capitals, and there's the Super Kings as well. And the Washington Freedom. Actually you're talking about Talent Mos. Sanjay Goval owns them. He's an Indian American businessman and they have a New South Wales as their performance partner. They provide the same sorts of things you are talking about for the Washington Freedom. Another side, so it could.

ensure the sustainability of our cricket network. This helps to diversify our revenue streams, expands our global brand and fan base, and creates new talent development and retention pathways for both our players and coaches. A word salad really, isn't it? But is that something that you know we have to the fan base? I mean, how will New Zealanders log

on to this unnamed team? Will they become part of the fan base or will we be relying on American fan base, Indians who live in the United States or West Indians who live in that part of the world. The other things that I suppose are extra add on, don't they, Jerry. Whether or not it's going to generate revenue is in the lap of the gods.

operating around the world. Fifty three I think it is now. Even if it's an extraordinary number, if only two thirds of that number is correct, it's still a lot. Now. The MLC at this stage is a fledgling tournament. It's only been going since twenty twenty three. As I mentioned, as six sides competing. Now, the US are keenon sport. Yeah, but they already have their own bat and ball game,

don't they. Let's not forget that. But despite all the diaspora, which is all those West Indians and the Indians there and the Pakistani's there where cricket is important, it's very much cricket a probation of sport over in the US. You know, there isn't the lega, see the knowledge, the love of the game that you get. For example, in India, they won't have people lining up to play or to watch, you know, the young won't be lying in their beds

dreaming about this, to follow this. It's not India or the IPL where it's become a very tribal kind of thing, you know, just where they go and follow their team. They go to their ground. They have all their their merchandise. You know, it's like soccer is in England. So I think this tournament is going to take some time if it lasts, and very astute management, I would have thought.

To grow the interest and the development of the game of a fan base, you need to be very proactive on the social I have good pricing all those kinds of things. The next thing is you've mentioned Brian is a venue and an infrastructure. I mean these six sides last year have two grounds that they play on. Two grounds of the six. They have the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas. They have Church Street Park in North Carolina, Morrisville.

The first eight games were played in Dallas, the next seven were played in North Carolina and then back to Dallas. So you're traveling all the time. If you're a follower, you'd have to travel to watch your team or watch it on the telly, of course. But you know they're getting some names. Let's be fair, Mummins is going there and this next one, Travis Head is there, Steve Smith

is there. So the Aussies are coming. So that's fine, that's fine, and I can certainly see a bonus for Scott Wiener and those who are negotiating for New Zealand Cricket when it comes to contract time with our players. At the moment, the pay for play for New Zealand is nowhere near any franchise offer that the players get. And all enz C can do really is to those players is to say, well, it's for your country, it's the heritage, it's where you come from and you play internationals. Now.

You know now if they have this operation, there's more negotiation, isn't there. You're getting your contract, plus you might get a place in the Atlanta ard Varks or you might be in the Toronto Termites, and they'll have a place also for coaches and for management. So I can see some bonuses, some merits, but there are also I think some downside. It clashes with the Sri Lankan League. We've

already got players there. It clashes with the first part of the hundred, so there'll be players who are going they'll have to go late to the hundred as well. Once every four years we go to England in July and that's when this tournament is played, so lesser players would be offered. I guess at that time, or we'd have lesser players in the New Zealand side.

something like twenty six teams which will support that. So In other words, I think they're trying to grow the game. Bearing in mind that cricket now is in the Olympics coming up, so they therefore in America obviously get automatic entry because being the host to the Olympics. So there's I can sort of see where things are happening, but I guess it's going to be quite fluid and a

bit of a moving target. But I think where I land is if it means that an insit cricket is going to get some cash coming in the door three four five million a year, that can only be a good thing and provides opportunity to develop the infrastructure and the intellectual property that we have for our coaches, our curators, all those sort of people. I think it's only a good thing.

but I'll have to try and chase him down. But the latest edition of The Wisdom Orban Act the Cricketer's Bible, Lawrence Booth, the editor, says the World Test Championship is a shambles masquerading as a show piece. And he's also questioned Jay Shar's promotion from Board of Control of Cricket and India Secretary to the Chairman of the ICC. And Lawrence Booth has turned his attention to the World Test

Championship and it's something we can discuss next week. But it's interesting that he has really I mean, they're strong words masquerading as a show piece. I tend to agree with them, do you, I do.

hasn't it. I mean, we've got we've got to admit that. I mean, actually you could argue it deserves some more attention that it's getting. I remember that South African that weak side that came here, that South Africa actually have got no tests in their season coming up at home. None. Not not South Africa's fault at all. It's the big three wanting to play each other and not wanting to play the smaller sides Test champions. Well, how are India? I mean, India are not going to play Pakistan and

tests are they? They're just not going to play them. And in that case, in that case, yeah, give the points to Pakistan. I mean, that's that's the problem. You see, no one is really challenging Pakistan, not even England and Australia that they're they're not. And what we've got was Shah going into the ic C chairman to me is cementing an inequitable, already inequitable situation. So it's a very haphazard kind of system I think for for the Test championship.

And I know that in New Zealand our test matches this past season were pretty much sold out.

it was a terrible over. But he got a full toss about head high'd be about three no balls nowadays, but a head high, full stop, full top, full toss and he he steered it to John Parker who was still awake, and he called it's well, it was the first over. It was the first over of the Test. Yeah, and he caught it so so yeah. He departed for nought and that was might have been pretty close to his last innings and tests I think for Australia. The

other one is my my first Test match. I was a twelfth man over at the mcg and this was after twenty seven years Australia had not played New Zealand, the difference between nineteen forty six and nineteen seventy three and r J was bowling again. Ossie batting r J off his long run up in those days to Keith Stackpole. The first ball was short. I was sitting in the changing room watching four without loss. Then Hadley came in

again to Stackpole eight not out Stackpole. The third ball another one short Australia twelve without loss, and the fourth ball short and top edge. Nice simple cats to cover point. Now everyone started looking who was at cover point? No one at cover however, was Mike Shrimpton MJK. Shrimpton, Central

District's Snippet Exactly. There was a name supplied by our team to someone who was given the task of going through all the newspaper reports at the end of the day and cutting out and pasting that report into a scrapbook, and that became the record of the tour that we took back to New Zealand cricket. So Snippett was there. He was slow to move and Brian Hastings in the gully thought that he wasn't going to attempt the catch it was. It was just one of those ones just

up in the air. Come on, catch that, and so Brian Hastings starts to move and have a crack. Now Snippet thinks he can get there. Well, they collide inevitably, and Keith Stackpole remains twelve not out and the chance has dropped. And there's nothing like the silence of a drop catch after three fours, I can tell you. And I do remember one thing though, that him out. He hit a ball wide of Midon. He used to drive through the offside, but it used to go wide of

mid On. And we had a guy called Dave O'Sullivan again, a man from Central Districts, Daffy. Well, Daffy thought he had stopped the single, he'd cut it off, but it was too quick for him and he fell in behind it and he started following it to one of the longer boundaries on the MCG which was right to the fence in the pockets. And it was one of those ones where the ball and the man were traveling at

the same speed. He wasn't gaining and it stopped. The ball stopped about I don't know, five six feet from the boundary, and he caught up with it. And whether it was from the chase or he was overcome by the run, he picked it up. We were willing him to kick it over and he turned and the vast distance confronted him. Now he had to throw it. There's one thing slower than Daffy's run, and that's his throw.

And he let go this tragic, kind of feeble little jerk of his arm, and the crowd hooted, and Brian Hastings once again had to go and tidy it up. But it was only a play within a play. I was watching from the dressing room. I could see Daffy, I could see the ball, and I could also see Ian Chapel and Keith Stackpole hairing up and down in the middle of the ground. They turned for eight. They turned for eight, and Stackpole was almost being lapped by

Chapel and his Stackpole was in serious oxygen debt. And Snippet came on and he bowled a little leg break to Stackpole about an over later, and he tried had to hit it into Brisbane and he got He got a top edge and John Parker again that slip took the catch. But it was one of those edges that wasn't a sort of bounce and turn and I'll take it nicely at first slip. It was a top edge from a sweep. So that's how I remember him getting

out again. But Stacky was a lovely guy to play He was a typical Australian wadds quite noisy, brash, but also as you say, decent guy.

relate the story. And most did you play against the second No?

out against one of the sides. He was playing in the Pakistan Premier League or whatever they call it, and got himself fined thirty percent because he took the umpire on and he was abusive in his own way to a Pakistan player called if the car armored, suggesting he might have toss it at him. But those are the things that happened in cricket. I'm sure you remember all those days. Anybody throw one at you you saw David.

We'll be watching with interest the progress of the MLC and other things that come out in terms of the the administration of the game, and I'll do my best during the middle of the night to track down Lawrence Burgency when he's.