County grounds 'may face insolvency' under ECB tender process

County grounds investing huge sums in the hope of staging international cricket could face serious financial problems and even insolvency unless the bidding arrangements are changed, a draft report into cricket's finances has warned. The report by Deloitte says Test match grounds have invested £150m in facilities since 2000 with another £56m committed over the next four years. Much of this investment has been funded by heavy borrowing and has coincided with the economic downturn which has hit revenue. "Without corrective action there is a looming risk of CAV's (Category A Venues) facing financial difficulties and maybe even insolvency," the Daily Telegraph quoted the Deloitte report as saying. Many counties are concerned about the knock-on effects of the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) competitive bid process for hosting international matches. The debt level of the Test grounds is £91m, which will increase over the next decade if the present bidding system is retained, with interest payments alone costing £36m up to 2015, Deloitte said. "The current arrangements for allocation and pricing of rights to stage major matches are unsustainable and a new commercial relationship between ECB and CAV's is required," the report said.