What the sale of the Northern Superchargers Hundred franchise means for Yorkshire CCC

The £100m deal for the franchise, which has been bought outright by Sun Group, an Indian conglomerate which owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, will also give Yorkshire around £30m to play with.

This could be used to further the development of Headingley cricket ground, for example, and also the ground at nearby Weetwood, where there has been talk of creating an indoor school, but will fundamentally be employed to ensure that Yorkshire are - and remain - a sustainable business.

As Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chair, has promised: “We will make sure that the money is not wasted.”

Nor will that money affect the club’s plan to demutualise - changing status from a members’ club to a private company.

Graves said that this subject could be put to the vote within six months, and believes it would better protect the cash from The Hundred.

Yorkshire are the first county to sell their entire majority stake in the competition, with each of the eight hosts gifted a 51 per cent share in their franchise by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The other 49 per cent stake in each franchise belongs to the ECB and is being purchased in every case, with proceeds split between the recreational game, the first-class counties and MCC.

So far, only Lancashire, host of Old Trafford-based Manchester Originals, have also chosen to sell any of their stake (in their case, 21 per cent), with the other hosts hoping that the value will increase.

Proceeds from The Hundred are split as follows:

Of the ECB’s 49 per cent stakes, the first 10 per cent goes to the recreational game and the rest is divided between the 18 first-class counties and MCC, with the first £275m shared those 19 ways, the next £150m between the 11 non-hosts, and all proceeds thereafter shared 19 ways again.

Of the 51 per cent stakes received by the hosts, the first 10 per cent again goes to the recreational game, the next 80 per cent to the host county, and the final 10 per cent is split between the remaining 17 counties and MCC.

There are tax implications in each case but, essentially, Yorkshire are believed to have gained at least £55m from the process as it stands.