Budget cuts for Super League as ECB's financial reserves plummet

As England prepares to take on India in the semi-finals of the 2018 edition of the World T20, back home, the future of their T20 league Kia Super League hangs in on balance. As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, England Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that budget cuts for the KSL are being worked on in an attempt to reduce costs across the game.



The future of the KSL had already in doubt as ECB plans to introduce a new format, The Hundred, in both the men's and women's game in 2020.



However, ECB's financial reserves have plummeted from. Their recent accounts show that from £73.1m in 2016, they have fallen to £8.6m in 2018. This, along with the fact that the cost of setting up The Hundred has increased significantly from £13m to above  £40m, active efforts are being made by ECB to cut costs.



An ECB official has asserted that the number of teams will not be reduced, nor will the number of matches played and the salaries of the players. He further said the match- day experience for the spectators will also not be effected. "Efficient savings" have been pointed out to help save up to 12-20 percent costs. These include match-day costs and flights for the overseas players.



Many counties are speaking against such budget cuts, arguing that the KSL has played a monumental part in growing women's cricket in the country.



The participation of international stars like Harmanpreet Kaur from India, Stafanie Taylor from West Indies and Marizanne Kapp from South Africa have helped close the gap between domestic cricket and international cricket. It has aided in improving the standard of cricket being played. For England, this has paid dividends as three uncapped players, who had impressed in the competition have earned maiden call-ups to be part of England's WWT20 squad. Not only that, they had the complete backing of coach Mark Robinson as all three debuted against Sri Lanka in their teams first match.



In the course of the tournament, all three- Kirstie Gordon, Sophia Dunkley and Lauren Smith- have made significant contributions to the side. While Gordon was named Player-of-the-Match against Bangladesh, Dunkley top-scored for England against the West Indies to help them post a respectable total on the board after the top-order stumbled.



Dunkley commented on the KSL in the following words, "When you first start out in the KSL on TV, you don't know what to expect so things can put you off, but the more you get used to it, it more it doesn't faze you. It's pretty good practice for when you step up to international level, it's one thing that won't put you off your mark."



Gordon spoke of the increase in popularity of the tournament and again of the importance of television viewership. She said, "For the first few years in the KSL, there were crowds but they weren't that big, but in the last couple it's kicked on, and at the last Finals Day, there were 4-5000 tickets sold out at Sussex.



"It's massive for the women's game to have a full crowd on television, and trying to inspire the next generation of girls growing up, knowing they can play cricket."