Ref. Economic Affairs - 2022 - Stevens - John Blundell S Cricket Blueprint Revisited

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DOI: 10.1111/ecaf.12511
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
John Blundell's cricket blueprint revisited
Andy Stevens
University of Winchester, UK
Abstract
Correspondence More than 35 years ago, in the infancy of the globalisa-
Email: andy.stevens@winchester.ac.uk
tion and professionalisation of sport, John Blundell1
published a blueprint for cricket in England and Wales
in this journal. His proposals, aimed at giving market
forces a greater role, related to player eligibility regula-
tions, the admission of new teams, changing cricket
formats and the creation of special games and tours.
Most of these proposals were subsequently adopted by
the sport's administrators. The consequent benefits
derived by the sport, its teams, fans and players have,
however, been mixed, and the effects are confounded
by the number of changes made and the complex and
dynamic nature of the competitive environment.
KEYWORDS
competition, cricket, player earnings, player eligibility,
professional sport, sport leagues
JEL CLASSIFICATION
L83
1 | INTRODUCTION
England's recent Test standard performance has attracted much criticism. The West
Indies have thrashed England's cricketers twice in succession, the Indians beat
them, and even Sri Lanka and New Zealand are capable of giving them a tough
time. Only the Australians have proved vulnerable recently, and that may change
this winter. Added to this apparent decline in performance, as measured by the
impersonal statistics of the scorebook, one hears criticism of players' behaviour on
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use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or
adaptations are made.
© 2022 The Author. Economic Affairs published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Institute of Economic Affairs.
144 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ecaf Economic Affairs. 2022;42:144–160.

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STEVENS 145
and off the field, and sees it penalised heavily. Cricket apparently isn't quite cricket
in the mid-1980. (Blundell, 1986, p. 65)
John Blundell's commentary on the English cricket of the time set the introduction to his
‘Homo Cricketus?’, published in Economic Affairs in 1986, but it could have been written today,
or in many of the preceding or intervening years. There have been repeated appraisals of the
failure of the England cricket team and predictions of the sport's decline, with the editors of
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack commenting on many of the same problems since 1901
(Rice, 2020; Stern & Williams, 2013). However, rather than simply bemoaning the quality of
England's on-field performance, Blundell offers a series of market-based proposals for England's
cricket administrators concerning the eligibility of players, the admittance of new teams,
changes to cricket's structure and the creation of special games or tours. Three of these pro-
posals (new teams, cricket's structure and special games or tours) have been, to varying extents.
implemented by England's cricket administrators, while the other (players' eligibility
regulations) has been subject to numerous revisions. The sport has changed dramatically since
the mid-1980s; this article takes the opportunity to review the Blundell blueprint and examine
whether cricket in England and Wales, has been improved as a consequence.
In order to review the consequences of Blundell's ideas, each of the proposals is first
examined by discussing the key arguments for and against each of his recommendations. A
summary of the significant and relevant events that have happened since 1986 is provided, with
a set of propositions to test the outcomes of each proposal. These propositions are then tested
by examining the decisions made by cricket's administrators and the effects of these changes on
the England cricket team2 and the sport in England and Wales.
2 | THE BLUNDELL B LUEPRINT
2.1 | Proposal 1: Player eligibility
Blundell's first recommendation concerns the eligibility of players, and specifically those who
are and are not qualified to play for the England national team, who are registered and selected
to play in county cricket competitions:
First, I would abolish all regulations concerning players' eligibility for registration.
Let the market decide how many overseas players are wanted, and let all players
move freely from county to county subject only to their individual contracts and
perhaps a moratorium in the last few weeks of the season as competitions come to
a climax. (Blundell, 1986, p. 66)
Blundell argues that strict player eligibility regulations for county cricket places restraints
on the freedom of cricketers and restricts clubs from accessing a more extensive, global human
resource market for cricketers. Abolishing or relaxing such restrictions would enhance the
efficacy of players in county cricket competitions and, consequently, facilitate the development
of current and future England cricketers as they are afforded the opportunity to play with and
against current and future international-standard players. Evidence from football indicates that
an increase in the number of foreign players in domestic leagues can enhance the performance
of the host country's national team (Alvarez et al., 2011), while the consequent decrease in
appearances by home-qualified players has no effect on the host's national team (Frick, 2009).
146 STEVENS
International and star players attract more fans (Sur & Sasaki, 2020), who are willing to pay
more to watch matches (Morley & Thomas, 2007), thus increasing the sport's revenue.
Preventing or restricting non-qualified players from participating in county cricket
competitions offers some protection to those cricketers who are eligible to play for England
and, consequently, it has benefits for the national team selectors if there is an association
between experience and performance. The recruitment and selection of non-qualified players
by county cricket clubs reduces the pool of eligible cricketers and may limit the number of
matches played by current and future England players. Moreover, providing opportunities for
footballers to migrate can improve national team performance (Berlinschi et al., 2013) and, if
applied to cricket, could be detrimental in a sport where home advantage can be especially
important.3 Many sports fans have a preference for a winning team (Hart et al., 1975) and a
losing England team would have an adverse effect on demand for, and the price of, England
matches and associated products and services.
At the time Blundell's article was published, the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) –
now the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)4 – was reducing the number of non-qualified
cricketers (Woodcock, 1986), culminating in a moratorium on new contracts for overseas player
until 1999, when England hosted the Cricket World Cup (Engel, 1996). But, in 2004, a new
market for non-qualified players opened when clubs were permitted to register Kolpak
players (Engel, 2005). In response, the ECB (2005) incentivised clubs to select qualified players by
introducing performance related fee payments, some of which were aligned to the development
of players and their selection by England (Wright, 2011). Changes in player eligibility regulations
are therefore expected to influence the registration and selection of qualified and non-qualified
players by county cricket clubs. For Blundell's recommendation to hold, any such regulatory
changes should positively affect the sporting performance of the national team.
2.2 | Proposal 2: Admit new teams
The second proposal from the Blundell blueprint explores the admittance of new teams into
county cricket competitions:
Secondly, I would open up the championship and one-day competitions to admit

new teams. Since Glamorgan played its first first-class season in 1921, the composi-
tion of the 17 firms (teams) in the industry (cricket) has not changed at all.
Increased freedom of entry is clearly required and an Elton John of cricket –
perhaps Mick Jagger – might well emerge to finance, say, Cheshire's expansion
franchise. The danger of this expansion leading to a fall in standards is minimal:
after all, who would invest the required amount of capital in a mediocre team?
Finally, such a move would possibly increase the pool of players qualified to play
for England gaining first-class experience. (Blundell, 1986, p. 66)
Most professional team sport is organised in competitions and tournaments, which act as cartels
(Neale, 1964) that impose barriers to entry on teams (Rottenberg, 1956, p. 254). The geographi-
cal market of cricket in England and Wales is based on historic county boundaries, with each
club representing a county,5 but with no relegation from, nor promotion to, the ECB's other
first-class6 competitions. Blundell proposes that the mobility of clubs between the County
Championship, designated as first-class cricket, and the National Counties Cricket Association
Championship would create an open, or at least a more open, market. The removal of barriers
STEVENS 147
to entry necessitates the expansion of the league or the removal of barriers to exit, such as
through promotion and relegation.
However, professional team sport leagues are ‘peculiar’ as teams or clubs simultaneously
compete and cooperate (Neale, 1964, p. 1). Some form of closed market is therefore required to
ensure that the laws of the sport and rules of competitions and tournaments are appropriately
structured, administered and governed. The purpose of sporting contests is to determine a
winner or champion, which further generates value to the league and participants in the form
of a ‘champion utility’ (Neale, 1964, p. 9). There are further implications for resourcing and
performance, as cricketers who have the required skills to play professional cricket are a scarce
resource, and there is an even greater scarcity of star players. As a league expands, the supply of
these players is dissipated amongst more clubs, reducing the average quality per team
(Kahn, 2007; Késenne, 2014) and opportunities for fans to watch star players in each match
(Kahn, 2007). The exception is if there are slack player resources that have not yet been fully
utilised and the new entrants are able to recruit from this resource market (Szymanski, 2003).
There were 17 county cricket clubs when ‘Homo Cricketus?’ was published but, in 1989,
Durham commenced its application for first-class status, which was accepted by the ECB in
1990 (Dellor, 1992). The Club entered the County Championship and other first-class competi-
tions in 1992 (Engel, 1993), becoming the first and only new member since Glamorgan joined.
The application was contingent on building a new ground, which subsequently opened in 1995
(Engel, 1996). Blundell anticipates that the expansion of the County Championship would have
positive sporting and financial benefits for English cricket. Therefore, the new entrant advo-
cated in the blueprint should enhance the supply of players who contribute to the England
national team, produce a county team that is competitive in domestic competitions, and operate
with a sustainable business model.
2.3 | Proposal 3: Cricket's structure
The third of Blundell's recommendations reviews the structure of cricket and the cricket
formats that are played:
Thirdly, I would not impose from above any rigid long-term rules governing the
amounts of one-day, three-day or five-day cricket to be played. Clear market sig-
nals, including but not exclusively restricted to gate receipts, sponsorship funding
and other income, are available as guides to the way in which the game should be
allowed to evolve. Reforming cricket's structure merely to serve the monopsonistic
national team selectors and not even an oligopolistic, cartelised industry can ignore
its customer with impunity. Market signals are present to help us discover a
balance between the three different variations of the game and to help change that
balance as circumstances change. (Blundell, 1986, p. 66)
The structure of cricket's competitive environment should be flexible and responsive to

demand, enabling the sport to enter new product markets, as either a substitute or a
complement to existing markets. For cricket, this means matching the supply of cricket – and
specifically the format of matches played – to changing customer preferences. Cricket is played
in multiple formats, with longer matches being scheduled for four or five days and shorter
formats that are completed in one day. Most first-class matches are scheduled during the day as
148 STEVENS
there are restrictions on playing conditions and the use of floodlights,7 and are played over
multiple days, meaning that most, if not all, of the match is played on weekdays. This
scheduling of matches can suppress demand (Paton & Cooke, 2005). In contrast, limited-overs
matches can be completed in one day, and 20-over, or T20, matches in an afternoon or evening,
meaning that fans can more conveniently watch a match from start to finish. A new generation
of T20 competitions has exploited this trend (Preston, 2006).
The structure of cricket can be confusing for cricket fans, who have to navigate a maze of
formats, domestic competitions and international tournaments (Wright, 2011, p.5). There is
potential for dissolution of “champion utility” (Neale, 1964, p. 9) if there are too many
competitions and tournaments, with each declaring its own champion. This confusion is further
exacerbated by repeated disruption to cricket's structure as new formats and events are added
to the sporting calendar, as evidenced by the ECB conducting numerous reviews of the sport's
structure (Wright, 2011). Sport fans attach considerable value to the history (Bauer et al., 2008;
Boyle & Magnusson, 2007) and tradition (Bauer et al., 2008) of their clubs, as well as to the
history (Kunkel et al., 2013) and tradition and nostalgia (Kunkel et al., 2014) of leagues, and
therefore changes may not always be valued by customers.
The ‘three different variations’ of cricket referred to by Blundell (1986, p. 66) are the
first-class format and the longer (usually 50- or 60-over) and shorter (40-over) versions of
limited-overs cricket played at international and domestic level. First-class cricket was the
exclusive format of the sport in England and Wales until 1963, when the Gillette Cup was
launched. At the international level, England played in the first limited-overs One Day
International (ODI) matches in 1971. The sport was further revolutionised in 2005 when the
ECB launched the first professional T20 competition, the Twenty20 Cup. Twenty-over
international (T20I) matches were first played in 2005, with England making their debut in the
format later in the same year. Blundell asserts that cricket administrators should adapt the
formats of cricket played in response to market signals. Any such structural changes should
lead to improvements in the sporting performance of the England national team in the respec-
tive formats and to the business performance the ECB.
2.4 | Proposal 4: Special games, tours and leagues
The fourth and final proposal in Blundell's blueprint predicts new entrants to the cricket
industry:
Finally, I would not punish players who seek to maximise their incomes by taking
part in special games or tours provided they do not break their contracts with their
county clubs. If a company wants to put up a purse of £1 million to be fought for
by, say an England All Star XI and an Australian All Star XI, players should be free
to participate. Counties wanting exclusive call on players' time and skills should
have to negotiate and pay for such exclusivity. (Blundell, 1986, p. 66)
Blundell advocates the simultaneous dissolution of cricket's monopoly and monopsony

rights. The International Cricket Council (ICC, n.d.-a) and national cricket boards have a
monopoly in their respective international and national markets, while an oligopoly of clubs
maintains local monopolies based upon geographical boundaries in county cricket and by a
franchise contract in some of the new T20 leagues. Together, these represent what
STEVENS 149
Rottenberg (1956, p. 243) called a sport's “territorial rights”. This is complemented by the
monopsony – or perhaps more accurately the oligopsony – whereby cricketers can be contracted
only by a limited number of employers, thus diminishing their bargaining power and
restraining earnings (Rottenberg, (1956, p. 254).
Despite the growth of T20 cricket, England matches – and Test cricket in particular – are
still a lucrative and essential source of revenue for the ECB. Part of this revenue is redistributed
to the county clubs, with some clubs generating incremental revenue from staging England
matches and hosting ICC tournaments. The ECB and county cricket clubs also incur much of
the expenditure on player development. In contrast, the business models of many of the
emerging T20 leagues are dependent on having access to a pool of professional cricketers, and
preferably international and star players, without incurring the costs or risks inherent in their
development.
This was perhaps the most perceptive of Blundell's recommendations in that it anticipated8
the Stanford Super Series, a competition between teams representing England and the West
Indies that promised winner-takes-all prize money of $20 million when it launched in 2008
(Berry, 2009). It was ultimately a one-off event after its sponsor, Allen Stanford, was convicted
of fraud in 2012 and received a 110-year prison sentence (Booth, 2013). In the same year, the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched the Indian Premier League (IPL), which,
while not a special game nor a tour,9 has also had a significant effect on player earnings.
Although the ECB originated the concept of professional T20 leagues with the launch of
Twenty20 Cup in 2003, it was the BCCI's IPL that has established itself as the sport's first global
league (Wigmore & Wilde, 2019). Other national cricket boards, most notably Cricket Australia
with its Big Bash competition in 2011, have since created rival leagues. The Stanford Super
Series and IPL both adopted the 20-over format and were launched in 2008, which represented
a major shock for the sport.
Domestically, the ECB adopted central contracts and a salary cap as mechanisms to control
player wages and salaries at international and domestic level respectively. The ECB offered
central contracts to England cricketers from 2000 (Wright, 2001), meaning that England's star
players were now contracted to the ECB rather than the clubs. Later, a salary cap – incentivised
by Team Salary Payments – was imposed on county cricket clubs (ECB, 2010) to limit player
wages and salaries expenditure, with financial and sporting penalties imposed for exceeding the
cap. The creation of special games, tours and leagues should, according to the Blundell
blueprint, improve the financial performance of the sport, with an associated increase in player
earnings as a consequence of this growth.
3 | H O W DO TH E P R O P O S A LS LO O K N O W ?
3.1 | Proposal 1: From Australia to Kolpakshire
As in many international sports, cricketers must be eligible, or qualified, to play for their
national team, whether by birthplace, nationality or residency (ICC, 2018). Domestically,
county cricket clubs are governed by regulations that restrict the registration and selection of
players who are ineligible to play for England. Cricketers who are ineligible to be selected to
play for England are categorised as overseas and non-qualified players.10 Overseas players are
eligible to play for national teams other than England, namely the other members of the ICC
(n.d.-b), with clubs being able to register overseas players since 1968 (Booth, 2018). The ECB's
150 STEVENS
regulations on the registration of county cricketers were further affected by the

United Kingdom's membership of the European Union (EU) and, specifically, implementation
of the Cotonou Agreement (European Union, 2021). This treaty aims to promote the mobility of
migration between the EU and the signatory nations from the African, Caribbean and Pacific
Group of States (ACP). In a case brought by Marius Kolpak, a Slovakian handball player,
against the German Handball Federation, the Court of Justice of the European Union (2003)
prohibited discrimination by professional sport employers against players from those signatory
nations. This had significant implications for cricket as a number of ICC members were in the
ACP, including South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe (ICC, n.d.-b), meaning county cricket
clubs could register non-qualified, or Kolpak,11 players from these nations from 2004
(Engel, 2005).
There has been a significant increase in the number of non-qualified players in county
cricket (Figure 1). The trend began soon after the end of the TCCB's moratorium on signing
overseas players in 1999, with clubs being permitted to register more than one overseas player
from 2001 (Wright, 2002). The trend for recruiting players who were not eligible to play for
England was briefly accelerated with the registration of Kolpak players, although some of the
increase in Kolpak cricketers was offset by a decrease in overseas players, especially from
Australia. The subsequent decline in both types of contract can be attributed to the introduction
of performance-related fee payments by the ECB (2005) – although this trend was only
short-term and was soon reversed as clubs recommenced their recruitment of Kolpak players.
This demonstrates that clubs can and do quickly adapt their recruitment strategy in response to
changes in player eligibility regulations, but it is difficult for national cricket boards to maintain
long-term effects from these regulations.
As well as registering more non-qualified cricketers, county clubs have been selecting them
to play more County Championship matches. This trend is further accentuated by the reduction
in the County Championship, with the number of scheduled matches decreasing from 24 to
22 in 1992, with further reductions in 1993, 2000 and 2017, by when each club played just
14 matches. By then, clubs were playing ten fewer matches per season than when Blundell set
out his proposals. County cricket clubs have therefore become increasingly reliant on
non-qualified players during a period when the number of matches played has decreased.
F I G U R E 1 Number of County Championship players, by eligibility, 1992–2019

Source: Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
STEVENS 151
If the ECB has conceded home advantage by permitting clubs to register and select overseas
players, then there should be an associated improvement in performance of England's
opponents in Test matches played in England during the Summer season. However, results
have fluctuated against those nations that provided the most overseas players to the County
Championship. Furthermore, England's performance in Winter tours follows a similar pattern,
which suggests that appearances by overseas players have a similar effect on national team
performance in both home and away matches. Thus any benefits are derived from playing with
and against England players rather than from playing in England.
Changes to player eligibility regulations have influenced the decision-making of county
cricket clubs in respect of the registration and selection of players who are ineligible to play for
England. But these regulations were superseded by international regulation, with the ECB then
introducing countermeasures in response to the rules and, more specifically, to the clubs'
recruitment strategies. Furthermore, the global resource market for cricketers is influenced not
only by the ECB's regulations but by the strategies of other national cricket boards and player
earnings in those respective markets. Just as the introduction of limited-overs cricket in the
1960s was complemented by a change of regulations that permitted the immediate registration
of overseas players, the launch and growth of 20-over cricket in the 2000s has coincided with a
resurgence in the recruitment of overseas and Kolpak cricketers.
Problems of linking these changes to the performance of the England team are compounded
by the infrequency and irregularity of the regulatory changes as well as the concurrent
fluctuations in the relative playing resources and capabilities of England's opponents and the
competitive balance in international cricket. Even with such significant changes in the
recruitment of overseas and non-qualified players, there is limited evidence of a discernible
effect on the performance of the national team.
3.2 | Proposal 2: The rise and fall of Durham County Cricket Club
Since Durham attained first-class status in 1992, it has developed ten cricketers who have
played Test cricket for England.12 The first, Steve Harmison, was first selected in 2002, which
suggests a ten-year gestation period for newly admitted clubs. Despite being the youngest
professional club, Durham players have continued to be selected for the England team, with at
least one player being selected each year. The number of selected players and match
appearances varies from season-to-season, which demonstrates the difficultly of sustaining the
development of international cricketers.
Concurrently, Durham have achieved sporting success, although they initially struggled to
compete until promotion to the first division in 2005,13 indicating that it can take an extensive
period for a new entrant to establish a competitive team. They then won the County
Championship in 2008, 2009 and 2013, and were winners of limited-overs competitions in 2007
and 2014, but have yet to win the T20 competition. But it was the Club's poor financial
performance that ended this sporting success when, in 2016, Durham were punished by the
ECB for financial mismanagement and received a set of penalties including relegation to the
second division (Rayner, 2019).
Durham's financial performance can be mapped to its sporting performance. Initially, it
achieved modest but consistent growth in revenue, and broke even or incurred a small operat-
ing loss every year until promotion was attained in 2005. By then, it had incurred considerable
capital expenditure on developing an international standard cricket ground but gained a
152 STEVENS
corresponding increase in its operating budget from staging England matches and occasionally
hosting ICC tournaments. Figure 2 highlights the value of hosting international cricket and
especially a Test match against Australia for the Ashes,14 but also the consequent difficulties of
managing such a volatile business model that becomes more dependent on international cricket.
In addition to generating revenue from trading, county cricket clubs receive funding from
the ECB, including payments for the provision of facilities and players and grants for facility
improvements. Figure 2 further reveals that Durham became more reliant on ECB income,
concurrent with the volatility in revenue from international cricket. The Club had previously
been fined and received a points deduction for exceeding the salary cap (ECB, 2010) and thus
breaching the Team Salary Payment regulations in 2012 (Rayner, 2019) when the ECB imposed
further and more severe penalties in 2016 as part of a financial restructuring that saw the ECB
acquire and reduce the Club's loans (Durham Cricket Community Interest Company, 2017;
Durham Cricket Limited, 2016).15 In addition to relegation to the second division, the Club
were also deducted points from the following season's competitions and had the rights to stage
England Test matches rescinded (Rayner, 2019).16
Durham County Cricket Club has made a positive contribution to cricket in England and
Wales since achieving first-class status in 1992. The Club developed a competitive team and
simultaneously supplied players to the England team; the focus on the long-term development
of players may even have been at the expense of short-term success. They also developed a
stadium, not just for county cricket but also for the ECB to stage England matches and host ICC
tournaments. The causes of, and responsibility, for Durham's financial failure in 2016 are con-
tested (Rayner, 2019), but it is difficult to attribute this to the expansion of the sport in England
and Wales as 25 years had elapsed from the Club's inaugural season to its financial failure.
3.3 | Proposal 3: The T20 revolution
Cricket has three predominant formats, with matches and tournaments categorised by their
scheduled duration, whether by the number of days, innings or overs. These are officially
F I G U R E 2 Durham County Cricket Club revenue and operating profit, 1992–2019

Source: Durham County Cricket Club
STEVENS 153
designated as first-class, limited overs and T20 cricket (Table 1).17 First-class cricket comprises
up to two innings per team over three to five days (ICC, 2020), with the current standard being
five-day Test matches and four-day County Championship matches. Limited-overs or List A18
matches are one innings per team of at least 40 overs scheduled per innings, to be completed on
one day, with most contemporary ICC and ECB tournaments being 50 overs. 20-over cricket,
abbreviated to T20 and T20I (for International), was introduced by the ECB in 2003 and
adopted by the ICC in 2007. These matches comprise one innings per team, also to be
completed one day but limited to 20 overs per innings.
Despite the emergence of shorter formats of cricket, there is no evidence that Test matches
have been sacrificed to accommodate the addition of ODI matches and, later, T20I matches to
the international calendar (Figure 3). The number of Test matches has been retained and even
increased – at least by the ECB – during the emergence of these alternative formats. There has
been some fluctuation in the number of ODIs and T20I as a result of the length of series and
size of ICC tournaments, but England now plays more Test matches than ever before. Figure 3
further reveals that the proportion of Test matches played at home by England has declined,
but this is because of the increase in other formats rather than any diminution of Test cricket.
This trend preceded the introduction of international 20-over cricket, with the number and
proportion of T20Is remaining relatively modest, other than when England hosted the ICC T20
World Cup in 2009. This does not suggest that the ECB has responded only to changing market
demand and the financial return that can be generated from the emerging formats, but has
instead maintained a commitment to Test cricket.
England achieved first place in the ICC Test Team Ranking in 2011, about ten years after
the ECB increased the number of home Test matches. Since then, however, the schedule of
Test cricket has been maintained, but the ranking has not, with other national teams –
Australia, India and South Africa – being more successful during this period. Changes to the
structure of cricket played in England may have some effect on the national team's
performance. But other factors influence sporting performance, such is the competitiveness of
international cricket.
There is some evidence that the increase in limited-overs matches played by England has
aided the team's performance in ODIs but, as with Test cricket, other nations – Australia and
India in particular – have had even more success in this format. The ECB standardised domestic
limited-overs competitions to 50-over from 2014 to help the England team prepare for the 2017
T A B L E 1 The formats of international and domestic (England and Wales) cricket
Days per Innings Overs per

Format Level Matches match per team innings
First-class International Test 5 2 –
Domestic County Championship 4
Limited-overs International One Day International (ODI) 1 1 50
Domestic One Day Cup
Twenty20 International T20 International (T20I) 1 1 20
Domestic T20 Blast
Note: There is no minimum or maximum overs per innings in first-class cricket, but there is usually a minimum number of
overs per day.
Sources: ECB (n.d.-c,d,e); ICC (2019a, 2019b, 2019c).
154 STEVENS
F I G U R E 3 Number and percentage of England home matches, by format, 1971–2019

Source: ESPNCricinfo
Champions Trophy and 2019 Cricket World Cup (Booth, 2012; 2013), both of which were
hosted by the ECB. This may have contributed to achieving a first-place Team Ranking in 2018
and winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
There is less support for a similar pattern in T20I cricket, which may be because there
are fewer international matches and tournaments. Many of the nations who compete
against England have developed their domestic T20 competitions; yet despite launching the IPL
and Big Bash respectively, neither India nor Australia have consequently won the T20
World Cup.
The allocation of limited-overs and 20-over matches to the international cricket season in
England has contributed to the ECB's financial performance (Figure 4). There are peaks that
coincide with England hosting the 1999 T20 World Cup and 2019 World Cup, although not the
2017 Champions Trophy. Nevertheless, Test cricket remains lucrative for the ECB, as evidenced
by the incremental revenue generated from the recent Test series against Australia and India in
2018 and 2019 respectively.
The structure of cricket has continued to evolve, with the creation of new formats and
competitions and tournaments, at both domestic and international levels. Nevertheless, the
recent expansion of ODI cricket came three decades after the format was launched, while
international 20-over cricket has so far had no discernible effect on the amount of Test cricket
STEVENS 155
F I G U R E 4 ECB revenue, operating profit and wages and salaries costs, 1997–2019
Source: ECB
played in England. This may be because limited-overs cricket remains very popular at
international level since the introduction of World Series Cricket in 1977 and the Cricket World
Cup in 1999, while the growth in 20-over cricket since 2003 has focused more on domestic
leagues. There have been some benefits for England's ODI team, which has attained first place
in the ICC Team Rankings and won the Cricket World Cup; however, there is no evidence that
the England gained a first-mover advantage from being the first to launch a domestic T20
league.
3.4 | Proposal 4: The global, freelance cricketer
Cricket has become an increasingly lucrative profession for international players and especially
for its star players, something which Blundell would presumably have welcomed. Figure 4
further illustrates how the ECB's employees, which include England cricketers, have been able
to appropriate some of the increased revenue that has been generated. Central contracts were
initially offered by the ECB to England cricketers from 2000 (Wright, 2001), with the increase
in earnings coinciding with the introduction of incremental contracts in 2008 (Berry, 2009) and
the subsequent expansion of the scheme that led to the separation of red ball and white ball
contracts from 2016 (Booth, 2017) to 2021 (ECB, 2021).19 But there is no shock in or around
2008, which could have been attributed to market signals from events the Stanford Super Series
and the IPL, with most of the recent growth in the ECB's revenue being generated from staging
England Test matches and hosting the Cricket World Cup.
Instead, these events may have sent market signals of earnings to cricketers, or at least to
international and star players. Although a financial and reputational disaster, the Stanford
Super Series created a positive as well as negative legacy (Wigmore & Wilde, 2019) for player
earnings. The IPL has been advantageous for some cricketers (Wigmore & Wilde, 2019), with
the star players earning more than 80 times the income of some of their teammates and
opponents (IPL, 2021). In response, the ECB introduced central contracts to ensure that it
could retain its players for international cricket but, concurrently, the earnings of county club
cricketers have been restricted by a salary cap.
156 STEVENS
4 | C ON C L U S I ON S
Competitive sport depends on fairness in that all participants are expected to play by the same
rules and laws. There is therefore a need of some form of regulation20 if the outcomes of
matches and championships are to be meaningful. For professional sport, there is an additional
customer preference for both quality and equality of competition. Sports fans have a preference
for, and are willing to pay more to watch, prestigious teams and star players, but there is also a
desire for competitively balanced matches and championships. More fans will watch their team
if they are more likely to win in, but demand is deflated when the outcome is perceived to be a
foregone conclusion. The decision for cricket administrators, therefore, is what aspects of the
sport should be regulated, and by how much and how often.
There have been so many changes to cricket's rules and regulations that it is difficult to
attribute effect to cause. The ECB made structural changes to at least one of its competitions in
20 of the 34 seasons from 1986 to 2019.21 Some of these have reversed previous decisions; for
example, in 2014 the ECB consolidated its limited-overs competitions to a single 50-over
competition to complement international tournaments; this was designed to succeed, and
resulted in success, in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, only for the ECB to promptly invent a new
100-ball format in which no other nations compete (Booth, 2019). At international level, the
ICC's tournaments have been staged at infrequent and irregular intervals, unlike the world
championships of many other professional sports.
Isolating the effects of the ECB's decisions is further compounded as the competitive environ-
ment is complex and dynamic. Many decisions are interrelated, whereby a change to player
eligibility regulations, the admission of new teams, revisions to the sport's structure or the creation
of special games, tours or leagues can affect, or be affected by, at least some other aspect of
cricket's economic system. The effects are lagged, with some, such as player recruitment, being
observable the following season, while other benefits, such as the contribution of Durham County
Cricket Club, have been realised only decades later. Outcomes are often difficult to sustain
because other stakeholders – whether at national or international level, or internal or external to
the sport – make their own decisions that accentuate or counteract the ECB's strategy.
Most of John Blundell's recommendations were, to varying extent, implemented by the ECB,
although the outcomes derived from these decisions were mixed. As predicted, changes to player
eligibility regulations did influence the recruitment and selection strategies of county cricket clubs,
but have had no evident impact on England team performances. The admission of Durham to the
County Championship has made a positive contribution to the sport, but was not commercially
sustainable. As recommended, the formats of cricket have evolved, but demand for, and revenue
generated from, Test cricket remains strong – at least in England and Wales. The creation of
20-over cricket has helped to enhance the earnings of star players with the development of a
global network of T20 leagues and the consequent introduction of central contracts for England
players, but county cricketers' earnings are now restricted by a salary cap. The sport has been at
the forefront of a series of innovations – as evidenced by the T20 and IPL – and has concurrently
preserved some of its valuable traditions, such as Test cricket. But the repetition of change may
not be sustainable if these decisions simply compete away previous innovations.
NO T E S
1
Editor's Note: John Blundell (1952–2014) was an advocate of free markets and classical liberalism. He worked
first for the Institute of Humane Studies and the Atlas Network, and was then for 16 years the Director
General of the Institute of Economic Affairs. Shortly before his death, he was in correspondence with the
STEVENS 157
author and myself about collaborating on an update of his 1986 article. Sadly, this was never progressed, but
Andy Stevens has now written this article on the lines we were discussing.
2
Because of the number of matches played per season, there are only limited data available on women's cricket.
The England women's team does not play Test cricket every season and has not played a series of more than
one Test match since 2006.
3
The cricket facility at the Dubai Sports City in the United Arab Emirates includes pitches that have been
constructed with soil from different continents to replicate the playing conditions in different countries
(Roberts, 2016).
4
The ECB replaced the TCCB, which governed the sport in England from 1968 to 1996 (ECB, n.d.-a).
5
English cricket is based on historical counties with each county cricket club monopolising its
geographical territory. Some counties, such as Middlesex, no longer exist as a local government county
council, while others are now misaligned due to changes in local authority boundaries (Office for National
Statistics, 2016).
6
First-class status is commonly applied to encompass entry to limited-overs and T20 competitions as well as
the County Championship (ECB, n.d.-b).
7
There have been some day-night Test and County Championship matches using a pink ball.
8
Although there had already been such innovations as Kerry Packer's World Series in 1977 (Haigh, 2017).
9
Blundell (1986, p. 66) refers to “special games and tours”, which has been expanded to include T20 leagues as
these are also an alternative to established cricket competitions and tournaments.
10
In Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (Booth, 2021) cricketers who are not eligible to play for England are classified
as either “overseas” or “other non-England-qualified” (meaning Kolpak) players while Playfair Cricket Annual
(Marshall, 2021) adopts “non-qualified” to encompass overseas and Kolpak players. The ECB (n.d.-e)
regulations specify “qualified” and “unqualified” players, with Kolpak players included as qualified and
overseas players as unqualified.
11
Kolpak players are sometimes referred to as or Kolpaks, although this can be pejorative (Edwards, 2014;
Gardner, 2015), with clubs that are perceived to rely on such players being referred to as “Kolpakshire”
(Engel, 2006, p. 722).
12
England cricketers are recorded as Durham players if they made their debut in domestic first-class cricket
when contracted to the Club, and includes current and former players. Keaton Jennings played first-class
cricket in South Africa in the Winter before making his Durham debut in 1992. Philip Mustard played ODI
and T20I but not Test cricket for England.
13
Durham were placed in the first division when the competition was split into two divisions as in the previous
season they finished in the top half of the single-division County Championship, but were immediately
relegated.
14
The Test match series between England and Australia is contested for The Ashes, an urn that is reputed to
contain the ashes from a bail that was burnt after Australia beat England at The Oval in 1882.
15
Durham were fined £2,500 and had 2.5 points deducted from the County Championship, 0.25 points from the
T20 competition and two points from the limited-overs competition for the 2013 season (Rayner, 2019).
16
Durham were deducted 48 points from the County Championship, four points from the T20 competition and
two points from the limited-overs competition for the 2017 season (Rayner, 2019).
17
First-class cricket is sometimes referred to as ‘red ball’ cricket as it is played with a red ball, with players
wearing white or off-white clothing. Most limited-overs and T20 matches now use a white ball – referred to as
‘white ball’ cricket – with the option of coloured clothing, sometimes disparagingly referred to as “pyjama
cricket” (Haigh, 2017, p. 299) since the launch of World Series Cricket.
18
List A status was introduced to differentiate limited-overs competitions, although the List B and C
categories are no longer used (Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, n.d.). It is more commonly
applied to limited-overs cricket only, although the ICC (2020) designate List A limited-overs and List A T20
formats.
158 STEVENS
19
Cricketers could still be selected to play for England in one format if they were only contracted for another
format, and can also be selected if they have no central contract. Incremental contracts have been offered from
2003 to reward performances in the previous year by non-contracted players.
20
In this context, I am talking about self-regulation. There has never been a sustained demand (as there has
been in professional soccer) for government regulation of cricket. However recent accusations of racism
within English cricket (Miller, 2021) could conceivably change this.
21
This excludes further changes to the names of competitions and to the competition sponsors.
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How to cite this article: Stevens, A. (2022). John Blundell's cricket blueprint revisited.
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2 | THE BLUNDELL B LUEPRINT

2.1 | Proposal 1: Player eligibility

2.2 | Proposal 2: Admit new teams

Secondly, I would open up the championship and one-day competitions to admit

2.3 | Proposal 3: Cricket's structure

The structure of cricket's competitive environment should be flexible and responsive to

2.4 | Proposal 4: Special games, tours and leagues

Blundell advocates the simultaneous dissolution of cricket's monopoly and monopsony

3.1 | Proposal 1: From Australia to Kolpakshire

regulations on the registration of county cricketers were further affected by the

F I G U R E 1 Number of County Championship players, by eligibility, 1992–2019

3.3 | Proposal 3: The T20 revolution

F I G U R E 2 Durham County Cricket Club revenue and operating profit, 1992–2019

T A B L E 1 The formats of international and domestic (England and Wales) cricket

Days per Innings Overs per

F I G U R E 3 Number and percentage of England home matches, by format, 1971–2019

3.4 | Proposal 4: The global, freelance cricketer

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