County Cricket Chairs Hold Meeting Over ECB Payoffs

County chairs will hold an emergency meeting this month to discuss the £1M ($1.4M) payoff received by Glamorgan County Cricket Club and the "proposed compensation payments to the other Test grounds," according to Elizabeth Ammon of the LONDON TIMES. There is "increasing concern" within the county game about the way Glamorgan was given the payment. The money was initially described by the England & Wales Cricket Board as "compensation for not bidding for Test matches," but the governing body has now said that the payment was made to "allow Glamorgan to settle a debt with a creditor." This "prompted counties to question why no such payment was offered to any other county." Sussex Chair Bob Warren "raised his concerns in a letter" to ECB Chair Colin Graves. He stated that there had been a "lack of discussion about proposed payments" of £500,000 ($697,145) to every test ground as compensation for not hosting a test (LONDON TIMES, 3/17).