The Oval's redevelopment will make it the biggest cricket ground in England.GETTY IMAGES
The England & Wales Cricket Board will hold "crisis talks" with Surrey County Cricket Club next month over The Oval hosting the new Hundred competition, according to Nick Hoult of the London TELEGRAPH. The meeting was called by the ECB to ascertain whether Surrey is "totally committed to hosting the tournament" at The Oval when it launches in '20. ECB Chair Colin Graves warned Surrey that he is willing to strip the club of hosting rights unless it throws its support behind the "controversial new tournament." But Surrey also wants answers from the ECB "over what the tournament will look like and what will happen to other cricket" during the four-week window at "high summer" when the competition is due to take place. Surrey is county cricket’s "richest club" and The Oval's redevelopment over the next few years "will make it the biggest ground in England." It is "impossible to see the tournament taking place without the Oval as a host venue, but relations between the board and Surrey have plummeted this year" (TELEGRAPH, 5/15).
