Challenging football heavyweights Manchester United and Manchester City is within the reach of the Manchester Originals, according to the Hundred franchise’s new majority share owner.
Shashwat Goenka, the vice-chairman of RPSG, which bid £80m for a 70% share of the Originals this month, told a press conference at the cricketing Old Trafford that his confidence was born from the city’s status as a global sporting powerhouse.
“We are not football, we are cricket,” Goenka said, speaking from India. “This is not about football fans, this is about cricket fans and we want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to become the third biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two sports teams in Manchester.”
If the deal goes ahead, the Originals will become the third cricketing franchise owned by RSPG, which is also the wallet behind the Indian Premier League’s Lucknow Super Giants and Durban’s Super Giants in South Africa.
The new dawn had broken cold at Old Trafford, three degrees and a bitter easterly wind, but Dave on reception was top to toe in Manchester Originals gear and the corporate branding surrounding the press conference had been updated, with the Super Giants taking their place alongside Lancashire and the Originals.
RPSG originally had their eye on London Spirit – whose 49% stake was eventually sold for £144m to a consortium including Google, Microsoft, and Adobe executives – but seemed happy with their lot.
“Lord’s is Lord’s, but Manchester is Manchester and while we did bid aggressively for Lords, we stopped at a point and I’m extremely happy,” said Goenka. “Manchester is a global sporting hub, one of the top five sporting cities in the world. It has a rich sports history and a rich cricketing history, and it’s supported by passionate fans. Old Trafford itself is a landmark. The rich legacy of the Lancashire County Cricket Club is unparalleled. So in a nutshell, the Manchester Originals is hugely attractive.”
Was he worried about the Manchester rain washing out games in a time of weather extremes. “I have not thought about that per se, and the weather gods are not in our hands, so …”
The deal gives Lancashire a payday in excess of £25m plus 3% of the new TV deal to come in 2029. Their CEO, Daniel Gidney, who has overseen the move, paid credit to the late chairman David Hodgkiss.
“He was the one who pulled me aside during the India-Pakistan game here in 2019 and said: ‘Daniel, look at how this crowd celebrates a single cricket match. Look at the passion, look at the energy.’ He said: ‘That’s what we need in Lancashire, that’s what we need in Manchester, that’s what we need in UK cricket.’ In many ways he was a visionary and he was absolutely right.”
What Lancashire will do with the windfall is still under discussion, though some will go to servicing their debt plus investment in infrastructure including the cricket centre which “could do with a bit of love”, members facilities and the new setup in Farington.
The Originals chair, James Sheridan, poured tepid water on excitement at the England and Wales Cricket Board about expanding the competition – “Whether it makes sense for team owners and the existing eight teams, we’ll have to see” – while questions about future name changes, a possible switch from 100 balls to a T20 format, the changing of start times to suit the Indian market and the possible signing of players to franchises were batted away. For now, the atmosphere was giddy.
