England and Wales Cricket Board - Owners’ and Directors’ Test - a first step?
- Mark O'Neill
- 19 hours ago
- 4 min read
The commercial landscape of professional cricket has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Once anchored in traditional county and international structures which have overwhelmingly been structured as membership association, the sport has increasingly embraced franchise‑based models that prioritise global audiences, private investment, and year‑round entertainment. This has seen franchises look to invest and/or partner with county teams, for example, the owners of the IPL team the Delhi Capitals are now hold a 51% stake in Hampshire County Cricket Club.
Competitions such as the IPL, SA20, and Major League Cricket have reshaped expectations around player mobility, media rights, and revenue generation, creating a more market‑driven environment. As these forces accelerate, governing bodies face growing pressure to modernise ownership, governance, and regulatory frameworks to protect the integrity and sustainability of the game while remaining competitive in a rapidly evolving global sports economy.
Their response is to introduce the type of owners and directors tests which have been commonplace in football since 2004.
Purpose of the Test
The ECB Owners’ and Directors’ Test is a regulatory mechanism designed to ensure that individuals who own, control, or direct a first‑class county, The Hundred team, or other regulated cricket entity are suitable to do so. The Test safeguards the integrity, reputation, and financial stability of the professional game by preventing unsuitable individuals from:
Acquiring ownership or control of a club
Serving as a director or senior officer
Exercising significant influence over a regulated cricket entity
It forms part of the ECB’s wider governance and regulatory framework.
This is applied to anyone who occupies, or intends to occupy a role as a Director or a officer of first class county or the MCC, as well as anyone who may operate as a ‘shadow director’ (A person who is not appointed as a director of the company but with whose directions or instructions the appointed directors of the company are accustomed to act).
Core Disqualification Criteria
Under the regulations, a person will be presumed to be qualified, unless they fulfil one or more of the ‘Disqualifying Conditions’. The first of which is that they already have control (meaning owning 10% or more of the shares or voting rights) in another first class county, more than one Hundred team, or in the MCC and either a first class county or Hundred team.
Other disqualifications include:
1. Criminal Convictions
Dishonesty-related offences such as corruption, fraud, money laundering etc.
Financial misconduct or regulatory offences
A conviction in the UK or anywhere else in the world that results in a prison sentence of 12 months or more
Subject to sanctions imposed by the UK government
Prohibited from entering the UK
They are a registered sex offender
2. Sporting or Professional Bans
Banned or sanctioned by a sporting body
Disqualified as a company director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1985
Disciplined by a professional regulator (e.g. the Law Society, Bar Council)
3. Insolvency and Financial Misconduct
Are undischarged bankrupts
Have been involved in repeated insolvencies
Owe outstanding debts to the ECB or other cricketing bodies
4. Regulatory Breaches
Breaches of ECB anti‑corruption, integrity, safeguarding, or anti‑discrimination rules
Attempts to mislead the ECB during the approval process
Process Overview
1. Notification
Clubs must notify the ECB of any proposed change of control or new director appointment.
Existing directors or officers must submit a completed declaration to the ECB by 31st March each year.
New directors or officers of a first class county or Hundred team, must submit a completed declaration to the ECB no later than 10 working days before they propose to start in that role. The ECB then aim to provide a decision to the applicant director or officer within 5 days of receiving the declaration, and the applicant may not start in that role until they have been authorised by the ECB to do so.
2. Submission of Information
Prospective owners or directors must provide:
Identity documentation
Criminal record declarations
Financial disclosures
Corporate and directorship history
Disclose full ownership structures
Source‑of‑funds evidence
3. ECB Due Diligence
The ECB undertakes checks including:
Criminal background screening
Insolvency and company‑director history
Integrity and disciplinary records
Demonstrate the source of funds
Satisfy due‑diligence checks on financial probity
Financial probity assessments
4. Decision
The ECB may:
Approve
Approve subject to conditions
Reject
Revoke approval if new information arises
Comparison with Football’s Fit and Proper Person Tests
Summary
The ECB Owners’ and Directors’ Test should provide an extra level of regulatory protection to ensure owners and directors meet integrity and financial standards, and prevent individuals with criminal, financial, or sporting misconduct histories from holding influence in English professional cricket. It should also provide a greater level of transparency in ownership and funding, and aligns broadly with football’s fit‑and‑proper‑person regimes, though with less publicly available detail.
Although there is some broad alignment with the football version of the test, it is considerably less detailed and contains less disqualifying conditions, especially in relation to the types of criminal convictions. Despite this, it is a welcome first step, as the game moves into the 21st century investment environment.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Comments