The Hundred sales: First-class counties to receive money from Friday

First-class counties will begin to receive money from sales in the teams in The Hundred from Friday.

All 18 counties are initially due more than £400,000, while Lancashire, Yorkshire and Glamorgan will also begin to see proceeds from sales of stakes in the Hundred teams they host.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sold stakes in all eight Hundred teams earlier this year, raising around £520m to be split across the game.

The ECB announced on Thursday that six of the eight deals have been completed, with the purchases of stakes in Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets to be finalised by the end of September.

Counties can take their initial £400,000 as a lump sum, or opt for a payment plan. They can spend this portion of the Hundred money as they see fit.

Bigger windfalls are due at a later date. The seven counties that host Hundred teams, plus the Marylebone Cricket Club, will receive around £18m, and the 11 non-hosts are in line for more than £24m.

The ECB has imposed "guardrails" on how this money can be spent, and counties will have to make applications for its release.

All eight hosts were given a 51% stake in their Hundred teams, which they were able to sell or keep.

Yorkshire sold all of their stake in Northern Superchargers to the owners of Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lancashire gave 70% control of Manchester Originals to the owners of Lucknow Super Giants and Glamorgan entered in a 50-50 deal for Welsh Fire with American businessman Sanjay Govil.

In Yorkshire's case, the proceeds they receive from the £100m valuation of Superchargers will start to pay down a £20m debt to the trust of club chairman Colin Graves.

The new season of The Hundred begins on Tuesday. Despite the sales, the competition will remain similar to its previous four seasons, with changes possible from 2026 onwards.

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