Northern mayors petition ECB to rethink 2027 Ashes allocation

The mayors of Higher Manchester and West Yorkshire have urged the ECB to rethink its allocation of men’s Ashes Tests for 2027, which is able to see the north of England missed.

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, stated earlier than the continuing fourth Check at Emirates Outdated Trafford that he was “devastated” that not one of the 5 Checks can be staged north of the River Trent, with Lord’s, the Kia Oval, the Ageas Bowl, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge chosen because the host venues.

Andy Burnham (Higher Manchester) and Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire) have now written an open letter to the ECB, describing the allocation of venues as “outstanding” and criticising the truth that London “constantly hosts three Checks each summer time”.

“We’re writing to you to specific our disappointment on the English Cricket Board’s announcement of match venues for the lads’s Ashes in 2027,” the mayors wrote. “As you realize, there can be no males’s Ashes Check within the north of England in 2027 – that means that this week at Outdated Trafford would be the final males’s Ashes Check performed within the North of England till 2031.

“Headingley and Outdated Trafford are two of England’s most iconic cricket grounds, and residential to historic Ashes moments from Ian Botham’s heroics in 1981 to Ben Stokes’ personal ‘Miracle of Headingley’ in 2019. Only a few grounds appeal to help as passionate or certainly as various as Headingley and Outdated Trafford – as quite a few England gamers themselves have acknowledged in current days.

“We perceive that the ECB’s standards for awarding Check matches contains maximising attendances and making certain a geographic unfold of matches. It feels much more outstanding due to this fact that an space so obsessed with cricket, with a inhabitants of over 15 million folks, misses out on a males’s Ashes Check in 2027 while the south hosts three.

“It doesn’t really feel proper that at a time when cricket must do extra to unfold curiosity within the sport across the nation that London constantly hosts three Checks each summer time. Subsequent yr, for instance, Lord’s hosts one third of England males’s Checks while Headingley does not get any.

“The rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire inside cricket is famous, however this is a matter that unites either side of the Pennines. We urge you to assume once more and guarantee folks within the north of England get the chance to witness extra iconic Ashes moments in 2027.”

Stokes stated on the eve of the Outdated Trafford Check that England are inclined to carry out effectively within the north because of the stage of help they obtain from crowds. “I am a bit devastated that there will not be any Ashes cricket right here in 2027 within the north. It is a disgrace,” he stated. “I do not make these calls, but when I used to be concerned, I’d have stated, ‘please maintain not less than one sport within the north’. I believe it is all the time a loud ambiance right here. You recognize the crowds we get within the north – and I say the north fairly bluntly there – is excellent. We get numerous help.”

Mark Wooden and Jack Leach had previously expressed their own “surprise” and “disappointment” across the alternative of venues, with Leach suggesting that by enjoying primarily within the south, England weren’t benefiting from their dwelling benefit.

Headingley is because of host a ladies’s Ashes Check in 2027, and each Headingley and Outdated Trafford are as a consequence of stage males’s Ashes Checks in 2031.