England Cricket Board to suffer around £20M loss for cancellation of 5th Test vs India

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is set to incur a loss of close to £20 million due to the abrupt cancellation of the fifth Test match against India. According to reports, the Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC), which was scheduled to host the fifth Test at the iconic Old Trafford ground, will suffer an estimated loss of £1 million because of this. England and India were all set to play the fifth and final Test on Friday, however, barely hours before the start of play it was announced that the match was called off.

LCCC CEO Daniel Gidney issued an apology to fans and partners for the inconvenience they had to suffer due to the sudden cancellation of the match. Gidney said that all fans who were supposed to visit the stadium for the match will receive a refund of their tickets. Lancashire Cricket also donated all the surplus, pre-prepared food to local charities after the Test match was cancelled.

"Obviously there are significant financial implications. We have reputation issues as well, I mean, Old Trafford has a proud history of hosting Test cricket going back to over 100 years. We are absolutely gutted and devastated," LCCC CEO Daniel Gidney had said while speaking to Spy Sports after the cancellation of the fifth Test.  

What happened before the 5th Test?

According to reports, India refused to field a side against England at Old Trafford citing personal safety and security as reasons. Earlier, a Team India support staff member had tested positive for COVID-19, following which the players had to be isolated inside their hotel rooms in Manchester. Until Friday morning, the Test match was slated to go ahead as planned but the ECB suddenly announced that the game has been called off, leaving fans and cricket enthusiasts all over the world disappointed. 

It is believed that the Indian players were worried about catching the deadly disease days ahead of the second phase of IPL 2021. In order to compensate for the significant financial loss, the BCCI and the ECB are currently negotiating to agree on a date for the rescheduled fifth Test match.

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