<\/p>\n
Cricket counties will face automatic points deductions for making repeated losses under strict new financial rules that will be introduced next season.<\/p>\n
The Guardian has learned that the England and Wales Cricket Board is planning to bring in its own version of football\u2019s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) underpinned by points deductions in a shadow form next year to give counties time to adjust, before fixed punishments for clubs that fail to break even are introduced in 2028.<\/p>\n
The proposed new rules are understood to be similar to the financial framework operated by the Premier League and EFL, whose clubs are limited to making losses of \u00a3105m and \u00a339m respectively over a rolling three-year period.<\/p>\n
The Premier League is dropping PSR next season in favour of new regulations that will cap player spending to 85% of a club\u2019s football revenues, but the EFL\u2019s profitability and sustainability limits will remain in place.<\/p>\n Under the ECB\u2019s version of PSR, counties would be required to show they are running profitable businesses over a four-year period, with fixed tariffs in place for those that consistently lose money.<\/p>\n The counties\u2019 accounts would be monitored in real time by the ECB, who would have powers to intervene at the end of each financial year.<\/p>\n An overspend in year one would result in an official warning from the ECB, followed by a suspended points deduction in year two and points being docked in year three if they continued to post losses.<\/p>\n The ECB says it is acting to ensure the counties operate as sustainable businesses rather than relying on handouts from Lord\u2019s and windfalls from the sale of the eight Hundred franchises, which raised about \u00a3500m for the sport last year.<\/p>\n