Leics working on 'leaky financial bucket' - White

Leiecestershire won promotion as County Championship Division Two title winners this year

Leicestershire will need to fix its financial "leaking bucket" before spending the millions that will come pouring in from the sale of The Hundred franchises, says new chief executive Emma White.

The County Championship Division Two title winners are set to receive around £28m after the eight franchises were sold for a combined £520m by the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to private investors earlier this year.

White's predecessor Sean Jarvis said the money should "secure the future of counties for a generation".

It was only 12 months ago that Leicestershire began talks with private investors of their own in an unprecedented move by the club to safeguard its future.

That claim was made when the latest publicly available accounts, covering the 12 months up to September 2023, showed the club had made losses of £440,000 and had debuts totalling £4.2m.

White told BBC Radio Leicester that the latest accounts are "not as bad as it was last year".

"I'd say it's not great, but it's not horrendous," she said.

"We are moving in the right direction and will move in the right direction quicker with certain things I'm hoping to do and put in place.

Already the sale of The Hundred franchises has seen each of the 18 counties receive £400,000, with the rest to be made available over several years.

The millions that will be handed out will need to be spent on facility upgrades and other projects, as "guiderails" imposed by the ECB mean that money cannot go directly to the playing squads.

In 2023, Leicestershire spent 64% of its revenue on staff costs – a majority of which would be on player wages – while £3.7m of the £5.5m generated by the club came from the ECB.

White, who was previously managing director of Champ rugby union side Doncaster Knights and has held management positions at Limerick and Sedgefield Racecourses, said the jackpot that The Hundred has generated for the newly promoted Division One club will be cautiously managed.

She said her focus will be on "bringing businesses" to the club, making Grace Road a venue that is used year-round and improving the club's involvement in the community it represents.

"If you have a leaky bucket and you pour water into it, the water flows straight out the bottom, and we can't have that," she said.

"We aren't looking to spend The Hundred money right now because we have to make tee finances stable and sustainable.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; it will never come around again. There won't be any quick purchases; there won't be any quick decisions. There won't be knee-jerk reactions."