'Key Senior Leaders' Of England Cricket Board To Get Bonus Despite Tough Times

Despite job cuts within the organisation due to Covid-19, the top executives of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), including chief executive officer Tom Harrison and managing director of The Hundred competition Sanjay Patel, are expected to share a projected £2.1m bonus amount.

There were 62 job cuts last year in the ECB.

The Guardian newspaper has reported that CEO Harrison, who was paid £5,12,000 last year despite voluntary pay cut, and Patel are among the recipients of the bonus money.

ECB has said that the bonus is a "retention tool for key senior leaders" to "reward and encourage the long-term performance and growth of the organisation/game".

The ECB is looking to improve its financial position after a disappointing Covid-affected 2020. It has looked upto The Hundred to improve its financial position.

Harrison has looked optimistic and has said that the current year has seen improvement.

"[The losses last year were] punishing for the game. There's an impact on our ability to do all of the things we wanted to do… including infrastructure funds, and plans for increasing the [ECB] reserves have suffered a setback," he was quoted as saying in the paper.

"This year has so far been a good recovery. Given limited crowds for the Blast and early season audiences, there will still be a significant impact on the county game. But it feels like we are emerging from the Covid crisis."