Fear of BCCI backlash, ECB turns down Lalit Modi offer to buy "The Hundred": Reports
London: Unwilling to jeopardise its cordial relationship with the all-powerful BCCI, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has rejected a lucrative 10-year buy-out offer of their franchise-based property 'The Hundred' from former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Modi received a life ban from the BCCI in 2013 for "serious misconduct and indiscipline" related to bids for two new IPL franchises in 2010. Modi left India and has been living in London since then.
Modi had planned the competition in peak English summer between July 1-August 15.
"Modi's representatives met with Vikram Banerjee, the England and Wales Cricket Board's director of operations, who is de facto head of the Hundred, and chief executive Richard Gould to lay out a 10-year offer to buy the Hundred and fund it through private investment. However, the ECB will not be pursuing talks with Modi," the British daily reported.
The ECB isn't ready to completely let go its ownership on their flagship property but also at the same time is worried about potential pitfalls of a partnership as "dealing with Modi would jeopardise its relationship with the BCCI."
It must be noted that the ECB had received a similar offer from the Bridgepoint Group worth GBP 400 million for a 75 per cent stake in 'The Hundred'.
"At the time, Richard Thompson, the ECB's chairman, said he would only consider offers of a "few billion" and since then the ECB has pursued a strategy of selling equity in the teams, with the board retaining ownership of the competition," the newspaper further reported.
Modi told Telegraph Sport that "he has lined up investors willing to pump money into a 10-team tournament but told the ECB the Hundred format does not work and should be converted into a Twenty20 competition instead."
The team purse as per offer sheet would have been USD 10 million per season (roughly INR 83 crore to IPL's INR 95 Cr).
Modi's estimated valuation of the competition was earmarked at USD 100 million a year over 10 years.
In fact, the former IPL czar had advised ECB not to invite more than two IPL franchises to own teams.
His mantra was "franchises should be English owned and English run with minimal input from India."
Modi had been in touch with English cricket establishment for the past 18 months and wanted to make it second biggest league after IPL.
"I would give them a guarantee of a billion dollars," Modi told Telegraph Sport.
"A lot of people have been in touch with me interested in backing it and I made a proposal to the ECB but it had a lot of conditions. The Hundred format does not work and there should only be two franchises sold to Indian buyers. It will only work if it is an English competition and not Indo-centric," he said.
The ECB believes it can raise GBP 100 million from selling equity (shares).
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Armed man shot and killed after entering secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, US Secret Service says
Washington (AP): The US Secret Service announced Sunday that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Although Trump often spends weekends at his resort, he was at the White House during this incident. First lady Melania Trump was also with the president.
The name of the person who was shot has not been released. According to the Secret Service, he was “observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.” The incident took place at 1:30 am Sunday.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw, speaking at a brief press conference, said the man was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a sheriff's deputy.
“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with them. At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position," Bradshaw said. The two agents and the deputy "fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
The FBI asked residents who live near Mar-a-Lago to check any security cameras they may have for footage that could help investigators.
The suspect, who was in his early 20s and from North Carolina, was reported missing a few days ago by his family. Investigators believe he left North Carolina and headed south, picking up a shotgun along the way, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, who added that the box for the gun was recovered in his vehicle.
Guglielmi said that the man drove through the north gate of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was exiting.
Investigators are working to compile a psychological profile and a motive is still under investigation. Asked whether the individual was known to law enforcement, Bradshaw said “not right now.”
The incident comes as the US has been rocked multiple times in recent years by political violence. Just last year, that included the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the assassination of the Democratic leader in the Minnesota state House and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife, and an arson attack at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro.
The incursion on Saturday at Trump's Florida home is a few miles from his West Palm Beach golf club where a man tried to assassinate Trump while he played golf during the 2024 election. A Secret Service agent spotted that man, Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire and caused Routh to drop his weapon.
Routh was found guilty last year and sentenced this month to life in prison.
Trump also survived an assassination attempt at a Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally in 2024. That gunman fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter sniper.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Sunday.
