The ETPL has launched, but can it survive without TV revenue? Two cricket journalists break down the commercial reality of the new franchise league.
Nathan Johns and Peter Della Penna join Zee Zaidi, cricexec Founder and Publisher, to explore the launch of the European T20 Premier League, questioning its financial viability without broadcast income or deep local engagement. The panel also unpacks the ECB's decision to veto the Euro Nations Cup and the ICC's structural changes to the ODI World Cup pathway, asking whether T20 is actually the right format to grow the game in associate markets.
Nathan Johns is a cricket journalist covering the Ireland and UK area. Peter Della Penna is a cricket journalist covering American and Associate circles.
The cricexec newsletter goes to senior executives across the cricket industry each week. Subscribe: [link]

Chapters
00:00 The ETPL launch and franchise economics
06:31 Local market engagement and the MLC comparison
21:11 The ECB's veto of the Euro Nations Cup
34:19 The ICC's changes to the ODI World Cup pathway
51:26 Format viability: Can T20 actually grow associate markets?

Topics covered — ETPL franchise economics — European cricket expansion — ECB regional strategy — Euro Nations Cup — ICC World Cup pathway — Associate cricket development
cricexec covers the business of cricket for the people who run it. Reporting, analysis and the annual Global Power 100.
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In this episode of The Business of Cricket podcast by cricexec (episode 13), Ravichandran Ashwin sits down with cricexec’s Zee Zaidi for a wide-ranging conversation that goes far beyond cricket.

Ashwin reflects on the role of failure in shaping success, sharing why setbacks — not achievements — have been the most important lessons of his career. He opens up about his early challenges, the influence of his father as a mentor, and how sport became a foundation for discipline, problem-solving, and personal growth.

The discussion explores themes that resonate equally in business and life — from sustained performance and passion-driven work to leadership, mentorship, and the importance of letting go. Ashwin also offers insight into his post-playing journey, including his role as an ambassador for the game, his approach to entrepreneurship, and why joy — not money — drives his decisions.

Blending personal stories with thoughtful perspective, this episode is a deep dive into mindset, resilience, and what it truly means to keep evolving — on and off the field.

Leadership in Cricket is the series of The Business of Cricket Podcast that talks to players and coaches the way you'd talk to any high-performance leader — because that's what they are. Each episode is an in-depth conversation with a current or recent international player, captain, or head coach, focused not on technique or tactics but on the leadership questions that sit underneath them: how to set culture in a dressing room, how to make decisions under enormous pressure, what failure has taught them, how they think about authority, accountability, and identity in a career measured in public. It's a sports leadership conversation built for an executive audience.

"The Labor Movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed.” – Clarence Darrow

Many cricketing nations have domestic professional players’ associations, such as the PCA in England and Wales, the ACA in Australia, the WIPA for West Indies cricketers.

The newly-rebranded World Cricketers’ Association (formerly FICA) was formed in 1998 to coordinate amongst these groups and also to represent all players in global forums on issues that cut across national boundaries.

But as is often the case whenever workers self-organize, throughout the history of cricket’s labor movement, players have faced resistance and opposition from powerful interests. This even continues today in cricketing countries without players’ associations.

On this episode, Tom Moffat, CEO of the WCA joins us for a fascinating chat about his organization, the varying climate for players in different parts of the world, and some of the key issues on concerning players’ associations today, including:

- The need for global scheduling windows

- Cricket’s multi-employer system

- Ownership consolidation in cricket (i.e. IPL teams)

- Women’s cricket

And much more

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