ECB anticipates Ashes windfall

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) believes that it could make as much as £20million a year a more over their normal earnings thanks to the team's fine performances in the ongoing Ashes. The ECB hopes that extra revenues from sales of DVDs, replica kits, computer games and the like could add to their current earnings of approximately £80million a year, reports The Independent newspaper.

A majority of the income comes from television rights deals - currently with Channel 4 and soon to be replaced by Sky - and this will not be affected by the Ashes series. Also, the ECB will not benefit from the record crowds that have flocked to various grounds. It is the hosting grounds that keep a majority of the profits generated by gate receipts.

But the ECB believes that the interest that this series has generated will spur deals that will push their revenues to over £100million a year. "The interest has been phenomenal and it's a tremendously exciting time for English cricket," John Perera, the ECB's commercial director, is quoted as saying. "We hope our income will grow to a minimum of £100m per year within the next few years, and this incredible Ashes series is a springboard."

Already, a DVD titled "The Greatest Test" has sold over 30,000 copies, and a DVD encapsulating the full series is planned for October and expected to sell as many as 200,000 copies. Sales of replica shirts have doubled, and cricket computer games are moving quickly off the shelves.