Ashes Venue Dispute: Hampshire’s 2023 Legal Challenge Led to Headingley’s 2027 Exclusion

The absence of Ashes cricket in the north of England for the 2027 series stems from a legal dispute that emerged following the allocation of venues for the 2023 Ashes series, which also resulted in the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) paying approximately £1 million in damages to Hampshire.

The Guardian has learned that Hampshire initiated legal action against the ECB after losing the opportunity to host an Ashes Test in 2023 to Yorkshire, who hosted the third Test—won by England by three wickets—at Headingley.

Hampshire reportedly argued that they had been assured their first Ashes Test at the Rose Bowl would occur in 2023 during a 2018 meeting of the 18 first-class counties, alongside fixtures at Old Trafford, Edgbaston, Lord’s, and the Oval, with Headingley scheduled to receive a Test in 2027 instead.

The Guardian understands that the ECB’s initial plan was to award Old Trafford and Headingley one Ashes Test each in 2023 and 2027 respectively, but this decision was revised following a recommendation from a four-member independent panel. The panel advised that the Test originally designated for Hampshire should instead take place at Headingley.

At the time, the ECB was chaired by Colin Graves, a former Yorkshire chair who returned to Headingley in 2024 to address the club’s financial challenges. A ECB press release issued in February 2018 regarding the 2023 venues stated that Graves recused himself when the independent panel presented its recommendations to the ECB board, which made the final decision.

Graves told The Guardian this week that he was never involved in the allocation of international matches during his tenure at the ECB. “Test matches were awarded using a ‘balanced scorecard’ points system evaluated by an independent host venue panel,” Graves said. “I always left the room when their recommendations were discussed by the board. I was not involved.”

Despite this, Hampshire proceeded with legal action, leading to an out-of-court settlement with the ECB. The payment to Hampshire was reportedly approved by the board several years later to conclude the legal dispute. The matter was resolved after Graves resigned as chair in 2020.

Graves previously served as executive chair of Yorkshire between 2012 and 2015, when he joined the ECB for a five-year term as chair, before returning to Headingley as chair in 2024.

Yorkshire did not host an Ashes Test during Graves’ first tenure, as the ECB operated a competitive bidding process for major match allocations, and the costs were considered prohibitive. The club opted against bidding for Ashes Tests in the 2013 and 2015 series due to financial constraints.

The club owed Graves approximately £22 million, which he transferred to a family trust (of which he was not a trustee) when he departed Headingley for the ECB in 2015, and later borrowed an additional £20 million to develop the ground.

In addition to the 2023 Ashes Test, Headingley was granted two other Test matches in the ECB’s 2018 allocation covering 2020 to 2024, which helped alleviate its financial difficulties.

The ECB has faced widespread criticism for its venue selection for next summer’s Ashes, with Trent Bridge the only ground north of Edgbaston in Birmingham; the remaining three Tests are scheduled for Lord’s, the Oval, and Hampshire’s Rose Bowl.

England’s captain, Joe Root, described it as a “shame” that Headingley had been excluded from the Ashes following his team’s seventh consecutive Test victory in Leeds against Pakistan last month, with his predecessor Ben Stokes calling the omission “scandalous”.

Hampshire’s relationship with the ECB has significantly improved in recent years, with the county supporting the governing body by hosting three Tests and three T20 internationals behind closed doors at the Rose Bowl during the pandemic-affected summer of 2020.

Rod Bransgrove, the county’s former owner and chair, invested tens of millions in developing Hampshire’s ground, now known as the Utilita Bowl, after rescuing the club from bankruptcy in 2000, before selling the team to the Indian media conglomerate GNR Group two years ago.

Hampshire has consistently hosted international cricket at the venue since 2003, including Test matches against India and Sri Lanka, as well as the biosecure Tests in 2020, and 2027 will mark their first Ashes Test.

The ECB and Hampshire declined to provide comment.

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