The upcoming England v India Test series is just as important financially as the Ashes, according to ECB boss Richard Gould.
Headingley plays host to the first of five test matches against visiting India, starting on Friday, 20 June. And, it has been revealed that based on commercial metrics alone, this series is the equal to the famous Ashes battles against Australia.
The English Cricket Board’s CEO told ESPN Cricinfo that India’s off-field dominance of the global game means “in terms of commercial importance” that the series sits on a par with the Ashes for the ECB.
He added: "I think that is one of the great things about a five-Test series: it is a proper long-read; it's something that people can get really into. There will be subplots and sub-subplots. There will be all sorts of issues over that six-week period."
After beating Zimbabwe in a mismatched Test and swatting aside a disappointing West Indies side in the white ball game, the first big challenge of the summer now comes for New Zealander Brendon McCullum’s side.
Gould said: "The most important thing is to make sure that we've got competitive tours and tournaments, and that's not always possible.”
At Trent Bridge, England dispatched Zimbabwe by an innings and 45 runs, with centuries for Ben Duckett, Zac Crawley, and Ollie Pope, before Shoaib Bashir led the bowling figures with nine wickets in the match.
"There's been lots of discussion about short formats, but Test cricket is doing quite a resurgence in its own way,” Gould added. “Particularly with the five-Test series: we're seeing more of those than we have done for a long time.”
While Jofra Archer remains absent for the opening test, Chris Woakes and one-time capped Jamie Overton return to the England squad as India begin their tour this week.
