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Martin Snedden, the NZC director, has backed N Srinivasan’s confirmation as ICC’s first chairman and said the Indian Supreme Court’s decision not to interfere in Srinivasan’s ICC appointment had guided NZC’s decision

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2014Martin Snedden, the New Zealand Cricket director, has backed N Srinivasan’s confirmation as ICC’s first chairman after the restructuring of the organisation. He said the Indian Supreme Court’s decision not to interfere in Srinivasan’s ICC appointment had guided NZC’s decision.Srinivasan had been barred from carrying out his duties as BCCI president by the Supreme Court, which is currently investigating allegations of fixing and corruption in IPL 2013. While the court turned down Srinivasan’s appeal to be reinstated within the BCCI, it did not stop him from representing the Indian board at the ICC and he was confirmed as the world governing body’s first chairman at the annual conference in Melbourne on Thursday. Snedden said NZC had studied the situation and had even sought external advice before backing Srinivasan in the ICC.”There was a conflict of interest because the investigations related to his son-in-law [Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan concerning bets he placed on matches],” Snedden, who represents New Zealand on the ICC board, told . “Mr Srinivasan said ‘Okay, I’ll step aside’*. Three times the Supreme Court has been asked to exclude him from ICC affairs and each time they have said ‘No, it’s not our business so we won’t interfere’. That alone is a tool to guide us. No one knows what the allegations are. They’re under the Supreme Court seal and they don’t want to risk damaging innocent reputations.”It’s the highest court in India; it’s not like anyone can point the finger and say it’s a shonky investigation. Ultimately they’ll drive that to a conclusion, the findings will be made public and the ICC will have to deal with what comes out of it. At least then we’ll be dealing with something factual … That’s not fair on Mr Srinivasan and it’s not good process.”Pragmatism was also a factor in NZC’s decision to back the Big Three boards, Snedden said. He admitted that the board did not believe a coalition of smaller members could withstand pressure from the BCCI, the ECB and CA. Snedden had been supportive of the proposed revamp by the three boards in January, and had also backed the BCCI’s demand for a greater share of the revenue, explaining that the Indian market had “escalated out of proportion”.”Confronted with a situation where Australia and England had already agreed with India [to be permanent members on the five-member executive committee], you were dealing with three countries,” Snedden said. “In those circumstances we didn’t think they were bluffing, nor did we think any coalition among other members could withstand their pressure. There were all sorts of comments that it was bad for cricket and we’d stop playing the big guys but, in the four to five months since, we’re about to put the finishing touches to a future tours programme until 2023 which doesn’t disadvantage any of the smaller [Full Member] countries.”We’re also about to sell commercial rights to world events from 2015-2023 with India’s support. In terms of stability we’re miles ahead of a position where we were left guessing what stance India would take.”*

Glamorgan completed an eight-wicket win that left their hosts winless and put them top of the Midlands/Wales/West Group

Jon Culley in Rugby06-Jul-2013
ScorecardMichael Hogan bowled a miserly spell as Warwickshire were restricted to an unthreatening total•Getty ImagesIf there is an air of old money about Rugby School it is hardly surprising. It was founded in the 16th century in accordance with the will of Lawrence Sheriff, who was Queen Elizabeth’s grocer and was keen to do something worthwhile with his fortune for the boys of his home town. Its playing field, The Close, is better known for the legend of William Webb Ellis and the original rules of Rugby Football, but there is evidence that cricket has been played there for at least two centuries. But not like this.The first FLt20 fixture on the ground was also the first match between county sides above 2nd XI level (Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire have all used the rather fine square with its circle of lime trees). Warwickshire rather hoped the change of scenery would somehow spark a change of luck in what is becoming a woeful season but only found a new place in which to lose to Glamorgan. They were beaten in Cardiff on Wednesday and at Edgbaston in their final T20 of last summer; in fact, they have lost their last four T20 matches, three of them to the Welshmen.It did not help that they were without two of their regular top-order, with William Porterfield away with Ireland and Jim Troughton injured, but despite a bright enough opening, with 11 runs off the second over, they managed only 29 in the Powerplay and lost three wickets in the process, a position from which a recovery was always going to be difficult.Only Chris Woakes and Rikki Clarke threatened to dominate Glamorgan’s bowlers but Woakes, after hitting 25 in as many balls, fell to a clever piece of bowling from Jim Allenby, who held one back a little to draw a return catch, and Clarke brought about his own downfall, turning back after attempting a ludicrously risky single to short extra cover. Steffan Piolet’s 20 off 12 balls ended with a catch at long-on off Michael Hogan, who delivered a miserly spell that brought him three wickets for 11 off four overs.One or two batsmen departed looking ruefully at the pitch, which aside from being a little on the slow side was blameless. It is a good square, in essence, and were Warwickshire of a mind to take a Championship game away from Edgbaston, you could imagine this being a wonderful festival venue.Glamorgan’s mood was decidedly festive after they had completed an eight-wicket win with 14 balls to spare, the highlight of which was Mark Wallace’s unbeaten 69 off 52 balls. Given a flying start when Allenby took three boundaries off Clarke’s opening over, the second of the innings, Glamorgan were 50 for 1 after six overs and cruising thereafter. The irrepressible Murray Goodwin wrapped things up with a six off Laurie Evans and the tiny pavilion soon had a small choir of Welsh supporters, already in good voice from cheering on the Lions, gathering by the steps. Glamorgan’s players, to their credit, emerged to accept handshakes and even a friendly dousing with beer.Victory gave Glamorgan four T20 wins in a row for the first time, including that win at Edgbaston last year, and they top the group. Warwickshire, bottom of their YB40 section and next to bottom in Division One of the Championship, look a forlorn group at present. “We are putting ourselves out of games before we even get into them,” Dougie Brown, their director of cricket, lamented. “In the three T20 games we have played, we have lost the Powerplay massively and from there you are always going to struggle.”

Steven Smith scored a timely half-century as Australia’s selectors consider their Test squad to tour India, helping New South Wales to first-innings points in their match against Western Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2013
Scorecard
Steven Smith made 72•Getty ImagesSteven Smith scored a timely half-century as Australia’s selectors consider their Test squad to tour India, helping New South Wales to first-innings points in their match against Western Australia. Moises Henriques was also in form and at stumps was unbeaten on 62 alongside Steve O’Keefe on 16, and at 6 for 263, the Blues had a 21-run lead over the Warriors.On a slow pitch that most batsmen found hard work, Smith batted for more than three hours for his 72 and struck nine boundaries before he was dismissed by Jason Behrendorff. Several New South Wales batsmen made starts, including Scott Henry (39) and Peter Nevill (26), but both were removed by the debutant spinner Ashton Agar.Henriques struck six fours and one six in his innings and for much of the time was batting alongside Smith in a 72-run partnership. Earlier, the Warriors had added only 10 runs to their overnight total before losing their final wicket, which was claimed by O’Keefe, who ended up with 4 for 55.

Essex have furtrher strengthened their pace bowling resources by signing the Western Australian fast bowler Matt Dixon on a dual passport basis

David Hopps11-Mar-2016Essex have completed their commitment to strengthening their pace bowling resources by signing the Western Australian fast bowler Matt Dixon on a two-year deal.Dixon, 23, holds a British passport and will be available across all three formats, subject to ECB registration approval.He is the second pace bowler with dual nationality to be snapped up by Essex this close season. They have also signed New Zealand A fast bowler Matthew Quinn on a three-year deal as Chris Silverwood, Essex’s new head coach, has concentrated on stiffening their fast-bowling ranks.Only one county will be promoted from Division Two this season, ahead of a reduced eight-team Division One in 2017, but Essex have been active enough in rejuvenating their squad to suggest that they can be one of the chief contenders.Dixon first received county suitors in 2010 after a spell in the Durham leagues, and Essex have finally tempted him to England to reinvigorate a career that has recently developed quietly since appearances for Australia at Under-17 and Under-19 level.But he did play in Perth Scorchers final group match in the Big Bash League, taking the wickets of Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen in a return of 3 for 32.Silverwood said: “Matt is a talented young man who bowls at a really good pace. You need a number of seamers in a squad to be able to compete on all three fronts – as we plan to.”Since the accession of Ronnie Irani to the cricket chairmanship, Essex, regarded in the past decade as one-day specialists, have stressed that they intend to make a more concerted effort to returning to Division One of the Championship.A right-arm fast bowler, Dixon will add extra depth to a bowling attack that has also seen the arrival of Quinn, the former Sussex spinner Ashar Zaidi and – for the NatWest T20 Blast only – the combination of New Zealander Adam Milne and Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz.Essex have had quite an overhaul this winter. The departure to Hampshire of Reece Topley, who has forced his way into England’s limited-overs sides, was a blow, former skipper Mark Pettini has moved to Leicestershire and the gamble on Monty Panesar was finally accepted to be a failure as he was released.Dixon made his List A debut for Western Australia against Victoria in October 2010, at 18, removing Brad Hodge with his fifth ball. He was the third youngest player to represent Western Australia at senior level. A first-class debut followed against New South Wales in March 2011.From the outset, Western Australia were aware of rival interest not only from county cricket but also from Australian Rules football where he was a powerful colts footballer for Subiaco.

Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid expressed hope that investigators would “reveal the truth about spot-fixing” so that the IPL could re-gain the trust of cricket fans

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2013Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid expressed hope that investigators would “reveal the truth about spot-fixing” so that the IPL could regain the trust of cricket fans. He also emphatically stated that cancelling the tournament was not a solution to the current corruption crisis that the league faces.”The truth always sets you free, that’s what I believe,” Dravid said. “I really hope that we just find out the truth and get to the bottom of it, whatever it is and however painful it may be.”Speaking to the media after his team’s loss to Mumbai Indians in the qualifier, Dravid praised the IPL but said the tournament needed to address and “correct” the challenges before it.”I have always said the IPL in itself is a fantastic tournament. There are a lot of positives about it but there are challenges in the IPL as well, as we have seen in the last week, ten days. There are other challenges that come up from time to time and have to be dealt with. There is no point – if you completely throw away the tournament, it is like throwing away the baby with the bathwater.”An issue of betting is not only about the IPL. An issue of betting has been seen in the past also in international cricket. We don’t stop international cricket because of that. If that yardstick was used, then we should stop all cricket. But I think we need to sort the issues out rather than make big statements, like “cancel the IPL and throw it away and all that”, because there are some really good positives that do come out of it.”Dravid, who led Royals to their best finish in the IPL since their title win in 2008, said his team could take pride in their campaign this season. Against Mumbai at the Eden Gardens, Royals made a strong comeback into the match, taking four wickets in 16 matches to force a close finish, but couldn’t defend their total of 165.”It’s always disappointing when you lose a game but it was a close game. It was one of those that could have gone either way. Unfortunately, we ended up on the losing side,” Dravid said. “That’s disappointing, but all the boys in the team can be proud of the way we fought today as well as the whole campaign.”Dravid also said that the forthcoming Champions League T20, for which Royals have qualified with their third-place finish, would be his last tournament. “At 41, 12 months is a long way away,” he laughed. “We have luckily qualified for the Champions League, I think that will be it.”

Yorkshire won the Roses clash against the odds courtesy of the volcanic batting of Aaron Finch, whose 55-ball 88 help the White Rose steal victory

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford06-Jun-2014
ScorecardRich Pyrah celebrates his winning six•PA PhotosRarely able to take a trick in the County Championship this season, Lancashire have utilised force and finesse to make difficult contracts in the NatWest T20 Blast. That they failed to maintain that fine record in the first short-form Roses match this season can be explained by the volcanic batting of Aaron Finch, whose 55-ball 88 kept his side in the hunt to score at a demanding nine-an-over and also by the apparent tardiness of Lancashire’s bowlers, who were penalised six runs for a slow over rate.The umpires’ sanction was imposed at the end of the nineteenth over and it left Yorkshire needing just nine runs to win the game instead of 15 they would otherwise have required. Richard Pyrah then deposited the otherwise excellent Kabir Ali’s third delivery over the cover boundary to seal a five-wicket victory.Home skipper Paul Horton was left citing his own generosity in allowing Finch and Alex Lees time to change gloves, but he also paid proper tribute to the quality of the Australian opener as “the best T20 batsman in the world”.Few of the 16,000 sell-out crowd who watched Finch’s thunderous innings on Friday would dispute Horton’s judgement. Even the partisans whose chants recalled the glory days of Lancashire’s one-day history applauded the glorious Jessopian ferocity of the sixes which the Victorian struck off Jordan Clark’s final over. The first of these hit tested the topmost window of The Point, Lancashire’s nearly new hospitality facility; the second disappeared between the same building and Old Trafford’s new scoreboard and bounced away towards Altrincham.Yet remarkably, Finch also showed great patience, particularly during his 99-run second-wicket stand with Alex Lees. He defended the many good balls bowled by the Lancashire attack and bided his time on occasions. For all that he hit eight fours and five sixes, he displayed considerable nous in judging what was required, albeit that his dismissal – caught at short-third man by Junaid Khan off Tom Smith – seemed to leave Lancashire as favourites. The umpires may have then helped Yorkshire in their quest to score 36 runs off 17 balls but this was still about as good a game as the T20 format can produce.Lancashire’s innings was a curious cricketing sandwich. Inspired principally by Smith’s wonderfully clean hitting, the home side racked up 65 runs in the Powerplay overs, only to find their progress stalled by the slow bowlers Azeem Rafiq and Adil Rashid.A mere 15 came off the first four overs bowled by the Yorkshire spinners and that brief spell of control for the visitors included the loss of Smith’s wicket when Lyth, leaping on the long-off boundary palmed a booming straight drive back to Finch, who had raced across from long-on to assist matters. Even when one accepts that such dismissals have become almost routine in the rapidly developing world of T20, Lyth’s athleticism and quickness of mind still made one catch breath.Still well placed at 80 for 2 halfway through the innings, Lancashire maintained that rate of progress. The batsman responsible for that creditable progress was the frequently maligned Horton. In cricket’s endearingly bizarre argot, TV commentators and spectators have criticised Lancashire’s T20 skipper for plinking, clothing or smearing the ball, so awry seemed his timing on occasions. Yet when he was bowled in the final over by Olly Robinson, thus giving the 20-year-old Yorkshireman his maiden senior wicket, Horton had crafted his way to 60 off 45 balls and had once again produced a valuable innings in a format which, one might think, is scarcely suited to his accumulative diligence.Assisted by brief innings from Jos Buttler and the undefeated Steven Croft, Horton had guided his side to a very competitive 179, leaving Yorkshire as slightly second favourites. Rashid and Rafiq had been the best of Gale’s bowlers, both spinners varying their pace and making good use of the long boundaries prepared with Stephen Parry and Arron Lilley in mind. But Finch can take such plans and tear them up, so sharp is his eye and so explosive his power. On this balmy Manchester evening, the Australian did exactly that. It was wonderful stuff.

Matt Prior accepted that the England side was struggling for form but said that he was counting on the side’s ability to fight its way out of a corner in the third Ashes Test, which starts in Perth on Friday

George Dobell in Perth11-Dec-20130:00

Prior banks on England fightback

Had Matt Prior talked through a cigar and worn a Homburg hat, he could hardly have appeared more Churchillian.Leading the call to arms from England’s grim position in the series, Prior did not quite promise to fight Mitchell Johnson and co on the beaches and the landing grounds and in the fields and streets, but the overriding impression was pretty much the same. England have suffered their Dunkirk defeat at Adelaide; now is the time for their ‘finest hour’ in Perth. Well, Alastair Cook did call the Ashes something of a war.”This isn’t the time for mincing words,” Prior said. “It’s not the time for ‘positive this’ and ‘positive that.'”Sometimes you have to look at yourself straight in the mirror and know where you’re at as an individual and from a team point of view.”It’s all well and good me sitting here talking and going on about fight and hunger and everything. But the only way we’re going to show fight and hunger is out on that cricket pitch. With batsmen getting big hundreds, bowlers taking wickets and fielders diving on every ball. It doesn’t matter what other people want to see. That’s what we want to see in the dressing room. And that’s what we expect. We’ve got to go and do it.”The form book offers little encouragement for England. Quite the opposite, really. Not only have England been thrashed in the first two Tests of this series, but their record at Perth is awful: they have won there only once in their history – against an Australian side weakened by World Series Cricket – and they have lost all six of their most recent Tests there stretching back over two decades.Prior knows all this. He knows the form of England’s batsman has not been good enough, he knows the fielding has been substandard and he knows that Australia are playing with a confidence that will be hard to repress.But, in an odd way, he and the rest of the England camp have concluded that the best method of dealing with their predicament is to embrace it and accept that if they can turn the series around from here, it will be the greatest achievement of their careers.Matt Prior: “You expect to perform at a certain standard and I haven’t been doing that”•PA Photos”It doesn’t get any harder than this,” Prior admitted. “We’re two down in an Ashes series coming to Perth.”It’s been a very tough time for this team. Two-nil down is quite obviously not where we want to be. Not just two down but we’ve not played the sort of cricket we want to play. We haven’t won here for however many years.”But quite frankly that excites me. Records are there to be broken. There is a huge amount of hunger in this dressing room to turn this around.”We can absolutely, 100 percent, turn this around. When we get to this place we come out fighting. You have no option. You can sit there and sulk, moan, whinge and make excuses but you will just get beaten. You have to get rid of all that and fight.”Prior accepted his own form has been poor – before the second innings in Adelaide, he had not made a 50 in 16 Tests innings and had suffered three ducks in his previous five completed innings – but defended the record of England’s bowlers amid calls for changes in Perth.”It’s very hard to criticise our bowlers,” he said. “When they’ve come in fresh to an innings, they’ve bowled brilliantly. In the first innings in Brisbane, we could have done better, but to bowl Australia out for 295 on a very good wicket was a fantastic result. Then in Adelaide on the first day, we bowled fantastically well.”The problem is when you’re only batting for 50 overs in your first innings, the guys have to strap their boots on again straightaway. They’ve just done 100 overs and then have to go again. You’re not giving them enough opportunity to rest and come back strong.”You can look at different things from the bowling point of view but the first thing to address is to make sure we bat time and give the guys the opportunity to rest and recover to come in hard again. We know we’ve got the skill to take 20 wickets.”It’s very fair to say that I’ve not scored enough runs. You expect to perform at a certain standard and I haven’t been doing that. No one hurts more than me. You fight your battles, have your good and bad times but you have to stay positive and keep your belief.”I’ve done that. I’ve got one fifty. It’s not turned anything around. I start on nought again going into the first innings. I’ve got a nice bit of rhythm again and fingers crossed I can use that as a bit of a springboard for the rest of the series.”It’s a strange one because everyone talks about playing for your place, but the only thing I’m interested in is performing for the team. Helping us win or save games. If I’m not doing that, that’s what hurts me more. If I’m not the best player to play for England, that’s up to the selectors and I can’t worry about it.”Prior, at least, is certain to play in Perth. While England have admitted change is inevitable, it seems probable that Tim Bresnan, the seamer, replacing Monty Panesar, the left-arm spinner, will be the only difference in the team beaten in Adelaide. The chances of Panesar ousting Graeme Swann as first-choice spinner are vastly reduced by the contrast in the pair’s fielding in the second Test – Swann took an exceptional catch; Panesar was some way below the required standard. While England could go without a specialist spinner at all – Joe Root could provide variation – it seems that, in the heat of Perth and on a pitch offering some bounce, Swann could still have a role to play.Meanwhile the England management have confirmed they will not be adding any of the England Performance Programme squad to the Test party.

Ashok Menaria’s all-round efforts took India A to a series win against New Zealand A in the three-match unofficial ODI series

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMandeep Singh’s half-century helped India A chase the target with ease•BCCIAshok Menaria’s all-round efforts took India A to a series win against New Zealand A in the three-match one-day series. His first five-wicket haul in List A cricket preceded an unbeaten cameo to set up a six-wicket win in 38.5 overs in Vizag.After New Zealand were asked to bat, opener Anton Devcich, fresh off a century in the second four-day game, could not cope with the early movement on offer. His extravagant slash outside off left New Zealand one down in the second over. Dhawal Kulkarni landed another blow when he had a fluent Luke Ronchi playing around his pad. Ronchi’s efforts to retain a spot in the senior squad looked promising, but his 32-ball 34, including five fours and one six, became an example of a start that was wasted.Menaria had a hand to play in the next six wickets to fall, capitalising on a gross misunderstanding between Carl Cachopa and Tom Latham to have the latter run out. Sandeep Sharma’s acrobatics at mid-off limited Colin Munro’s stint at the crease to single figures and gave Menaria his first wicket, reducing the visitors to 90 for 4. But Cachopa dug in for New Zealand, much to the chagrin of Sachin Baby, who had spilled a chance at cover. Cachopa struck two crisp fours in the very next over and shepherded the innings with a solid knock of 80.New Zealand approached the last ten overs with Cachopa still in the middle but he slammed a long hop from Menaria straight into the hands of deep midwicket. Andrew Ellis, with whom Cachopa had the only fifty partnership of the innings, fell short in his efforts to clear the field in the 44th – Menaria’s final over. Three balls later, an advancing Scott Kuggeleijn was stumped and New Zealand were bowled out for 216, four overs later.India got off to a wobbly start, as Robin Uthappa outside edged the second delivery of the innings, but a diving Latham could not hold on. He profited briefly, smashing Mark Gillespie for 10 runs in the third over, before his drive into the covers was safely pouched.Unmukt Chand looked solid, taking Adam Milne for consecutive boundaries two overs after the wicket but his partner Aditya Tare underestimated Mark Gillespie’s bounce and edged to the keeper. An 89-run partnership between new man Mandeep Singh and Chand restored India’s advantage, as they slammed 22 runs in seven balls between the 11th and 12th overs. Both batsmen recorded half-centuries but could not add much more. Menaria arrived at the fall of Mandeep’s wicket and his 30-ball 37 ensured a victory with over 11 overs to spare.

Wrexham have been handed a timely injury boost, with Phil Parkinson saying that George Evans and James Jones are expected to “play again this season”.

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Evans & Jones have picked up knocksSet to undergo further scansWill rejoin top-three push at some stageWHAT HAPPENED?

Evans picked up a glute problem in the Red Dragons’ 2-1 win over Sutton United, while Jones limped out of a 1-0 victory against Notts County with a hamstring complaint. Both issues are more serious than first thought, with spells on the treatment table needing to be taken in.

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No timescale is being put on the recovery of either midfielder, despite the lack of numbers that Parkinson now boasts in his engine room. They will not be rushed back into action, but the hope is that neither has been seen for the last time in 2023-24.

WHAT PARKINSON SAID

Parkinson has said when delivering a fitness update on Evans and Jones ahead of Wrexham’s midweek trip to Forest Green Rovers: "I expect them to play again this season but they are facing longer term injuries than we first thought. We will get them both rescanned and we will know clearer when we have got those second scans."

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Getty/GOALWHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

Wrexham have 13 games left to take in this season, meaning that the clock is ticking for all of those currently stuck on the sidelines. Parkinson intends to make the most of those still at his disposal, with the plan being to line up another automatic promotion party for co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been hailed for leveraging their Hollywood status to "amazing" effect at Wrexham.

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American duo invested in Wrexham in 2021Overseen the club's return to the Football LeagueFinance guru expects celebrity ownership models to continueWHAT HAPPENED?

The American actors completed a £2 million takeover at Wrexham in February 2021, at which point the club were still competing in the National League. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have taken a hands-on approach at SToK Racecourse, silencing critics that claimed their move into football was merely a gimmick, and it reaped rewards in 2022-23 as Wrexham secured promotion back to the Football League after a 15-year absence.

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Celebrity owners are becoming more and more common as a result of Wrexham's success, with NFL legend Tom Brady the latest man to try his hand in English football as a co-owner at Championship club Birmingham City. Dr Christina Philippou, a Principal Lecturer in accounting, economics and finance at the Faculty of Business and Law, believes the trend will continue because of the huge impact celebrities can have when it comes to the commercial interests of football clubs.

WHAT DR CHRISTINA PHILIPPOU SAID

"It's a matter of a sporting celebrity bringing in money," Dr Philippou told . "Wrexham have a touch of Hollywood glamour, and the owners have been able to do amazing things by selling the story along with their on-pitch and community efforts. Leveraging that status sells and helps the commercial side, which in turn helps the on-pitch fortunes as the owners are able to input some of that money into the club."

She added: "Sports have a global reach now due to the likes of social media. All sorts of things have changed since those days, but being able to leverage celebrities is a big thing in terms of the commercial and broadcasting side of things. The [Lionel] Messi effect at Inter Miami had a massive impact on match-day prospects. There's a reason for celebrities to be there, and I think it will continue. The generations coming through now are even more savvy when it comes to influencers and who the big stars are. That culture is definitely growing, and moving with those would make sense from a commercial side. I don't think it's something we'll stop seeing anytime soon."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Wrexham's growth has also been helped by the success of the Disney Plus docuseries tracking their rise under Reynolds and McElhenney. 'Welcome to Wrexham' was recently renewed for a third season, but Dr Philippou has warned that continued progress on the pitch is the only way to guarantee that interest levels remain high. "There may not be a compelling story to tell if Wrexham had stayed outside the Football League. It would get harder and harder to sell the story," she said. "There is a link between results and general interest. We see that across every level. Match-day interest is never as high after a team gets relegated. Social media content certainly plays its part when it comes to the commercial side, sponsorship deals, and broadcasting. If you can prove online interest in your club and demonstrate true engagement, then sponsors will come calling, and that only helps the club. Sunderland Till I Die sold too, but for different reasons! There have been a couple of documentaries made during great or terrible seasons. The problem is not being able to tell. A few of the NFL All or Nothing documentaries have been made as the chosen club has had an average season, and they never sell particularly well as it makes for less interesting viewing."