The sums have been eye-popping as English cricket experiences its IPL moment.

Hundred franchises sold in full or in part, with the financial windfall to be spread throughout the domestic and recreational game and hopefully prop it up for years to come.

London Spirit were valued at just shy of £300m as a consortium of US-based tech billionaires purchased 49 per cent of the Lord’s-based team for £145m.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire’s entire stake in the Northern Superchargers was bought by Sun Group – who own IPL outfit Sunrisers Hyderabad – for circa £100m, meaning the Headingley county could pay off the £15m debt they owe the Graves family in one go.

Six Hundred teams have had cash injections so far – Spirit, Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Manchester Originals, Welsh Fire and Birmingham Phoenix – with Trent Rockets and Southern Brave to follow over the coming days.

The total valuation so far has approached £800m, money that will not only help the host counties of Hundred sides, such as Lancashire, Surrey and Glamorgan, but also the rest.

Proceeds from the 49 per cent of teams sold by the ECB will be divided between the 18 first-class counties and the MCC, while if a host county sells all or part of their 51 per cent, 10 per cent of that money will also go to the counties and MCC.

So, is everything looking rosy for English cricket?

Atherton: I can’t see anything but a clash at some point

Michael Atherton told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “These are incredible, irrational sums and is hard to envisage how [these buyers and investors] will get that back in the near term – and that is the worry really.

“In order to get it back they may have to think about expanding The Hundred, playing more games, raising ticket prices. There is clearly a lot of uncertainty down the line.

“I can’t see anything but a clash at some point but all the non-hosts, whose futures might be more precarious, are going to get a windfall of about £20m.

“The key thing from their perspective is can they use this money to not only transform the balance sheet but also the business model? [They need to make sure] that in 10-15 years this money doesn’t drain away when there is nothing else to sell.

“Some counties will probably look to move to a multi-purpose venue as these cricket grounds that are a huge expense are not used for many days of the year.”

Atherton’s fellow Sky Sports pundit and former England captain Nasser Hussain is positive about the future but says vigilance is required to ensure The Hundred still caters for families and that franchise cricket does not endanger other parts of the sport.

He added: “Make no mistake, English cricket needs this money to survive. It is game-changing for some counties, it is going to save some counties and help some of the bigger counties who have debt.

Hussain: Think of families – and who is in charge?

“My underlying feeling is that it is good for English cricket but we need to be really switched on.

“The future, for me, is pretty dull if it is all about franchise cricket and people just follow the money. Cricket is about more than money, it is about caring and connection.

“If The Hundred becomes a T20 tournament it becomes a longer game and trying go get a double header in means you are finishing at 10.30, 11 o’clock at night.

“You are not going to get your families in if they can’t get the last train home from Southampton or wherever.”

“I am also confused as to who is in charge.

“Decisions have to made on team names, T20 or 100 balls, men’s game first or women’s game first. If someone owns 49 per cent, someone owns 51 per cent, someone owns 70 per cent, someone owns 100 per cent, who is in charge?

“The ECB might still have control of the tournament but what if the money men insist?”

London Spirit investor: Can we replicate IPL in the UK?

Nikesh Arora, the chairman and chief-executive of US cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, leads the consortium that has spent big on Spirit.

He says he is a fan of the 100-ball format, telling the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “To get more and more younger people interested, excited and engaged in cricket, we have to have a slightly shorter game and this fits the bill for now.”

Arora described his group as “kids who wanted to be really good at cricket who didn’t get there and who want to be back involved in the game” and admitted the attraction of a side based at Lord’s was the reason they forked out so much.

“You can say the current value doesn’t rack up, maybe it doesn’t,” added Arora, whose consortium includes Egon Durban, the chief executive of Silver Lake Management, Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

“But any sport, within reason, executed well has ended up confounding people – NBA, NFL, Formula 1. It’s about getting the right people and finding something people are passionate about.”

“When the IPL started, it was just an idea and it turned out amazing because you tugged at the heartstrings of people and built a product they were really excited about.

“Can we replicate that collectively in the UK?

“With all humility, some of our consortium members are the best business brains in the world. Not just business brains bit some have phenomenal sporting franchises – Egon owns part of Las Vegas Raiders [in the NFL].

“The way we have represented ourselves to Lord’s and English cricket is an on-demand consortium. If you want us to bring some expertise we will.”

Arora also had a message for those worried about English cricket’s direction of travel, adding: “The ECB has had the biggest windfall of its life.

“Nothing better could have happened than the ECB, whose charter is to improve all forms of, cricket getting flush with hundreds of millions of pounds.

“People who are sceptical should pause because there have never been so much capital and resources to support cricket.”

Watch the 2025 edition of The Hundred live in full on Sky Sports from August 5-31. You can also stream no contract with NOW.