The ECB has been accused of being “disconnected from reality” in their financial projections for the Hundred and valuations of the eight franchises.

In a 87-page document distributed to interested investors and seen by Telegraph Sport, the ECB claims that domestic TV rights will rise from £54 million to £85 million annually from 2029.

The document – entitled Project Gemini Information Memorandum and produced by the Raine Group, the American bank handling the sale – also projects that Indian TV rights will rise from £1.3 million annually to £1.8 million per year from 2026 to 2029, and then increase to a whopping £15 million per year from 2030 despite the fact Indian players are currently unable to play in leagues outside their own country.

The glossy brochure also predicts that North American television rights, currently valued at just £200,000 per year, will rise to £5 million per year from 2027, before a further jump to £15 million annually from 2030. That would be an increase of 7,500 per cent on the current deal and the result of what the bid prospectus says is the competition’s “global popularity surge”.

Lalit Modi, the man behind the Indian Premier League, called the numbers “far fetched” and also took aim at the ECB’s valuation of the franchises.

The ECB has not publicly put a figure on its valuation of the Hundred franchises but sources have indicated the game hoped to raise up to £500m from the sale. But Modi believes it will fall far short. He believes London Spirit to be worth around £25m, Manchester Originals £8.5m.

‘Unlikely the Hundred will attract the necessary audience’

“The ECB’s financial projections for The Hundred, particularly beyond 2026, appear overly optimistic and disconnected from reality,” said Modi in a statement posted on X.

“The International TV rights figures make little sense, given the global competition from other cricket leagues like the IPL. It’s unlikely the Hundred will attract the necessary international audience to justify these inflated numbers.

“Domestically, while an increase in TV rights from £54 million to £85 million is plausible, the optimism around sponsorship post-2027 is far-fetched. The ECB’s hope for sustained sponsorship growth into 2029-30 seems more like wishful thinking than a realistic forecast.