Essex County Cricket Club have made a joint bid with University of East Londonfor the right to takeover the Olympic Stadium once the London 2012 Olympic Games are finished.
This is a very exciting and bold move on the part of Essex Cricket Club. However, it does raise the question of what will happen to the Chelmsford ground if they succeed?
It is likely that the main interest in the Olympic Stadium would be to get closer to London to build on the Twenty20 success. Floodlit cricket is where the money is now – shorter games of 20 overs held in the evening after work. Many cricket fans will make the short hop to Stratford to watch some cricket after work. In 2011 the Essex ground at Chelmsford made a profit of £300,000, which is a reasonable profit for a second division cricket club.
Also, Essex will have ground worthy of hosting test matches which will boost revenues and hopefully raise awareness and increase influence for Essex Cricket Club.
Essex County Cricket Club have stated that they cannot provide any more details at the moment due to legal reasons. Hopefully we will learn more soon.
It would certainly be a a great loss for Chelmsford if Essex Country Cricket Club moved to Stratford.
There is also a bid from West Ham United.
