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• The Hundred overhaul ‘not something that’s on agenda’ for ECB boss Richard Gould

  Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has insisted making changes to the format of The Hundred is “not something that’s on my agenda”.

  The peak summer month of August has been controversially ring-fenced for the third season of The Hundred, which still polarises opinion among cricket fans and is exclusively played in the UK.

  Reports last month suggested its structure was being considered and the theory gained traction with the news Sanjay Patel, mastermind and managing director of The Hundred, would leave the ECB in September.

  But Gould argued the distinction between the 100-ball competition and its T20 rivals abroad is a selling point and admitted Sky and the BBC, the ECB’s broadcast partners, are champions of The Hundred.

  “In a crowded market, it is a point of difference,” Gould said on the Final Word podcast. “The format is not something that’s on my agenda, in this regard.

  “Sky have been really supportive in driving it forward, it’s given us that point of difference and everyone in the cricketing world has heard of The Hundred, that’s a good thing.

  “As long as people are talking about the game, I’m happy.

  “There is always going to be arguments with competition, as to what we do and where we go next but we will be utterly pragmatic and more focused on progressive improvement and we will do it in a collaborative manner where everybody can feel involved.”

  According to a report from Worcestershire chair Fanos Hira, the competition made a £9million loss in its first two seasons, a figure disputed by the ECB which says a profit of £11.8m was achieved.

  Gould and ECB chair Richard Thompson were once prominent critics when The Hundred was first broached during their stints in identical roles at Surrey but the pair’s stance has softened appreciably.

  But while Gould sees substantial upsides to The Hundred, he believes there is room for improvement amid a proliferation of domestic white-ball competitions from all over the world fighting for attention.

  “You see the competition we’re in globally now and every country needs to have a super primetime white-ball domestic competition,” Gould said.

  “We have invested very heavily in The Hundred over a number of years, both emotionally and financially.

  “We are not going to take The Hundred out, we are going to make it bigger and better. We’re going to make the whole of cricket bigger and better, that is our aim.

  “I think the level of investment that has gone into The Hundred has delivered really good returns in terms of a new audience. The broadcasters really enjoy it, the BBC have put it on free-to-air.”

  Gould, who has already opened the door for multi-year central contracts and increased match fees for England players, accepted salaries in The Hundred may need to go up to compete with its market rivals.

  Currently, the highest bracket for the men in The Hundred is £125,000 while for women it is £31,250.

  “Salaries will need to go up, not just for The Hundred but also for international cricket because we can see there is a global market for players,” Gould added.

  “The difficulty for the ECB and our revenues is we have so many mouths to feed whereas the franchise tournaments can just take the cream off the top, they don’t get charged for the players, they’re very efficient models at getting money back into the players’ pockets but they’re not funding the pathway.

  “We’re always going to fund the pathway but having a really strong and healthy pathway is the secret to long-term success, you’ve got to have the players.”

• Stuart Broad claims four as England take charge against Ireland at Lord’s

  Stuart Broad edged closer to adding his name to the Lord’s honours board but all-rounder Curtis Campher held up England’s charge in the afternoon session to guide Ireland to 162 for seven at tea.

  Broad ripped through the Ireland top order during the first hour of the one-off Test with three wickets to reduce the tourists to 64 for four despite Paul Stirling’s entertaining knock of 30

  When opener James McCollum edged behind soon after lunch to depart for 36 to give Broad a fourth scalp, Ireland were wobbling on 98 for five but Campher held firm.

  Jack Leach grabbed his second scalp and Matthew Potts claimed a first Test wicket since August, but Campher’s unbeaten 32 saw Ireland make it through a second session.

  England’s journey to Lord’s from their Kensington hotel had been delayed by five minutes due to Just Stop Oil protesters and enhanced security measures were put in place by the MCC to thwart any potential disruptions during the four-day Test.

  With overcast conditions and a green wicket at the Home of Cricket, it was no surprise when Ben Stokes put Ireland into bat after he won the toss and Broad quickly set about trying to get his name on the honours board again.

  In the absence of rested duo James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, the Nottinghamshire seamer produced a fine opening spell of three for 14 from five overs.

  It did take Broad until the third over to make the breakthrough but Peter Moor, fresh from a century in the warm-up fixture at Essex last weekend, was pinned in front lbw for 10.

  Broad’s next over produced even more drama with Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie out for a five-ball duck after he edged to second slip where Zak Crawley took an excellent low catch diving to his left.

  Harry Tector followed his skipper back to the pavilion two balls later when he inexplicably flicked straight to Potts at leg slip but Broad was denied a hat-trick opportunity when an lbw decision against Stirling was overturned on review after ball-tracker showed it was missing leg stump.

  It enabled Stirling to lead a mini-recovery for Ireland but his enterprising 30 was ended when his attempted sweep flicked off his glove and gave Jonny Bairstow a simple catch behind the stumps to help Leach get off the mark this summer.

  Stirling had put on 45 for the fourth wicket with opener McCollum, who made it to lunch unbeaten on 29 but his pursuit of a maiden Test fifty ended early into the afternoon session.

  Again it was the third over of Broad’s spell that did the trick, with McCollum squared up and only able to edge to Joe Root at first slip to depart for a hard-fought 36 off 108 deliveries.

  Warm applause greeted Ireland’s hundred via a single from Lorcan Tucker, but the wicketkeeper became Leach’s second victim when he was hit on his front pad and a review adjudged the delivery to be clipping off-stump.

  Campher and Andy McBrine tried to shift the momentum and take the attack to England, but Potts had the last laugh when the latter edged behind an 88.9mph delivery to Bairstow.

  Debutant Josh Tongue continued to admirably back up the England attack and hit 91mph at one stage, but Campher survived his sharp bouncer and a concussion check to reach tea unbeaten.

• Chanderpaul scores unbeaten 83 as West Indies 'A' set Bangladesh 'A' a target of 461; hosts reach 47-0 at stumps

  West Indies ‘A’ will have to take 10 wickets on Friday’s final day if they are to win the third unofficial Test against Bangladesh ‘A’ at the Syhlet International Stadium.

  At stumps on Thursday, Bangladesh reached 47 without loss in their second innings, still needing to score 414 more to achieve a most unlikely victory.

  Resuming from their overnight score of 157-7 with Nasum Ahmed on seven and Tanzim Hasan Sakib on 17, Bangladesh ‘A’ were bowled out for 205 thanks to Nasum Ahmed’s unbeaten 38.

  Hasan Sakib failed to add to his overnight score when he was bowled by Veerasammy Permaul, who took all three remaining Bangladeshi wickets to finish with figures of 3-38. Kevin Sinclair took 2-75 and Anderson Phillip 2-36.

  With a healthy lead of 240 runs, the West Indies declined to enforce the follow-on and went in search of quick runs. Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored 83, his second such score of the match as the West Indies raced to 220-5 from 55.2 overs. Captain Joshua da Silva contributed an unbeaten 47, his third such score of the series.

  Saif Hasan was the chief wicket-taker with 3-62 while Nasum Ahmed supported with 2-56.

  Set a mammoth 461 for victory, Bangladesh ‘A’ still have a mountain to climb to achieve victory on the final day. Mahmudul Hasan Joy will resume on 28. With him at the crease is Zakir Hasan on 14.

  West Indies ‘A’ lead the series 1-0.