India vs England: Plane flies over Headingley with a message | Watch

While India put up a fight against England in the third Test, an air plane was seen flying over Headingley on Friday with a message that said ‘Sack ECB, Save Test Cricket’. It, reportedly, did several laps of the stadium. However, it is not known who commissioned the fly-pass but the dissatisfaction with the English Cricket Board was clearly presented. 

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This incident took place about a week after ‘The Hundred’ a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament was hosted by the ECB. The format received criticism from many said it would affect county and Test cricket. 

The former Somerset chairman and an ECB board director from 2004-2018, Andy Nash, told the Daily Mail that The Hundred had a severely detrimental impact on the county cricket schedule. 

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“The 50-over Royal London Cup has been downgraded. When I was at the ECB, we had a 10-year plan to win the World Cup in the men’s game and the women’s game. Both were achieved, an absolute high point in English cricket.”

“And here we are in the middle of waiting for the next World Cup in 50 overs and we are no longer playing it. It’s now a second XI competition where you’ve had less than a week between the quarter-finals and the final, which is laughable,” he said. 

The ECB said that about 90% of approximately 450,000 tickets were sold before the eliminator game and the final, with 22,500 given away free, as per the Daily Mail.

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Post The Hundred’s success, ECB officials led by chief executive Tom Harrison are said to be rewarded with bonus pot of £2.1million. This caused backlash as English cricketers took a pay cut during the pandemic and the board, reportedly, let go 62 employees last year due to a financial crisis. 

However, the intention behind the message on the air plane is still unknown. The ECB has not made any statement. 

Meanwhile, popular pitch invader Jarvo was seen coming in as a No 4 India batsman on Day 3 at Leeds. He was taken off the pitch immediately.