2026-01-31-accounts - England And Wales Cricket Trust

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Classified as Confidentia

Company Registration No. 5483977 Charity No. 1112540

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee)

Annual Report and Financial Statements

31 January 2026

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Contents	Page
Officers and Professional Advisers	1
Trustees’ Report	2
Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities	11
Independent Auditor’s Report to Members of the England and Wales Cricket Trust	12
Statement of Financial Activities	16
Balance Sheet	17
Notes to the Financial Statements	18

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Officers and Professional Advisers

Directors and Trustees

Peter Ackerley Richard Gould Forhad Hussain Nimesh Kataria Sancha Legg Ruth Sienkiewicz Richard Thompson James Wood

Registered Office

Lord’s Cricket Ground St John’s Wood London NW8 8QZ

Registered Charity Number

1112540

Bankers

National Westminster Bank plc 127 Kilburn High Road London NW6 6JL

Solicitors

Bates Wells & Braithwaite LLP 2-6 Cannon Street London EC4A 6YH

Broadfield Law UK LLP One Bartholomew Close London EC1A 7BL

Auditor

KPMG LLP 15 Canada Square London E14 5GL

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report

Structure, governance and management

The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of Company Law, submit their report and the financial statements of England and Wales Cricket Trust (“The Trust” or “EWCT”) for the year ended 31 January 2026.

The Trustees comply with the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ effective from 2019 in preparing the annual report and financial statements of this charity.

The board of Trustees have overall responsibility for the direction, management and control of EWCT.

Objectives and activities

The objectives of the Trust are, for the benefit of the public, to:

(i) promote community participation in healthy recreation by providing facilities for playing cricket; and
(ii) promote all purposes as recognised as charitable under the laws of England and Wales through an association with cricket.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities and setting the grant-making policy for the year.

Achievements and performance

The key elements of the charity’s strategy are:

(i) to continue to deliver revenue funding to the recreational game to facilitate the existing community participation (particularly amongst boys’ and girls’ age group cricket) and enable increased participation amongst all levels of the recreational game;
(ii) to administer an interest free loan scheme for recreational cricket clubs. These loans are specifically for facilities at recreational cricket clubs to support their cricket programmes;
(iii) to provide facility grants both for cricket machinery and wider facility enhancements to support the recreational game; and
(iv) to support other cricketing charities and organisations whose objects are aligned with that of the Trust. In 2025/26, the Trust made donations to:
Chance to Shine £3,200,000 ( 2025: £4,515,200);
Lord’s Taverners £1,730,000 ( 2025: £1,850,000);
The ACE Programme £451,667 ( 2025: nil);
Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation (MCCF) £370,000 ( 2025: £390,500); and
South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) £67,500 ( 2025: £67,500).

The activities of the Trust in 2025/26 are funded using a combination of restricted funds from Sport England, KP Snacks and IG Index; as well as the Trust’s unrestricted and designated funds. The interest free loan scheme is funded wholly from the Trust’s unrestricted fund.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

Incorporation

EWCT, a private company limited by guarantee (No. 5483977), was incorporated on 17 June 2005 by a Memorandum and Articles of Association and is a registered charity (No. 1112540). The registered office of the company and Trust is Lord’s Cricket Ground, London NW8 8QZ

Trustees

The Trustees serving during the year were:

Trustees	Position with related parties
Peter Ackerley	Board Member, England and Wales Cricket Board; Member, Recreational Game Committee
Richard Gould	Board Member, Chief Executive Officer, England and Wales Cricket Board
Forhad Hussain	None
Nimesh Kataria	Board Member, Chief Finance Officer, England and Wales Cricket Board
Sancha Legg	None
Ruth Sienkiewicz	None
Richard Thompson	Chair, England and Wales Cricket Board
James Wood	None

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

The Board is made up of eight Trustees, three of whom are independent of the England and Wales Cricket Board Limited (“ECB”). The Trustees of EWCT are appointed by the ECB for their specific expertise in areas relevant to the charity. The Board commits to reviewing the individuals on the Board annually at a Trustees’ meeting and recommendations are then given to the ECB.

The Trustees meet at least once a year and on any other occasions as judged necessary to review progress and determine matters of strategy and policy, whilst leaving the day-to-day matters to the management team or to specific individuals. The management team consists of individuals with specific knowledge of Club and Facility Management and Development, Cricket Board Management and Development, and Finance.

New Trustees meet with the current Board members at the Trustees’ meeting, and prior to this with the Finance team responsible for the Trust, who provide relevant documents and information about the role. Any Trustee updates (e.g. from the Charity Commission) or decisions to be made are communicated by the Trust Accountant responsible for EWCT.

Risk management and internal control

The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that the Trust operates an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise, to provide reasonable assurance that the Trust is operating efficiently and effectively, and that the Trust complies with the relevant laws and regulations.

Powers

To further its objectives, the Trust may:

(i) provide grants and loans for capital improvements to grounds and facilities of community recreational sports clubs, Recreational Cricket Boards, charitable sports clubs and other bodies; and
(ii) provide and assist in the provision of money, materials or other help.

Grant policy

Grants payable are charged in the year when the offer is conveyed to the recipient except in those cases where the offer is conditional, such grants being recognised as expenditure when the conditions are fulfilled. Grants are approved and monitored by the relevant members of the management team.

Social Investment policy

The Trust administers an Interest Free Loan Scheme (IFLS), which aims to finance capital projects to help create a sustainable future for cricket. The scheme can be partnered with both the EWCT Strategic Grants and County Grants schemes and other external funding programmes.

The EWCT IFLS supports projects that could not otherwise be completed as some clubs cannot obtain commercial finance and the availability of grant funding has decreased over the past few years. The loan scheme also allows evidentially sustainable projects to be financed years ahead of schedule when compared to

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

the process of fundraising or building reserves. This in turn often allows clubs to increase revenues due to enhanced facilities, which allows, repayment of the loan, growth in membership and enhanced expenditure on community cricket activities.

The Trust requires clubs to have personal guarantors, who are jointly and severally liable for repayment of the loan in the event of a default, or occasionally (for large value loans) it takes out a legal charge over the club’s facilities.

Employees

The Trust does not employ any members of staff.

Reserves policy

The Trust plans to always maintain opening reserves so that during the year, as a minimum, reserves are at least:

(i) the level of interest free loans to be made to recreational cricket clubs; plus
(ii) the level of expenditure, both charitable spend and overheads, expected in the next 12 months.

To date, donations are usually received towards the end of the financial year while the majority of expenditure is at the beginning or in the middle of the financial year. The major donor and parent company (ECB) has a highly cyclical business, with annual profits varying significantly year-on-year. This means that on occasion, reserves may vary. For 2025/26, ECB, made a total donation of £37,500,000 during the year ( 2025: £27,000,000).

Investment policy

It is the policy of the Trust to place its investments in cash deposits which provide appropriate liquidity, and which are deemed to be of low risk as defined by the agreed Treasury Management policy.

Going concern

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts, as disclosed in the accounting policies.

As the Trust is funded by reserves, which at present are adequate to cover more than the next 12 months expenditure, there are currently no anticipated issues surrounding going concern. This is reviewed in further detail in the Basis for Preparation under Note 1 to the accounts.

Strategic report

Financial review and performance

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

During the period, the Trust received income from charitable activities amounting to £3,498,964 ( 2025: £979,780), the increase was due to additional Sport England funding for revenue grants.

The Trust made revenue grants to Recreational Cricket Boards (RCBs) amounting to £21,431,623 ( 2025: £11,457,307) in accordance with the new County Partnership Agreement (CPA) which stipulated an increase on these grants.

Other charitable spend was £15,267,333 ( 2025: £15,054,041) comprising of grants to cricketing clubs and organisations, and grants to charity partners.

The Trust held investments in the form of interest generating cash deposits during the year. Total interest generated from these investments in 2025/26 was £733,031 ( 2025 £1,073,251). This will be held in reserves as a ringfenced Emergency Fund available to help clubs in need of urgent financial assistance

The Trust held unrestricted funds of £40,831,821 ( 2025 all unrestricted funds: £36,761,407).

Financial commentary

The charity made a surplus of £4,070,414, compared to a surplus of £1,854,910 in the previous year. This was mainly due to the £37,500,000 donation from ECB in 2025/26 ( 2025 : £27,000,000) and an underspend on some RCB grant spending.

The principal donations received towards the Trust’s charitable activities were from ECB, Sport England, IG Index (for Cricket Cities projects), and KP Snacks (for new and refurbished synthetic cricket pitches). In addition to these donations, the Trust also generated income from investments, amounting to £733,031 ( 2025: £1,073,251).

The Trust’s expenditure has increased year-on-year mainly due to the new CPA 2 agreement (see Funding section below) which has resulted in more grants payable to RCBs. In 2025/26, £36,698,955 was spent on charitable activities, compared to £26,511,348 in the previous year.

Analysis of the Trust’s performance against objectives

As at 31 January 2026, interest free loans to recreational cricket clubs since the scheme began totalled £15,873,281 ( 2025: £14,156,268). During the period, the Trust paid out £1,717,013 in 92 new loans, and loan offers made to clubs but not yet advanced totalled £190,244 ( 2025: £165,472).

	2026	2025
IFLS Breakdown	£	£
Value of loans (range)	£1,490 to £100,000	£2,738 to £75,000
Number of loans	92	87
New loans paid out in period	£1,717,013	£1,328,928

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

Facilities grants paid 2025/26

In 2025/26 total grants to cricket clubs and other organisations were made totalling £9,448,166 ( 2025: £8,235,841 ). Of these grants, £9,373,166 were for facilities projects, and the remaining £75,000 was paid for an EWCT-administered revenue grant scheme supporting 150 clubs on behalf of the Disability Cricket Team.

£4,781,920 was paid out in strategic grants in 2025/26 via a combination of EWCT and partner funding (KP Snacks and IG Index). These include key investments into Priory Ruskin Academy and Dame Alice Owen School for sports hall refurbishment and build, respectively, and Luton Borough Council for a Cricket Dome pilot project.

The County Grants Fund paid out grants of £3,837,296 across thematic areas of Creating Welcoming Environments, Providing Enhanced Facilities or Playing Opportunities for Women and Girls, and Tackling Climate Change.

Type of grant	Number of grants	Paid by EWCT £	Paid by funding partners £	TOTAL £
Total Strategic Grants	42	4,301,920	480,000	4,781,920
Total County Grants	500	3,837,296	-	3,837,296
County Grants: Welcoming and Inclusive Environments*	262	1,797,682	-	1,797,682
County Grants: Providing Enhanced Facilities or Playing Opportunities	124	1,202,264	-	1,202,264
County Grants: Tackling Climate Change	114	837,350	-	837,350
Emergency Fund	22	490,990	-	490,990
Grass Pitch Improvement Fund (Wales)	10	262,960	-	262,960
Disability Cricket Champion Clubs	150	-	75,000	75,000
Total grants to cricket clubs and organisations	724	8,893,166	555,000	9,448,166

Excludes £98 for a grant contracted in the prior year but underspent when claimed in the current year as costs came in under budget. Adjustment reflected in the summary above.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

Summary analysis of expenditure and related income for charitable activities in 2026

	Grants to Recreational Cricket Boards £	Grants to cricketing charities £	Grants to cricket clubs/ organisations £	Total £
Costs	21,431,622	5,819,167	9,448,166 *	36,698,955
Grants received	2,443,964	500,000	555,000	3,498,964
Net cost funded from other income	18,987,658	5,319,167	8,893,166	33,199,991

Includes adjustment for unclaimed grant accrual of £98 for 2024/25 per previous table.

Funding

Funding continued in 2025/26 to the 38 RCBs under a renewed CPA agreement known as CPA 2. The CPA covered the period from 1[st] February 2025 to 31[st] January 2029, setting out the framework for the funding of recreational cricket in England and Wales during the term.

General EWCT funding (£13,500,000 ( 2025: £10,004,230) split across all RCBs, excluding any specific funding for the County Age Group competitions or other development programmes). From 2026/27, there is an uplift of £2,000,000 applied to this funding over the remaining CPA 2 term through the use of Recreational Game funds resulting from the ECB’s sale of the Hundred Teams..

This funding was used in line with the CPA to:

support the participation in, and consumption of, cricket by attracting and retaining players, volunteers, officials and coaches and providing safe and high-quality experiences for all;
proactively develop local cricket clubs and communities;
grow cricket participation across juniors (girls and boys) and adults (male and female);
provide an accessible playing offering that includes:
the delivery of relevant ECB national products and programmes;
a relevant offering for players from age 5 up, irrespective of age, location, ability and sex; and
a relevant offering delivered in cricket clubs, urban and other non-traditional cricket environments as appropriate;
ensure the requisite child safeguarding provisions are in place for activities run by their organisation and support local cricket clubs to meet the required standards;
develop the cricket workforce across volunteers, officials and coaches;
enable and support leagues to deliver competitions that recruit and retain players; and
grow the number of education institutions that offer cricket.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

The principal donor to the Trust is the ECB, and the ECB has determined un-ringfenced funding to be paid to RCBs for general running costs, County Age Group funding, development programmes and other county competitions.

In turn, the EWCT provides grant funding to the following cricket organisations: Chance to Shine, Lord’s Taverners, the MCCF, the Ace Programme, and SACA.

Risk management and internal control

The Trust has established systems and procedures in place to mitigate against and minimise the impact of its major strategic, business and operational risks.

The Trust has considered credit risk and believes that the exposure to this risk is equal to the total value of interest free loans outstanding. The controls put in place to reduce this risk are credit checks via detailed financial reviews, agreement of payment terms at the outset of the loan, club appointment of loan guarantors where applicable, and close contact with clubs throughout the terms of the loan. A general bad debt provision for 2.5% of the value of loans over 3 years old is made, plus any specific loans where payments are in arrears and/or subject to legal action.

Other Trust-specific risks have been identified as part of the group’s formal risk analysis exercise:

The impact on community cricket of reductions in public sector funding. The risk has been mitigated by the allocation of funding to the RCBs via the CPA agreement and by the Trust via strategic capital grants; and
Climate change (both drought and floods and storms). The impact has been partially mitigated by interest earned from the Trust’s investments being allocated to the Emergency Fund.

The Trust’s main objectives and activities for this five-year business cycle are:

(i) to administer the interest free loan scheme and aim to support the recreational game in accessing this financing source for cricket club facilities through ECB’s online Investment Management System (IMS);
(ii) to administer and distribute the County Grants Fund to recreational cricket clubs and other local cricketing organisations via the RCB and Foundation network and IMS;
(iii) to continue to support the RCBs and Foundations in line with revenue funding agreements (namely the CPA);
(iv) to continue to support other cricketing charities in line with the Trust’s own objectives;
(v) to oversee the liability insurance scheme for recreational cricket clubs; and
(vi) to provide support to recreational cricket clubs through special projects approved by the Trustees such as an emergency relief fund, a flood relief fund and/or a sustainable energy fund.

Auditor

Each of the persons who is a Trustee at the date of approval of this report confirms that:

so far as the Trustees are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company's auditor is unaware; and
the Trustees have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make themself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company's auditor is aware of that information.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust

(A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Trustees’ Report (continued)

This confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of s418 of the Companies Act 2006.

Pursuant to section 487 of the Companies Act 2006, the auditor is reappointed and KPMG LLP will therefore continue in office.

On behalf of the Board

Richard Gould Trustee

1 May 2026

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the expenditure and income for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether UK accounting standards are followed, subject to any material departures which are disclosed and explained;
assess the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and
use the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charitable company and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of England and Wales Cricket Trust

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of England and Wales Cricket Trust (“the Charitable Company”) for the year ended 31 January 2026 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, and related notes, including the accounting policies in note 1.

In our opinion the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the Charitable Company’s affairs as at 31 January 2026 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK accounting standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland ; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities are described below. We have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities under, and are independent of the Charitable Company in accordance with, UK ethical requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis for our opinion.

Going concern

The Trustees have prepared the financial statements on the going concern basis as they do not intend to liquidate the Charitable Company or to cease its operations, and as they have concluded that the Charitable Company’s financial position means that this is realistic. They have also concluded that there are no material uncertainties that could have cast significant doubt over its ability to continue as a going concern for at least a year from the date of approval of the financial statements (“the going concern period”).

In our evaluation of the Trustees’ conclusions, we considered the inherent risks to the Charitable Company’s business model and analysed how those risks might affect the Charitable Company’s financial resources or ability to continue operations over the going concern period.

Our conclusions based on this work:

we consider that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate;
we have not identified, and concur with the Trustees’ assessment that there is not, a material uncertainty related to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charitable Company's ability to continue as a going concern for the going concern period.

However, as we cannot predict all future events or conditions and as subsequent events may result in outcomes that are inconsistent with judgements that were reasonable at the time they were made, the above conclusions are not a guarantee that the Charitable Company will continue in operation.

Fraud and breaches of laws and regulations – ability to detect

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement due to fraud

To identify risks of material misstatement due to fraud (“fraud risks”) we assessed events or conditions that could indicate an incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to commit fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:

Enquiring of Trustees and other management and inspection of policy documentation as to the Charitable Company’s high-level policies and procedures to prevent and detect fraud, and the Charitable Company’s channel for “whistleblowing”, as well as whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of England and Wales Cricket Trust

Using analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships

We communicated identified fraud risks throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of fraud throughout the audit.

As required by auditing standards and taking into account our overall knowledge of the control environment, we perform procedures to address the risk of management override of controls, in particular the risk that management may be in a position to make inappropriate accounting entries. On this audit we do not believe there is a fraud risk related to revenue recognition because the vast majority of revenue relates to a donation from the parent company. In addition, the remuneration of employees is not linked to revenue-based metrics, which reduces the incentive to perpetrate fraud through fraudulent revenue recognition.

We did not identify any additional fraud risks.

We performed procedures including:

Identifying journal entries and other adjustments to test based on risk criteria and comparing the identified entries to supporting documentation. These included those posted to unusual accounts.

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement related to compliance with laws and regulations

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience, through discussion with the Trustees and other management (as required by auditing standards), and discussed with the Trustees and other management the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations.

We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of noncompliance throughout the audit.

The potential effect of these laws and regulations on the financial statements varies considerably.

The Charitable Company is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting legislation (including related companies legislation), the Charities Act, distributable profits legislation, and taxation legislation, and we assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

Whilst the Charitable Company is subject to many other laws and regulations, we did not identify any others where the consequences of non-compliance alone could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements.

Context of the ability of the audit to detect fraud or breaches of law or regulation

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it.

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of fraud, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. Our audit procedures are designed to detect material misstatement. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance or fraud and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

Other Information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information, which comprises the Trustees’ Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except as explicitly stated below, any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of England and Wales Cricket Trust

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether, based on our financial statements audit work, the information therein is materially misstated or inconsistent with the financial statements or our audit knowledge. Based solely on that work:

we have not identified material misstatements in the other information;
in our opinion the information given in the Trustees’ report for the financial year is consistent with the financial statements; and
in our opinion that report has been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:

the Charitable Company has not kept adequate accounting records or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of Trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

We have nothing to report in these respects.

Trustees’ responsibilities

As explained more fully in their statement set out on page 11, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the Charitable Company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view; such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; assessing the Charitable Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and using the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the Charitable Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s report. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but does not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements.

A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.

The purpose of our audit work and to whom we owe our responsibilities

This report is made solely to the Charitable Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charitable Company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charitable Company and the Charitable Company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Classified as Confidentia

England and Wales Cricket Trust

(A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2026

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of England and Wales Cricket Trust

Ashley Rees (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor

Chartered Accountants

15 Canada Square London

E14 5GL

1 May 2026

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 January 2026

Notes Unrestricted funds £ Income Donations and legacies 37,500,000 Income from charitable activities - Income from investments 733,031 Other income 1,514 Total income 38,234,545 Expenditure on Charitable activities (33,199,992) Other expenditure (964,140) Total expenditure 4(34,164,131) Net income/(expenditure) 2 4,070,414 Transfers between funds Net movement in funds - Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward 36,761,407 Total funds carried forward 9, 10 40,831,821	Restricted funds £ - 3,498,964 - - 3,498,964 (3,498,964) - (3,498,964) - - - -	2026 £ 37,500,000 3,498,964 733,031 1,514 41,733,509 (36,698,955) (964,140) (37,663,095) 4,070,414 - 36,761,407 40,831,821	2025 £ 27,000,000 979,780 1,073,251 1,454 29,054,485 (26,511,348) (688,227) (27,199,575) 1,854,910 - 34,906,497 36,761,407

The Trust’s income and expenses relate to both unrestricted and restricted funds and continuing charitable operations. The restricted funds are described in note 10.

The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.

The Trust has no recognised gains or losses other than the net increase in funds for the year.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Balance Sheet

As at 31 January 2026

Notes Fixed assets Investments 5 Current assets Cash at bank Investments 5 Prepayments Accrued income Social investments: amounts falling due within one year 6 Social investments: amounts falling due after more than one year 6 Debtors: amounts falling due within one year 7 Current Liabilities Amounts falling due within one year 8 Total assets less current liabilities The funds of the charity Unrestricted income funds 9 Restricted income funds 10 Total funds	2026 £ - - 39,921,174 127,834 477,500 3,130,094 1,191,977 3,080,153 - 47,928,732 (7,096,911) 40,831,821 40,831,821 - 40,831,821	2025 £ 2 2 35,631,754 122,644 266,168 92,645 1,159,414 2,757,672 237,135 40,267,432 (3,506,027) 36,761,407 36,761,407 - 36,761,407

These financial statements of England and Wales Cricket Trust, company registration number 5483977, were approved on 1 May 2026.

Richard Thompson

Trustee

Richard Gould Trustee

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements As at 31 January 2026

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements are prepared in accordance with applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards, the applicable requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘ Accounting and Reporting’ by Charities, FRS102, the Trust Deed, and the Companies Act.

The particular accounting policies adopted are described below and have been applied consistently throughout the year and the preceding year.

Per FRS 102, a public benefit entity (PBE) is an entity whose primary purpose is for public and social benefit and not to provide a financial return to its shareholders. The Trustees have assessed that the Company meets this definition, thus have accounted for any interest free loans as concessionary loans under section PBE34 of FRS 102 for the purposes of these financial statements.

England and Wales Cricket Trust (the “Company”) is a private company limited by guarantee and incorporated, domiciled and registered in England, in the United Kingdom.

These financial statements were prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland ( “FRS 102” ) . The presentation currency of these financial statements is sterling. All amounts in the financial statements have been rounded to the nearest £.

The Company’s ultimate controlling party, England and Wales Cricket Board Limited, includes the Company in its consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements of England and Wales Cricket Board Limited are prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (“FRS 102”) and are available to the public and may be obtained from Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, NW8 8QZ. In these financial statements, the company is considered to be a qualifying entity (for the purposes of this FRS) and has applied the exemptions available under FRS 102 in respect of the cash flow statement.

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which the Trustees consider to be appropriate for the following reasons.

The business model of the Trust is such that its charitable activities are limited to those which it has sufficient funds to support from the excess of funding received over the costs of administering the Trust. The Trust has sufficient cash reserves to cover any specific commitments for a period of 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements even if no further funding is received during the going concern period.

Consequently, the Trustees are confident that the Trust will have sufficient funds to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements.

Incoming resources

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (‘SOFA’) when the Trust is legally entitled to the income, is reasonably certain of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Donations and legacies are recognised in the SOFA in the period in which they are received and paid.

Income from charitable activities: Grant funding from Sport England, KP Snacks and IG Index is recognised in the period to which it relates and matched to the appropriate grant expenditure.
Investment income: interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable, and/or the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the Bank and is requested at year-end.

Grants payable are made to third parties in the furtherance of the charitable objectives of the Trust: either revenue grants (RCB and cricketing charities) or capital grants (cricket clubs and other appropriate applicants, e.g. local authorities).

Revenue grants

The Trust’s intention to pay a certain level of grants to RCBs is set out in the 2025-29 CPA 2 agreement, and a schedule of payments was sent out to each RCB at the start of the period. Payment schedules and conditions with charity partners are set out in separate contractual agreements and milestones are regularly monitored by ECB teams.

Capital grants

EWCT Strategic Grants are paid to applicants from a set budget, allocated nationally and by strategic objective. The individual grants are recognised once an offer letter has been made for the club to sign and return.
EWCT County Grants are paid to applicants from a formula-based budget allocated to RCBs.
• Grass Pitch Improvement Fund grants for Wales are paid to applicants based on proportionate match funding to Sport England funding for Wales (administered by ECB).
Emergency Fund grants are paid as required from the Trust’s accumulated investment income with an additional budget allocation. The grants are recognised once an offer letter has been made for the club to sign and return.

Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs have been allocated between governance costs and other support costs. Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice. These costs include costs related to statutory audit and legal fees together with an apportionment of overhead and support costs. The allocation of support and governance costs is analysed in note 4.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

Concessionary loans

EWCT make interest free loans to third parties which are repayable in line with agreed payment schedules. In line with FRS102 PBE34, Concessionary Loans are initially measured at the amount received or paid. In subsequent years, the carrying amount of concessionary loans in the financial statements is adjusted to reflect any accrued interest payable or receivable. To the extent that a loan is irrecoverable, an impairment loss is be recognised in the statement of financial activities.

Accounting convention

These accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention.

Company status

The Trust is a Company limited by guarantee.

The Member of the Trust (ECB) undertakes to contribute a sum not exceeding £1 to the assets of the Trust if it is wound up during its membership or within one year afterwards.

Resources expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they are allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of resources.

Grants are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities when a constructive obligation exists not withstanding that they may be paid in future accounting periods.

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the Trust which relate to the general running of the Trust as opposed to those costs associated with fundraising or charitable activity. Included within this category are costs associated with the strategic as opposed to day-to-day management of the Trust’s activities. Charitable activities include costs of grants.

Funds

Unrestricted funds are funds that are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Trust and which have not been designated for other purposes. Restricted funds relate to funds received from donors for specified purposes.

Tax

EWCT is a registered charity and, as such, is exempt from taxation on its income to the extent that the income is applied to its charitable purposes. This exemption is verified every six years, via a corporation tax computation to HMRC; the last return was submitted as at 31[st] January 2025 and resulted in a nil return. Assuming the Trust will continue to apply income for charitable purposes, the next computation will take place at 31 January 2031.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

Investments

Investments are held in the form of cash deposits and are determined as current or non-current based on whether they are planned to be reinvested over the next 12 months. Deposits with an intended investment term of longer than one year are classified as non-current investments.

Cash at bank

Cash at bank comprises cash deposits held in instant access accounts with RBS/NatWest bank.

Creditors and provisions for liabilities and charges

Liabilities are amounts due to creditors and any provision made due to a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefits to a third party based on a past event. These are measured at the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation at the balance sheet date.

2. Result for the year

Result for the year
	2026	2025
	£	£
Net income/(expenditure) for the year	4,070,414	1,854,910
Stated after charging:
Fees payable to the company's auditor for the audit of the company’s	45,907	29,720
annual accounts (inclusive of VAT)

3. Ultimate controlling party

EWCT is a company limited by guarantee, so has no share capital. On the basis that the Trust is a subsidiary of the England and Wales Cricket Board Limited, its financial results and position are consolidated into the group accounts of England and Wales Cricket Board Limited. Copies of these group accounts can be obtained from Lord’s Cricket Ground, London NW8 8QZ.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

4. Resources expended

Charitable activities Unrestricted funds Grants to Recreational Cricket Boards Grants to cricketing charities Grants to cricket clubs and organisations Restricted funds Grants to RCBs using revenue received from: Sport England IG Grants to Cricketing Charities using revenue received from: Sport England Grants to Cricket Clubs & Organisations using revenue received from: Sport England KP Snacks IG Other expenditure Support costs Total resources expended	2026 £ 18,987,658 5,319,167 8,893,166 33,199,991 2,343,964 100,000 500,000 75,000 380,000 100,000 3,498,964 964,140 37,663,095	2025 £ 11,457,307 6,299,555 7,774,706 25,531,568 - - 523,645 69,000 237,135 150,000 979,780 688,227 27,199,575

Revenue grants to the 38 RCBs contribute to their running costs, plus delivery of local cricket (including competitions) for all ages and abilities.

Grants are made to specialised institutions to assist them in delivering their cricket programmes.

Facilities grants to cricket clubs comprise a major grants scheme (Strategic Grants Fund) for largerscale facility improvements; a smaller grants scheme (County Grants Fund) for awards from £1,000 to £10,000+ for specific projects; Grass Pitch Improvement Fund grants for cricket clubs in Wales and an Emergency Fund for clubs affected by a crisis, for example flooding.

Revenue grants to cricket clubs comprise a fixed-amount grant (Disability Cricket Champion Clubs) which rewards clubs retrospectively that introduce or continue disability cricket programmes. A list of grants is available from EWCT.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

The Trustees did not receive any emoluments in respect of their services to the Trust nor any reimbursement in relation to out-of-pocket expenses for travel and subsistence during the period during the year or in the prior year.

Analysis of support and governance costs

The Trust identifies the costs of its support (club insurance, doubtful debts, and sundries) and governance (audit, legal, and bank). Refer to the table below for the basis for apportionment and the analysis of support and governance costs.

	General support £	Governance £	Total £	Basis of apportionment
Statutory audit costs	-	45,907	45,907	Governance - audit fees
Corporation tax audit costs	-	10,803	10,803	Governance - audit fees
Legal	-	36,309	36,309	Governance - legal fees
Club insurance scheme	837,252	-	837,252	General Support - insurance fees
Adjustment in general allowance for doubtful debt (loan scheme)	32,816	-	32,816	General Support - loans scheme
Bank charges	-	1,058	1,058	Governance - bank fees
Sundries	(5)	-	(5)	General Support
TOTAL	870,063	94,077	964,140

5. Investments

Non-current: All non-current investments comprise cash deposits with intended investment terms of longer than one year. In 2025/26, the balance of these at year end was nil ( 2025: £2).

Current: All current investments comprise cash deposits with investment terms of between three months and less than one year. In 2025/26, the balance of these at year end was £127,834 ( 2025: £122,644).

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

6. Social investments

Amounts falling due within one year (net of doubtful debts): Interest free loans to cricket clubs Emergency COVID-19 interest free loans to cricket clubs and leagues Total amount falling due within one year: Amounts falling due after more than one year (net of doubtful debts): Interest free loans to cricket clubs Total amount falling after more than one year:	2026 £ 1,191,977 - 1,191,977 3,080,153 3,080,153	2025 £ 1,158,414 1,000 1,159,414 2,757,672 2,757,672

As at 31 January 2026, interest free loans to recreational cricket clubs since the scheme began totalled £15,873,281 ( 2025: £14,156,268).

In addition, loan offers made to clubs but not yet advanced totalled £190,244 ( 2025: £165,472).

In 2025/26 £80,223 allowance for doubtful debts has been made ( 2025: £47,959), which constitutes a general provision of 2.5% of the outstanding loan balance older than 3 years plus a specific provision.

Programme related investments (interest free loans) Loans outstanding at start of year Less loan repayments during year New loans advanced during year Loans outstanding at end of year Provision for doubtful debts Loans outstanding at end of year	2026 £ 3,961,207 (1,325,867) 1,717,013 4,352,353 (80,223) 4,272,130	2025 £ 3,729,147 (1,096,868) 1,328,928 3,961,207 (45,121) 3,916,086

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

COVID-19 related investments (interest free loans) Loans outstanding at start of year New loans advanced during year Less loan repayments during year Loans outstanding at end of year Provision for doubtful debts Loans outstanding at end of year Debtors Amounts falling due within one year: Partnership funding Creditors Amounts falling due within one year: Grant claim accruals Other accruals Grants payable Deferred income - Sport England RCB grants	2026 £ 1,000 - (1,000) - - - 2026 £ - - 2026 £ 3,217,498 22,377 3,014,156 842,880 7,096,911	2025 £ 39,560 - (35,723) 3,837 (2,837) 1,000 2025 £ 237,135 237,135 2025 £ 2,825,714 138,400 541,913 - 3,506,027

7. Debtors

8. Creditors

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

9. Fund balances

Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds

General fund Designated Emergency fund Total funds 2025/2026 Total funds 2024/2025	Balances as at start of year £ 35,551,901 1,209,506 36,761,407 34,906,497	Incoming resources £ 37,501,514 733,031 38,234,545 28,074,705	Resources expended £ (33,673,141) (490,990) (34,164,131) (26,219,795)	Transfers £ (350,000) 350,000 - -	Balances as at end of year £ 39,030,275 1,801,546
					40,831,821
					36,761,407

The unrestricted fund includes all general donations.

10. Analysis of movements in restricted funds

Sport England KP Snacks IG Index Total 2025/2026 Total 2024/2025	Balances as at start of the year £ - - - - -	Incoming resources £ 2,918,964 380,000 200,000 3,498,964 979,780	Resources expended £ (2,918,964) (380,000) (200,000) (3,498,964) (979,780)	Transfers £ - - - - -	Balances as at end of year £ - - -
					-
					-

Name of restricted fund	Description, nature andpurposes of the fund
Sport England	The funds are required to be used to aid the delivery of development programmes and monitoring processes in line with the Trust’s national policy (England only).
KP Snacks - Community Cricket Pitches	From 2023 to 2026 100 non-turf cricket pitches will be installed or refurbished throughout England and Wales at sites within proximity of each of the team cities linked to the Hundred.
IG Index - Net Gains	A joint commitment to invest in new public cricket net facilities across the countryin under-served communities in England and Wales.

Classified as Confidential

England and Wales Cricket Trust (A company limited by guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) Year ended 31 January 2026

11. Related parties

The Trust’s ultimate controlling party is the ECB. As such, donations from the ECB received in year amount to £37,500,000 ( 2025: £27,000,000). No other transactions took place in year between the Trust and ECB.