THE BREAKDOWN: Does County Cricket Have a Future, ‘Small’ Clubs Are Outsmarting The Elite & Chelsea’s Alonso Move (E20)

About this episode

The episode discusses the future of county cricket, the success of smaller football clubs, and recent sports news including Chelsea's transfer of Alonso.

What a week. If you’re here for a bit of Spygate, we released a bonus show yesterday just on that topic. When we recorded this, the outcome hadn’t been confirmed. But what we did have is a huge week of topics to catch up on, from Alonso joining Chelsea to Salah throwing Slot under the bus again to Jannik Sinner winning the Masters Golden Slam. Add to this a long awaited look at county cricket in England using the chaos happening at Lancashire to anchor the chat, plus a review of why so many smaller football teams are achieving miles above expectation and putting their big spending rivals in the shade, and we have ourselves a Breakdown. Disclaimer: The content of this podcast is intended as commentary and opinion on matters of public interest in the sports industry. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, figures, statistics, and financial data referenced may be based on publicly available estimates and could be subject to error or change. Nothing in this podcast should be taken as a statement of fact. If you believe any information is inaccurate, please contact us at ⁠charlie@20vc.com⁠ and we will endeavour to correct the record promptly. We’re delighted to partner with…

People in this episode

Hosts: Charlie Stebbings, Harry Stebbings

Topics covered

• County Cricket
• Chelsea Transfer
• Small Clubs Success
• Spygate
• Football Commentary
• Sports Industry Analysis

Keywords

• County Cricket
• Chelsea
• Alonso
• Small Clubs
• Spygate
• Jannik Sinner
• Football
• Sports Commentary

Sponsors

Obelisk Sports Agency, Global Institute Of Sport

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chelsea, Lancashire

More episodes of Business of Sport

• FIFA’s Big World Cup Mistake, Horse Racing’s Civil War & England Cricket at it Again (E23) · June 12, 2026 · 1h 20m
• Jean-Éric Vergne: How To Recover From Losing Your F1 Seat (Ep123) · June 9, 2026 · 1h 8m
• THE BREAKDOWN: Should the Olympics Pay Athletes, The Problem Facing Women’s Football, & F1 Lands Another Mega Deal (E22) · June 5, 2026 · 1h 28m
• Kieran Gibbs: Arsenal’s Title Win, The Bitcoin Salary & Moving to Beckham’s Miami (Ep122) · June 2, 2026 · 1h 23m
• THE BREAKDOWN: Premier League Winners & Losers, Enhanced Games Makes Its Entrance, & The World of Rugby League (E21) · May 29, 2026 · 1h 28m
• Kyle Edmund: “When you’re 13 you DON’T really understand the call you’re making” (Ep121) · May 26, 2026 · 1h 34m