New Bears boss has held talks about renaming Edgbaston cricket ground

The new boss of Warwickshire Cricket Club has already had talks over renaming the historic Edgbaston ground.

Neil Snowball, who has taken over from Colin Povey as chief executive of the Bears , said several parties had expressed an interest in naming rights.

However, he said no decision had been taken and he would only do a deal with the right partner.

Talk over naming rights has circled round Edgbaston for years and in 2013 the Mail revealed Birmingham City Council was considering a £4 million deal to call it the City of Birmingham Edgbaston Stadium before a u-turn .

When asked whether he planned a commercial deal to re-name Edgbaston, Mr Snowball said: “We might do. Naming rights is something that has been bubbling along for some time.

“If there is a partner there that would really work well with us over a long-term, then we would consider that.

“We are talking to quite a few but we are not there now.

“They have got to be the right partner – it is not like we are touting around to anyone – we have got to think about the city as this is a massive opportunity for Birmingham to promote itself across the world.

“The short answer is yes, there is still a chance, but we will only do it if there is a partner with the right value.”

Mr Snowball, part of the organising committees for Rugby World Cup 2015 and London 2012, has called for major changes to cricket, both domestically and internationally, in England.

He believes there should only be a maximum of six grounds hosting English Test Matches – which would mean an end to the likes of Cardiff and Durham.

He has called for the England and Wales Cricket Board to focus on Lord’s, the Oval, Edgbaston, Old Trafford, Headingley and Trent Bridge.

“You can’t have nine international cricket grounds chasing after what is a shrinking amount of Test cricket,” he said. “I think the ECB should go back to having five or six grounds that have Test cricket and ODIs.

“If the number of international Twenty20 matches is going to increase, you could share some of those around to the likes of Durham or Glamorgan or Taunton or Bristol but I don’t think it makes sense to be taking Sri Lanka to Durham in May. That is a tough sell.

“So I think there needs to be a fundamental change and give five or six grounds certainty, knowing they are going to get Test matches and one-day internationals. Then the ECB need to look at now they distribute the money.”