The England and Wales Cricket Board are looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling shares in the eight franchises which take part in The Hundred — London Spirit, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Birmingham Phoenix, Manchester Originals, Welsh Fire, Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets.

The public is used to crackpot academics whining about the wickedness of the British Empire, and not long ago I read about one who complained about how our forebears had “exploited” the people of India by making them play our sports,