CHELSEA owner Todd Boehly has plunged into cricket by paying £40million for a 49 per cent stake in Trent Rockets.

The team competes in The Hundred, which is a short-form 100-ball event that started in 2021.

Boehly has been in talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) since October when the first round of bidding ended.

The Chelsea chief extends his portfolio to cricket alongside fellow Blues director Jonathan Goldstein via business Cain International.

They have entered a period of exclusivity with Nottinghamshire CCC, who will retain a controlling (51 per cent) stake in the franchise.

American Boehly, who led a consortium which bought Chelsea for £4.25billion in 2022, has stakes in many other teams including baseball’s LA Dodgers.

Their deal will take proceeds from the eight-team Hundred sell-off to around £500million, with one side still to go under the hammer.

Other investors include three IPL franchises, an IT entrepreneur, a consortium of cricket-mad tech tycoons and the owners of Birmingham City, who include NFL legend Tom Brady.

The money will be shared by the recreational game, the 18 counties and MCC.

Meanwhile, England play their final ODI in India tomorrow with Mark Wood insisting they need more time to fire under Brendon McCullum.

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England have lost six matches out of seven in India since McCullum took charge of all formats.

Fast bowler Wood said: “Some of the guys are starting under a new coach. It takes time. The Test team was in a different place to the white-ball team.”

Batsman Tom Banton, called up for the injured Jacob Bethell, could play his first match for England since 2020.