The ICC could introduce its own fund from 2025 to strengthen Test cricket and allow associations outside the ‘Big Three’ to compete with more lucrative franchise leagues, ensuring they have access to a larger pool of talent.
The initiative, driven primarily by Cricket Australia chairman Mark Baird and supported by BCCI and ECB, aims to create a central fund that will provide a minimum standard match fee for players of all kinds, reportedly around $10,000 (around £7,600). It is hoped that an agreement will be reached before Christmas so that the initiative is fully operational next year.
Not only would this make Test cricket more attractive to players who are essentially opting out of the format to earn more money in short-format competitions around the world, but it would also reduce costs for the less cash-rich associations. The nine Test nations other than India, Australia and England (who do not have access to the funds) often make losses in Test cricket, and not just as hosts. Earlier this summer, outgoing Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave revealed that the tour of Australia earlier in the year had cost the association $2 million.
The fund, which is believed to be worth around $15 million (£11 million), is reportedly backed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah and ECB chairman Richard Thompson. It is currently in its inception phase and has not been formally discussed at board level or in the ICC’s executive committee, but Baird is confident.
“It is fantastic that the test match fund is developing a certain momentum,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We need to remove the barriers and encourage Test cricket to be the best of the best. To preserve that history and heritage that comes with the newer forms of white-ball cricket.”
Last month, ECB chief Richard Gould announced that Zimbabwe would receive a “travel fee” when the team arrives at Trent Bridge for a one-off Test on May 22. Gould had mooted the idea of hosts paying a fee to travelling teams a year ago, but concrete steps have only now been taken.
The economics of the global game are so skewed that the bodies have already negotiated reciprocal arrangements in one form or another. The ECB, for example, agreed to three additional T20Is for its 2023 limited-overs tour of the Caribbean, which has been a real moneymaker for the region. As a bonus to the West Indies Test Series in England last month, the ECB will facilitate a West Indies Under-19 tour of the UK.
