Dean Jones
By Dean Jones
January 3, 2020 — 11.30am
There is a lot of political manoeuvring going on behind closed doors in the cricket world as we speak, and cricket's prime time is the main battleground.
Key cricket personnel in Australia, India and England have been told the International Cricket Council is proposing to schedule a World Cup or Champions Trophy (one-day or Twenty20) every year from 2023 to 2030. And where will most of these tournaments be played? You guessed it, in Australia, India and England.
The major problem for hosting nations is that these tournaments eat into much of their prime-time cricketing calendar, and the host countries actually lose out. Cricket Australia, for example, makes more dollars from Test matches, international T20s, ODIs and the Big Bash League than a World Cup or Champions Trophy.
Everyone has an agenda. The three major shareholders are the ICC, the national cricket boards and the players. The ICC makes its money from the world tournaments it organises. The ICC votes for the country that will host the tournament, and in the past the hosts got a nice fee for doing so.
But people within the game have been told the ICC wants to abolish these fees and take control of various revenue streams for their tournaments.
"Our biggest problem right now is scheduling," Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts said on Macquarie Sports radio this week.
"We can't fit everything in and keep Australian cricket strong at the same time.
"Over the next 12-18 months we have to finalise our international schedule for 2023 to 2030 and we have some big hurdles to get over."
THE ICC VIEW
The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance of the game. The money the ICC generates will be distributed to the 12 full members and 92 associate countries.
Many countries are struggling financially. Even the newly appointed full member Cricket Ireland could not hold a Test match because they are struggling with financial constraints.
As cricket grows, the ICC realises it needs more money. The only way it has identified of generating more money is to create more events, which in turn will create more commercial partners. These events will no doubt bring in more dollars from broadcast and digital fees as well as sponsorship. Interestingly, it looks likely that digital fees will surpass broadcast rights in the next four years.
The ICC will no doubt try to gain more votes outside of India, Australia and England to host these tournaments. The other cricket boards around the world rely on massive grants from the ICC to survive.
The ICC is considering mandatory four-day Tests, so it will create more opportunities in the calendar. Will Test cricket cope with that? Who knows – but it will eradicate two-Test series and will create a better opportunity for three-Test series.
THE BIG THREE VIEW
India, Australia and England run cricket globally. Their combined financial turnover is about 85 per cent, so they have some serious pull.
But the big three are very reluctant to give up their prime time for the ICC. An ICC plan to control all of the venues' ticketing, ground advertising, merchandising and sponsorships will no doubt be a deal-breaker.
Cricket Australia's prime time is from November to February, and that period is under pressure from the AFLW, AFL pre-season and the Australian Open. This is why long BBL and T20 tournaments are scheduled in February – to protect cricket's patch in the summer calendar.
One of CA's roles is to keep growing the game within Australia. They also must make it lucrative for the players and try to keep the cricketing standards high for the fans.
Even though we had a massive crowd for the Boxing Day Test, this summer's Tests have fallen short of expectations, with four one-sided matches before the final Test at the SCG. CA knows Australia need to keep playing teams such as India and England to maintain interest.
The big three have found a little opening in international scheduling and are considering a Super Series ODI tournament (involving four countries) for October-November 2021. I have no doubt this will be locked in before the ICC cements its international future tours program for 2023-30. Maybe even a Commonwealth Test series could be scheduled?
THE PLAYERS' VIEW
Make no mistake, the players love playing in world events. They love it because the tournaments have some meaning. With all of the trivial ODI and T20 series being played, they would definitely want to play in these proposed tournaments. No doubt fans would agree.
In 2019, Australia played 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and eight T20s. Throw in the Indian Premier League, BBL and other domestic cricket and the players' calendars are full. Adding another tournament into the calendar will no doubt put players under even more pressure. We already are seeing players taking a break as they are feeling "cooked" from playing too much cricket.
The players' mental health and wellbeing is the No.1 priority for the Australian Cricketers Association and Federation of International Cricketers' Associations. Players contracted by CA don't get much respite and are constantly told where to play and what to do. Most of the players hate playing in token, lacklustre series with nothing really at stake.
I feel sorry for CA and the players. If the boards put too much pressure on the players, the game won't be sustainable. And the pressure placed on Cricket Australia by the ICC is not helping CA's financial ability to grow the game and forge the pathway for our future heroes.
I feel all three shareholders will have to make massive compromises to find a balance to make this work. It seems every shareholder wants control and money.
It may well be the players who end up deciding. And who knows what will happen then. A world rebel league?
ANNUAL WORLD EVENTS:
PROPOSED SCHEDULING
2023 World Cup ODI India
2024 World Cup T20 (20 teams)
2025 Champions Trophy ODI (8 teams)
2026 Champions Trophy T20 (10 teams)
2027 World Cup ODI
2028 World Cup T20 (20 teams)
2029 Champions Trophy
2030 Champions Trophy T20
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/the-battle-for-cricket-prime-time-20200102-p53oan.html
By Dean Jones
January 3, 2020 — 11.30am
There is a lot of political manoeuvring going on behind closed doors in the cricket world as we speak, and cricket's prime time is the main battleground.
Key cricket personnel in Australia, India and England have been told the International Cricket Council is proposing to schedule a World Cup or Champions Trophy (one-day or Twenty20) every year from 2023 to 2030. And where will most of these tournaments be played? You guessed it, in Australia, India and England.
The major problem for hosting nations is that these tournaments eat into much of their prime-time cricketing calendar, and the host countries actually lose out. Cricket Australia, for example, makes more dollars from Test matches, international T20s, ODIs and the Big Bash League than a World Cup or Champions Trophy.
Everyone has an agenda. The three major shareholders are the ICC, the national cricket boards and the players. The ICC makes its money from the world tournaments it organises. The ICC votes for the country that will host the tournament, and in the past the hosts got a nice fee for doing so.
But people within the game have been told the ICC wants to abolish these fees and take control of various revenue streams for their tournaments.
"Our biggest problem right now is scheduling," Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts said on Macquarie Sports radio this week.
"We can't fit everything in and keep Australian cricket strong at the same time.
"Over the next 12-18 months we have to finalise our international schedule for 2023 to 2030 and we have some big hurdles to get over."
THE ICC VIEW
The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance of the game. The money the ICC generates will be distributed to the 12 full members and 92 associate countries.
Many countries are struggling financially. Even the newly appointed full member Cricket Ireland could not hold a Test match because they are struggling with financial constraints.
As cricket grows, the ICC realises it needs more money. The only way it has identified of generating more money is to create more events, which in turn will create more commercial partners. These events will no doubt bring in more dollars from broadcast and digital fees as well as sponsorship. Interestingly, it looks likely that digital fees will surpass broadcast rights in the next four years.
The ICC will no doubt try to gain more votes outside of India, Australia and England to host these tournaments. The other cricket boards around the world rely on massive grants from the ICC to survive.
The ICC is considering mandatory four-day Tests, so it will create more opportunities in the calendar. Will Test cricket cope with that? Who knows – but it will eradicate two-Test series and will create a better opportunity for three-Test series.
THE BIG THREE VIEW
India, Australia and England run cricket globally. Their combined financial turnover is about 85 per cent, so they have some serious pull.
But the big three are very reluctant to give up their prime time for the ICC. An ICC plan to control all of the venues' ticketing, ground advertising, merchandising and sponsorships will no doubt be a deal-breaker.
Cricket Australia's prime time is from November to February, and that period is under pressure from the AFLW, AFL pre-season and the Australian Open. This is why long BBL and T20 tournaments are scheduled in February – to protect cricket's patch in the summer calendar.
One of CA's roles is to keep growing the game within Australia. They also must make it lucrative for the players and try to keep the cricketing standards high for the fans.
Even though we had a massive crowd for the Boxing Day Test, this summer's Tests have fallen short of expectations, with four one-sided matches before the final Test at the SCG. CA knows Australia need to keep playing teams such as India and England to maintain interest.
The big three have found a little opening in international scheduling and are considering a Super Series ODI tournament (involving four countries) for October-November 2021. I have no doubt this will be locked in before the ICC cements its international future tours program for 2023-30. Maybe even a Commonwealth Test series could be scheduled?
THE PLAYERS' VIEW
Make no mistake, the players love playing in world events. They love it because the tournaments have some meaning. With all of the trivial ODI and T20 series being played, they would definitely want to play in these proposed tournaments. No doubt fans would agree.
In 2019, Australia played 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and eight T20s. Throw in the Indian Premier League, BBL and other domestic cricket and the players' calendars are full. Adding another tournament into the calendar will no doubt put players under even more pressure. We already are seeing players taking a break as they are feeling "cooked" from playing too much cricket.
The players' mental health and wellbeing is the No.1 priority for the Australian Cricketers Association and Federation of International Cricketers' Associations. Players contracted by CA don't get much respite and are constantly told where to play and what to do. Most of the players hate playing in token, lacklustre series with nothing really at stake.
I feel sorry for CA and the players. If the boards put too much pressure on the players, the game won't be sustainable. And the pressure placed on Cricket Australia by the ICC is not helping CA's financial ability to grow the game and forge the pathway for our future heroes.
I feel all three shareholders will have to make massive compromises to find a balance to make this work. It seems every shareholder wants control and money.
It may well be the players who end up deciding. And who knows what will happen then. A world rebel league?
ANNUAL WORLD EVENTS:
PROPOSED SCHEDULING
2023 World Cup ODI India
2024 World Cup T20 (20 teams)
2025 Champions Trophy ODI (8 teams)
2026 Champions Trophy T20 (10 teams)
2027 World Cup ODI
2028 World Cup T20 (20 teams)
2029 Champions Trophy
2030 Champions Trophy T20
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/the-battle-for-cricket-prime-time-20200102-p53oan.html
