The World Cricketers' Association (WCA) released its report titled 'Protecting History, Embracing Change: A Unified, Coherent Global Future' on Wednesday (March 26) wherein it identified major problems plaguing the sport while proposing solutions for them. The highlight of the 30-page document is how the current revenue sharing model of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is "skewed" and laid emphasis on Board of Control for Cricket in India (
BCCI) taking a lion's share (38.5%). The report further added that the global cricket finances are "not optimised."
In the trumpet call, the report has failed to address why the BCCI takes the large chunk of the revenue or even deliberate on it. The report also doesn't talk about the contributions of the Indian cricket board to the global cricket body's revenue pool. There is not a single reference to how the media rights sale for the Indian market in the ongoing cycle has given the ICC an inflow of funds which was never seen before and how the advertisers are queuing up for an India game.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"50% of all ICC revenue is distributed to the largest three countries (38.5% to BCCI)," reads a part of the report.
Industry experts have expressed their surprise at the observations and suggestions of the Paul Marsh-led committee and insisted that a blind eye can't be turned towards how India is contributing in overall development of the sport.
"You are saying that for getting 85-90% of ICC's overall numbers, the BCCI is taking way too much at 38.5%? There was a reason why ICC sold its media rights for the ongoing cycle in different bundles and it was to capitalise on the Indian market. The windfall was for everyone to see and just a quick evaluation of what the sale of other territories brought to the table is enough to re-emphasise the importance of India," say those in the know of numbers.
In addition to the revenue sharing model, the report also touches upon the franchise-based T20 leagues and noted that, "the IPL accounts for almost half the global cricket economy but shares only circa 0.3% of revenue with other countries and less than 10% with players."
In the recommendations, the panel has also proposed "the release of India men’s players to play in global T20 leagues outside of the IPL, growing interest in and the earning potential of these leagues."
By plainly stating the basics, the report has again ignored how the Indian cricket board is investing heavily in its infrastructure, taking care of former and current players and hosting more than 2,000 domestic games in a season. A one-time benefit was carved out for a lot of former India cricketers and they continue to draw a monthly pension from the BCCI. In case of an untimely demise of a cricketer, his/her family gets the amount.
"Who is paying for all these expenses? There has been a constant drive to put players ahead and the recent Test incentive scheme, which was ruled out last year, is a testament of that. There is non-stop cricket happening in the country and it needs a steady flow of funds to ensure all parts of the machine remain well-oiled. Not only the current cricketers, even the former are well taken care of with pension and other benefits," the experts tracking the space further add.
The WCA report has made numerous suggestions for the issues plaguing global cricket and urged, "in line with international precedents, a minimum 2% and maximum 10% for the top 24 countries, and a minimum 10% distribution collectively for countries 25+ Centralised ‘Global Growth & Development Fund,’ to fund Core International Cricket and other initiatives".
It is understood that the report has already been shared with the men's cricket committee of the ICC and will be soon shared with the women's cricket committee too.
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