The BCCI cemented its status as the financial powerhouse of world cricket when the ICC unanimously approved the revenue-sharing model at its almighty board meeting in Durban on Thursday. Another major development is that the ICC has placed a cap on foreign cricketers practicing their profession for teams in different leagues, keeping it at four players per playing XI at new events. This is primarily for T20 leagues that start in every corner, which threatens the international version of the game.
While the ICC press release did not specify how much revenue the BCCI will generate from the new distribution model, the Indian board is expected to earn $230 million annually from the $600 million pot over the next four years.
It is about 38.4 per cent and at least six times more than the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which will receive about $41 million at 6.89 per cent and Cricket Australia (CA) which will receive $37.53 million (approximately 6.25 percent). . They are way up second and third in the list.
“The ICC Board also confirmed the biggest ever investment in the sport after agreeing the distribution model for the next four years,” the ICC release said.
“Each ICC member will receive significantly increased funding with a strategic investment fund set aside to drive global growth initiatives in line with the ICC Global Growth Strategy,” it further stated.
Although the numbers were not included, an ICC board member confirmed that the BCCI was getting its fair share for its contribution to the growth of the sport and that each member would earn significantly more in this cycle.
“All members will receive a basic distribution and then the additional income will be related to their contribution to the global game, both on and off the field,” said ICC President Greg Barclay.
“This is by far the largest ever level of investment in cricket and is a one-off opportunity for our members to accelerate growth and engage more players and fans and drive competitiveness,” he added.
Restrict player participation in new events
The ICC has decided that all new events (read different T20 leagues) must include at least seven homegrown or associate member players in their playing XIs to avoid mass retirements of T20 specialists from top countries.
With the Major League Cricket (MLC) kicking off in the US and Saudi Arabia also planning an ambitious T20 project in the future, the stakeholders want to protect international cricket.
The receiving T20 board will also have to pay a “solidarity fee”, which is simply a commission to the home board of a foreign player.
“In the future, new events requiring a sanction will require each team’s playing XI to include a minimum of seven local or associated players to support game development.
“In addition, the organizing member will pay a solidarity contribution to a player’s home board to reflect the role the member played in developing and promoting the sport worldwide.”
Penalties too high
The Chief Executives Committee approved changes to the overcharge penalties in Test cricket to balance the need to maintain overcharges with ensuring that players are properly rewarded.
Such players will be fined 5% of their match fee for each over short up to a maximum of 50%.
If a team is bowled out before the new ball is due to reach 80 overs, there will be no overspeed penalty, even if there is slow overspeed. This replaces the current threshold of 60 over.
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