With the increased number of T20 leagues around the world and the craze for the shortest format of the game among the players and fans, it has become an uphill task for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to save the oldest format of the game. The BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, has shown his support for the plan that the ICC has brought to save the purest format of the game.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) kicked in 2008, just a few months after the success of the Indian team, when they eared the Men’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, becoming the inaugural winner of the tournament.
With the mountain success, rise, and demand of the format, various other countries planned to construct their own T20 league in every year. Hardly anyone expected the craze of the format and what it would reach as it has in recent years. To keep Test cricket in rhythm, Jay Shah, who is the front-runner to become the next ICC chairman, has come up with an excellent plan.
CA, ECB, and Jay Shah support ICC to save Test cricket
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is planning to have a dedicated fund of nearly USD 15 million for Test cricket that will help in increasing the match fees of the players and addressing the issues they have been facing due to the loss of talent to the lucrative T20 leagues around the globe.
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A report in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ has confirmed that the idea was proposed by Cricket Australia (CA), while their BCCI secretary Jay Shah has also shown his support behind the decision, along with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The Indian players don’t play any other T20 leagues outside the IPL, making the important and first-sting 20 players available for the whole period of the season. The same case is with the England and Australia players, but the issue starts to take place for the West Indies sides, where most of their players fly around the globe to feature in leagues, showing zero interest in Test cricket.
The fund, that the ICC has brought up, would increase the minimum match payment for the red-ball players and also cover the cost of the teams on overseas tours. The Caribbean side has been struggling the most in competing with the global T20 competitions.
“The fund would ensure a minimum Test payment for all players, thought to be USD 10,000, and pay the costs of overseas tours for struggling countries.” The report stated the plan of ICC.
The chairman of Australian cricket, Mike Baird, floated the concept in January, where he advised to take away the barriers in the longest format of the game.
“It’s fantastic to see some momentum behind the Test match fund,” CA chairman Mike Baird, who floated the concept in January.” Baird noted in a conversation towards the beginning of the year. “We need to take away the barriers and encourage Test cricket to be the best of the best. To retain that history and that legacy, which goes alongside the newer forms of white ball cricket.”
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The fund won’t make a huge difference among the three richest cricketing boards of India at the moment- India, Australia, and England- as their players are already getting a decent amount of salaries.
Under the new scheme that the BCCI took to reward their men’s Test players consistently, a player who plays at least 75% of the Test matches for the Blue Brigade in its annual cycle, from October to September, will earn a whooping INR 45 lakh per match in addition to the Test match fees of INR 15 lakh.