Over the years, the number of T20 leagues has grown massively around the world, as the craze and the money-driven sport have made it hard for Test cricket to survive. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has tried to bring a new plan with an aim to ensure that the other cricketing boards outside the big three, India, England, and Australia, could save the players from lucrative deals from the franchises.
The launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2007, just a few months at the end of the country’s successful campaign in the T20 World Cup in South Africa, changed the future of the game. The league has reached to a different height, as everyone looks forward to the two months in the cricketing calendar.
Now, over the years, the other boards also started to begin their T20 leagues, while, recently, when South Africa started their SA20 league at home, they decided not to send their main Test players to New Zealand for a series because of keeping the popularity of the newly born league. ICC, in an attempt to bandage the issue, has come up with a new and excellent plan.
ICC to introduce dedicated fund for Test cricket outside the Big Three
The ICC is looking forward to introducing a fund from the 2025 year in an attempt to reenergize Test cricket and allow the other boards, especially the West Indies, apart from the ‘big three‘ to compete with the franchise leagues to make sure that they could stop the bigger pool of players.
Also Read: Virat Kohli Pays Tribute To Shikhar Dhawan After Retirement
The initiative was taken by the Cricket Australia chairman, Mark Baird, which received full support from the England Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The aim is to provide a central fund to the boards so that they could offer a standard match fee to the players, reported to be around US $10,000.
The hope for the ICC is to activate the initiative before Christmas time, before fully making it operational from the next year. It will not only help the players being attracted towards the longest format of the game, who have opted out to be part of the shortest format due to a bigger payment, but it will also reduce the costs incurred by the less-moneyed boards.
Apart from India, Australia, and England, all the other six Test-playing nations go through losses when it comes to the red-ball game. Earlier this year, the West Indies CEO Johnny Grave revealed how their trip to Australia cost the US $2 million. This is where ICC wants to take charge.
The fund is expected to be around US $15 million and has got the backing of the BCCI secretary Jay Shah and the ECB chairman Richard Thompson. It’s at the formal stage and hasn’t been discussed formally by the ICC at the board level, but. Mike Baird is confident that this initiative to bring change to the game.
Also Read: Yuvraj Singh To Gain High-Profile Coaching Role For This Franchise In IPL 2025
“It’s fantastic to see some momentum behind the Test-match fund. 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.” He expressed to the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ about the plan of ICC.
The ECB chief executive, Richard Gould also revealed that Zimbabwe would be paid a ‘touring fee’ when they come over to England for their one-off Test match at Trent Bridge in the next summer, scheduled to start on May 22.