The efficacy of the USD 15 million Test budget proposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been discussed by Johnny Grave, the departing CEO of Cricket West Indies (CWI). The program, which was approved by recently elected ICC chairman Jay Shah, is to increase Test cricket participation outside of Australia, England, and India.
The existing imbalance in Test cricket is addressed by the Test fund, which was first suggested by Cricket Australia’s chairman Mark Baird and backed by the ECB and BCCI. A USD 10,000 match fee each Test appearance for players is one of its main clauses.
As a game, cricket needs to see itself much more as a league and gain a deeper understanding of each player’s economic model. There are encouraging rumblings from the Big 3, and I think the Test Fund was a wise move. I’m not sure if $15 million US a year will have any impact at all,” Grave stated on the podcast.
Obtaining ‘A’ team tours has been quite difficult for us. Johnny Grave
According to Grave, the suggested match cost is already regular procedure for CWI, and the fund will benefit the game’s longest format.
“I don’t think the $10,000 US test fee is even a window dressing notion. Players receive US $10,000 from us. Upon seeing that in the news, I couldn’t help but smile. Considering that our players are already being paid that much, I wondered how it would improve cricket and how it would save Test cricket. For us, it won’t make a difference,” he continued.
Grave thinks that structural reforms should be made to Test cricket rather than only concentrating on financial incentives. To prevent conflict with franchise tournaments, he supports ‘A’ team programs and more three-match series.
More three-match series rather than two-match series, devoted Test windows where you’re not up against franchise chances, and genuine backing for our ‘A’ squad programs are what, in my opinion, will improve West Indies Test cricket. It’s been incredibly difficult for us to get ‘A’ team tours,” Grave continued.
Though he has reservations, Grave is glad that the Big Three are no longer in complete control and thinks there should be more formidable opponents.
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“I welcome the debate and I’m not saying that I or we at West Indies cricket have all the answers, but we welcome the debate, we welcome the slight change in mindset which is the Big 3 can’t just play against themselves, they’ve got to have a stronger opposition,” he stated.
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