Sydney. The ICC is considering creating a separate fund of at least US$15 million for Test cricket. This will help in increasing the match fees of the players. This will prevent players from focusing on the lucrative T20 franchise league. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Cricket Australia has made such a proposal. BCCI secretary Jay Shah and the England and Wales Cricket Board also agree with this. Shah is currently the frontrunner in the race to become the ICC president.
This fund will increase the minimum match fees of Test cricketers. It will cover the cost of sending teams on foreign tours. This will help cricket boards like West Indies whose players are preferring to play in global T20 competitions instead of Test cricket. The report said, ‘After the formation of this fund, a minimum payment will be ensured for all the players which will be around $ 10,000. Apart from this, it will also pay the cost of foreign tours of those countries which are struggling to remain in Test cricket.’
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The concept of setting up such a fund was put forward by Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird in January and he is happy that progress is being made on it. He said, ‘We need to remove every obstacle and encourage Test cricket to become the best of the best. That history and that legacy need to be maintained, which is moving forward with the new formats of limited overs cricket.’ The three richest cricket boards India, Australia and England are unlikely to benefit from this fund as they already provide adequate salaries to their players.
Tags: ICC Cricket News, Test cricket
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 23, 2024, 14:17 IST