For the first time, Zimbabwe will be the first team in modern cricket to receive a “travel allowance” from the host nation for bilateral cricket when they tour England for
a one-off Test match in the summer of 2025.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Richard Gould confirmed the extension on Sky Sports, according to ESPNCrinfo.
Last year, he said on the Final World podcast that a concerted push from all serious cricketing member nations was needed to address income disparities and bring players and fans to quality Test cricket.
The travel allowance was one of his recommendations.
“There’s a big responsibility,” Gould told former England captain Mike Atherton on Sky Sports about the need to ensure Test competitiveness for major cricketing nations such as India, Australia and England.
“If you look at whether it’s a share of the ICC’s revenue or a share of the revenue from bilateral cricket, it’s actually quite outdated in terms of how it’s provided.
“
“For example, Zimbabwe is touring next year.
Normally the way it works is that the touring team is there and then everything else is ready.
But there’s no cost to the touring team next year.
” “It will cost the touring team to play Zimbabwe,” he concluded.
The high and rising costs of touring and hosting Test cricket in a small country where broadcasting rights are almost nonexistent due to a lack of spectators has raised doubts about Test cricket.
This prompted the CEO of Cricket West Indies (CWI) to say that the ICC’s profit-sharing model was broken after the two-match Test series against Australia earlier this year.
This made headlines when Shamar Joseph’s seven-wicket haul helped WI to a rare Test win at the Gabba.
“CWI has spent over $2 million in the last four months to get the team to Australia and CA is getting all the financial benefits from this series, yet we have received zero dollars,” Greive told ESPNcricinfo in January.
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“Is this really fair, sensible and sustainable?
” he asked.
Gould said he sympathizes with financially weak boards like CWI and is committed to finding a way to keep the board afloat, especially with the West Indies currently in England for a three-match series.
“We had discussions with West Indies six or nine months before she arrived about the support we could offer.
And this is interesting because it’s not just about the Test match cycle.
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For example, we played two more T20s in West Indies before Christmas (2023) to support them.
The specific request we received from West Indies for this particular tour was: Can you support us on an under-19 tour in future so that more players can have access to red-ball cricket in these [England] circumstances?
So it’s not necessarily about money.
” “Yes, and there are other ways,” Gould said.
