NEWS
Follow UsTest cricket of late hasn’t been the most lucrative option for young and talented cricketers, especially in Test-playing nations other than in countries like England, Australia and India, also known as the ‘Big Three’ of the cricketing world.
To make sure that the red-ball format of the game doesn't die a silent death, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is contemplating creating a dedicated Test fund, by as early as 2025.
The idea of a Test fund is new, but this time around, Cricket Australia chairman Mark Baird has gone so far as to get the rest of the Big Three i.e. the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in agreement to the idea.
The fund will aim to provide a standard match fee of US $10,000 for players across the board. The fund will be funded by the Big Three but utilised by the rest of the nine Test-playing nations who find it hard to play the five-day format, incurring losses most of the time.
It comes in the wake of a revelation by the former Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave, who had admitted that the West Indies tour of Australia in early 2024, had cost the board US $2 million. Not only that, Zimbabwe’s tour of England, will be paid for by the English board when the Chevrons travel to Trent Bridge for a one-off Test starting May 22, 2025.
"It's fantastic to see some momentum behind the Test-match fund," Baird told the Sydney Morning Herald. "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 added.
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