Need healthy balance of World Cups along with international cricket, states Kevin Roberts

The ICC has come up with a new eight-year FTP plan which aims at selling eight flagship tournaments in eight years under the next broadcast rights package. This plan was devised by the ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney and is backed by the working group of member nations, which doesn’t feature members from both BCCI and Cricket Australia. 

While BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has already expressed the board’s discontent upon this fact, Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts has also apprehended the global bodies idea, echoing BCCI’s stand on the issue. 

“The ICC schedule of tournaments is certainly something that is absolutely up for discussion at the moment and will continue in the months ahead,” Sportstar quoted Roberts saying so to SEN Radio.

“There’s a sense that fans really value World Cups and international events in general, and in this last cycle on the men’s side, I think we’ve had six world events in the eight years whereas the previous cycle, we had one event per year with the Champions Trophy as part of that.”

The next eight years (2023-2031) will see as many as four T20 World Cups and a couple of fifty overs World Cup. With another Champions Trophy like competition in the cards, it will surely affect the domestic leagues or worst the limited-overs bilateral series as ICC is not ready to compromise with the longest format. 

“We need a healthy balance of World Cups along with international cricket that occurs between World Cups and the space for great domestic leagues like the BBL and the IPL to thrive into the future,” Roberts said.

“What we’re really keen to work on with the ICC and what we will be working on with the ICC and other ICC members is what parts of the annual calendar might the ICC events occupy in future, how many days of the calendar does that represent and how do we ensure the bilateral international cricket between ourselves and other nations is really embraced and respected in the process?.”

The CA chief executive also requested the global body to ensure a cap on the days for its events so that enough time is given to popular T20 leagues like the IPL, BBL or CPL. The leagues are not only a big source of revenue for the board but also lends a hand in developing top quality players for the sport which in turn contribute to the upliftment of the game itself. 

“... How many days of the calendar does that represent and how do we ensure the bilateral international cricket between ourselves and other nations is really embraced and respected in the process, so we’ve got a healthy balance of World Cups along with international cricket that occurs between World Cups and the space for great domestic leagues like the BBL and the IPL to thrive into the future.”