India tour cancellation would be catastrophic for CA, reveals UK consultancy

As per the FTP, India are set to play Australia in four Tests and three ODIs later this year followed by the T20 World Cup in the same country. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought uncertainty to all kinds of sporting activities and the tour has been put under the scanner. If Australia manage to flatten the curve, then the tournament is a possibility but nothing is certain as of now. 

In the wake of the unsure time, Oakwell Sports Advisory, a London-based sports consultancy firm that offers integrated services and solutions to sports companies, has claimed that there will be very severe damage to the CA board if the series does not go ahead as planned. In a section titled “ECB In The Context Of The ICC Member Associations”, the report states the share of the ICC revenue that the ECB is entitled to receive will keep them in a comparatively better position if the Indian series doesn't happen.

“Cricket Australia is reliant on series against England and India for a large portion of its revenue in a four-year cycle. Cancellation of the Test series against India would be catastrophic for Cricket Australia due to their lucrative broadcast contract with Sony in the Indian subcontinent," the report stated as quoted by Wisden.

“Like ECB, Cricket Australia will face short-medium-term problems issuing grants to its home state associations if there is a continued absence of broadcast, sponsorship and ticket revenue generated from international cricket. A third-party debt facility may help with this problem, as would looking to privatise the Big Bash franchises that are currently owned by the state associations," the report further added.

The Consultancy further suggested an ICC-wide third-party debt solution to mitigate the lasting impact on the sport as it predicts all the boards to have considerable cashflow problems the longer the Covid-19 pandemic continues. 

“All other national cricket boards will face considerable cashflow problems the longer the Covid-19 pandemic continues. All boards have long-term broadcast deals that will be jeopardised by a continued absence of cricket. A consolidation of cricket boards or an ICC-wide third-party debt solution would help to mitigate the lasting financial impact of Covid-19 on global cricket.”