Zimbabwe to pay ECB's 2025 travel expenses

Richard Gould says England have "huge duty" to maintain power of diplomatic cricket

When Zimbabwe go to England for a two-Test set in the summer of 2025, they will be the first nation to receive a" touring fee" from the sponsor board in bilateral cricket. During a discussion on Sky Sports on Friday during the first day of the Edgbaston Test, ECB CEO Richard Gould confirmed that growth.

A social press was necessary to offset the gap in revenue earned by several Full Member places and ensure the quality of Test cricket remained high, according to Gould, who was speaking to the Final World audio last month. Since then, one remedy Gould has recommended and reiterated, including half this year, is for the host table to pay a price to travelling groups.

Gould discussed the need for the ECB and another economically stable board like the BCCI and Cricket Austronautia on Sky Sports, quoting former England captain Mike Atherton as saying," There's a great responsibility." " When you look at whether it's the profit share from the ICC or indeed the revenue share from diplomatic cricket, which is quite old fashioned in fact in the way that it's delivered.

" For example, second time Zimbabwe are coming to tour]England]. Usually the way the things happen is that it's the travelling team gets itself into the land and then it's looked after in terms of hospitality, all the rest of it. But there's no fee for that team that's travelling. Second year when we play against Zimbabwe, there will be a fee for that team that's travelling."

CWI CEO Johnny Grave claimed the ICC's revenue-share type was entirely broken due to the rising costs of keeping Test cricket good in smaller nations, where the value of broadcasting rights has become small specifically for the longest style. Grave was responding to criticism of West Indies sending a second-string Check club for the two-match Test set in Australia which grabbed headlines after Shamar Joseph levelled the line with a magic spell of strong bowling on an wounded toe at the Gabba.

" CWI has spent over 2 million dollars sending groups to Australia in the last four months and whilst CA have received all the financial gains from those series, we've seen zero money again," Grave had told ESPNcricinfo in January". Is that really good, reasonable and lasting?"

Gould said weaker board like CWI had his" sympathy", but remained cheerful of finding ways to keep them powerful". I had conversations with the West Indies six, nine months back before they arrived, ]about ] what assistance we can we provide. And it's interesting because it wo n't just be on the Test match cycle. For example, we played an additional two T20s before Christmas in the West Indies]in 2023] in order to support them.

" The specific request that came from the West Indies in this for this particular tour is: can you help us with an Under-19 tour at some point so that we can get more of our players getting access red-ball cricket in those]England ] conditions? But, it's not always about the funds. It's, and, and there are various ways of doing it".

Just speaking at the MCC World Cricket Connects forum, ECB head Richard Thompson is believed to have addressed the gathering in the Long Room saying just 4 % of the club's annual income came from ICC income distribution, with the majority coming from the broadcast rights for diplomatic cricket. Consequently it was important for the ECB to ensure the level of cricket for players in both men's and women's formats was strong- and the the opposition competitive. Hence the ECB has to contribute to keeping Test cricket's pyramid strong.

" We need to have really competitive cricket, both for our women's and men's teams in all divisions," he said. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that we can share the value that the game provides in order to maintain that momentum. And that's recognised by everybody. It's just how you do it. It is a common belief that there are many different strategies in use.