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Cricket South Africa’s new franchise league, the SA20, one year into its existence, is the cursed child of world cricket. Accusing CSA of being mired in financial trouble and tempting it to devalue Test cricket and hence the World Test Championship (WTC), stalwarts like Steve Waugh feel that the South Africa Cricket Board doesn’t care. CSA’s instruction to its key players to opt for SA20 for the upcoming Test matches in New Zealand is being widely condemned.
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who once fought in white with a broken arm, is the SA20 commissioner. CSA, while expressing its inability to make schedule changes under the WTC structure, is adamant that its league is a path to a better financial future for its players.
But it will take time. Despite such huge crowds, the league contributed only 18 million rand (approximately) in its first edition. ₹8 crore or $963,000/-) in the CSA treasury. It is the recently concluded India series – worth around $70 million – that will help them forgive the losses of the last three years and turn the balance sheet into the black. The financial returns from the India tour are double the annual share CSA receives from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Apart from the Big Three, this is the story of every cricket board. In a franchise dominated scenario, it is difficult to sell bilateral rights unless there is a tour of India. Test cricket becomes the first casualty in planning a short tour programme.
The ICC says its hands are tied as far as the bilateral program is concerned. Its officials argue that the WTC is providing context for every test. But the shortcomings of the current WTC arrangement have been exposed as South Africa are set to take on Test powerhouse New Zealand with a squad of seven uncapped players, including captain Neil Brand. Pakistan’s new T20 captain Shaheen Shah Afridi sat out the Sydney Test that concluded on Saturday to manage his workload for the upcoming T20 season. At the age of 29, in-form Quinton de Kock quit Test cricket. It is no longer news when West Indies cricketers turn their backs on Tests.
less test in india
An often overlooked consequence of the WTC format is that India are playing fewer Tests. As every board should do, the BCCI has made cuts from its Test calendar. India are planned to play 36 Tests in the WTC cycle (2019-27), whereas previously they played 52 Tests in the same period. Take South Africa (only 2 Tests played) and West Indies, where India will play three less Tests, Sri Lanka four less and Bangladesh one less.
India will still play a healthy diet of Test cricket in Australia and England through 5-Test reciprocal tours. Tests are still in revenue in Australia and England. A crowd of 34,142 turned out at the SCG on the first day to see Dave Warner bid farewell to the Test. More than 22,000 people were present when Australia finished the match against Pakistan on Saturday. BCCI has IPL to take care of its finances.
CSA has taken a conscious decision to prioritize white-ball cricket over Tests. The Proteas play only 28 Tests in the current FTP (2023-27) while England have played 43, Australia 40 and India 38. But the reality of the shrinking international calendar for bilateral matches, as well as the cost of hosting a Test, influences the decisions of most members, including us,” CSA CEO Foletsi Moseki had told HT last year.
There are a number of expenses involved in hosting a Test, from the cost of pre-tour reconnaissance to five days of five-star booking for the teams. The bulk of the expenditure goes on TV production, which can only be covered by a healthy media rights contract. With declining interest in Test cricket and a decline in the level of play in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the West Indies, digital rights at bargain prices have become the norm.
For many boards, only franchise leagues attract some broadcast interest for non-India action. Here too, revenue generation is driven by the quality of the player pool. This is the area the CSA seeks to protect. This is its attempt to secure a new revenue stream, similar to what Pakistan does with the Pakistan Super League (PSL). For the Pakistan Cricket Board, there is no question of any bilateral cricket against India, leave alone a tour of India.
In New Zealand’s case, the adverse time zone would mean India continuing to have short tours. Zimbabwe is off the Test map. Test newcomers Afghanistan and Ireland are unlikely to host India for the first time any time soon.
For all its history, drama and visual appeal, the universal survival of Test cricket will remain in doubt unless it becomes financially self-sustaining and not overly dependent on Indian stars coming to town and posing as a competition Go.
It has been almost a decade since the Big Three introduced a virtually two-tier Test structure, which was thwarted in ICC corridors. Possibly a more equitable WTC has been given impetus. But the Test cricket fund, which was also promised in the Big Three’s controversial ‘position paper’, is nowhere to be seen.
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