Global cricket schedule faces overhaul in independent review

Former cricket leaders and players to spearhead review of cricket’s global structure and player employment issues

• Eastern Eye
• 20 August, 2024

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By: Eastern Eye

THE World Cricketers Association (WCA) has announced the launch of an independent review aimed at addressing the “confusing and chaotic” global cricket schedule.

The review, which the WCA, formerly known as the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, unveiled on Monday (19), will concentrate on three critical areas: global scheduling, the economics of the sport, and player employment, contracting, and regulation.

Leading the review is a panel that includes former Pakistan women’s captain Sana Mir and ex-England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Tom Harrison.

The panel will consult with players, current and former administrators, and franchise owners.

“The current model is broken and unsustainable,” the WCA stated, highlighting the lack of clarity between international cricket and domestic leagues, which forces players to choose between national representation and career optimisation.

WCA chair Heath Mills said cricket’s leadership had failed to establish a clear and coherent global structure in which the three different formats of cricket could co-exist.

“We have virtually given up hope of it doing so. The players deserve a say on the future of the game and want us to start putting forward some solutions to known issues,” Mills said.

The process would focus on making recommendations to the board on optimising the game’s global structure, ensuring sustainable value, and providing more clarity, he added.

The International Cricket Council, the game’s global governing body, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The growth of lucrative domestic Twenty20 leagues has strained cricket’s bloated calendar further, with the introduction of new competitions in recent years reducing the windows available for test and one-day cricket.

Some international players have chosen to retire from certain formats due to the demands of the schedule.

In research published by the Professional Cricketers Association in May, a majority of professionals in England and Wales expressed concern about the county cricket schedule. (Reuters)