Windies to raise financial-disparity issue
The threat posed to cricket due to the increasing gap in financial resources between the wealthy boards and the poor ones is a point which is likely to be brought up by Teddy Griffith, the president of the West Indies board, at the International
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"The president has carried with him the board's concern over the disparity between the three wealthiest countries and the others that are struggling to make ends meet," said Roger Brathwaite, the chief executive of WICB, to The Trinidad Express. "Its effects are increasingly evident, with the results of Tests now becoming too predictable, always a dangerous development in any sport."
Brathwaite pointed out that Australia, India and England are financially stable due to their flourishing economies, lucrative television contracts and large populations. Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe have comparatively lesser resources. "What it means is that the prosperous countries have money to spend on the best facilities, the best technology, the best coaches, the best infrastructure while those less well off haven't," he said. "It is showing up in the results, and the competitiveness necessary to maintain public interest is waning."
Brathwaite was also critical of the ICC's policy on revenue distribution for series, with the majority of the money going to the host country. "We used to depend heavily on shared takings from our major overseas tours, to Australia, England and India," he said. "Financial arrangements were negotiated on a bi-lateral basis, but the ICC changed that a few years ago so that the majority share now goes to the hosting country." This, Brathwaite explained, was a huge disadvantage for the West Indies because of its small economies, fragmented population and lack of major domestic television network.
"We have other unique problems in the West Indies that appreciably add to our costs," he continued. "We can't drive the teams from ground to ground in coaches, we have to fly [the teams]. We are an expensive tourist destination and hotel prices are highest during the international cricket season. These types of things we strongly believe the ICC must face up to for the good of the game."
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