Cricket Australia set to be influenced by BCCI demands at upcoming meeting with ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Australia (CA) are trying to reach an agreement over the future of ICC tournaments. ICC CEO Manu Sawhney will be visiting Australia in an effort to conduct talks over the matter in a couple of weeks' time. The ICC has had a tough time in the past few months after it proposed an extra tournament to help smaller cricket boards and their finances. 

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Cricket Australia on the same page as BCCI ahead of negotiations

CA chairman Earl Eddings talked to a leading cricket portal about the upcoming negotiations with ICC and emphasised that Cricket Australia are aiming to co-operate with the ICC and help them through their problems. Eddings also said that intense discussions will have to be held before a concrete solution comes up since player wellness and workload also need to be managed. The CA chairman also acknowledged that unlike Cricket Australia, a lot of other countries depend more on ICC finances than they do on bilateral cricket. He clarified how even Cricket Australia makes losses but the smaller cricket boards may have even heavier losses.

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Eddings mentioned how the global T20 wave and multiple bilateral series put heavy load on the players and their wellbeing is of paramount importance. He also suggested that every board starts accounting for their finances in 4-year cycles. These comments came in the wake of the NZC (New Zealand Cricket) announcing heavy losses for the FY 2019-20. He also insisted that some patience needs to be exercised as the next ICC cycle will begin in 2023.

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BCCI, CA and ECB vs ICC

All cricket boards of the world are provided with funds for every ICC tournament in a proportionate manner. However, the notable exceptions, in this case, are the big players like Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Smaller boards suffer financially as they do not stand to make as much money of bilateral tours as they can only make the most of what the ICC pays them. To alleviate their problems, Manu Sawhney had called for a fourth ICC tournament to be added to the four-year cycle. The 'Big Three' (BCCI, ECB, and CA) are opposed to that tournament. It is expected that the BCCI's thoughts will have a massive influence on the way CA deals with the ICC before Ganguly and co. officially deal with the governing body themselves. Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary will have a massive role in negotiations ahead for India as he has been appointed recently at the board's representative at all ICC meetings, which generally take place in Dubai.

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