“International cricket is faced with multiple choices and challenges. Cricket derives the bulk of its income from international competition and therefore the 3500+ professional players, as well as administrators and employees in the game worldwide, rely on the economic engine-room that is international cricket for their livelihoods. However, the international product is cluttered, lacking in context, confusing, unbalanced and frequently subject to change. Test cricket, a treasured format of the game, and bilateral ODI cricket are rapidly losing spectator appeal in many countries and consequently their commercial value is under severe threat. We understand that many of the game’s host broadcasters hold similar views. The new, parallel market of domestic T20 cricket is challenging cricket’s structures and economic model and doing so in an already over-full schedule. There is a growing divide in wealth and resources between the wealthy and less wealthy cricket nations that make up the main stakeholders in the international game.”
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