How Covid-19 will change cricket forever
Long before Covid-19, cricket was already in a state of flux. Questions about how the three formats of the game could coexist, the balance between club and international cricket, how to expedite the growth of women’s cricket and inequalities between countries loomed as decisive for cricket’s trajectory in the 2020s.
The global pandemic has made all these issues more salient – a decade’s worth of changes to the sport could now take place within a year.
As countries try to stay afloat in the short term, the need for tours from England, and especially India, will be greater than ever. Given the willingness of West Indies and Pakistan to fulfil their tours this summer, England will feel conscious of the need to act in the same collective spirit.
Even if Covid-19’s direct impact on international cricket in 2020-21 can be minimised, the financial damage as sponsorship and broadcasting revenues are affected will be profound. Necessity may well drive innovation.
Three years ago, Australia played a home Twenty20 international the night before beginning a test match in India. In the years to come, it is possible to imagine red and white-ball teams – especially from India and England – touring different countries simultaneously, playing limitedovers games in one country in the break between tests in another in away that protects the finances of other nations.
‘‘All other cricket boardswill be desperate for their home series against India to go ahead,’’ says Jon Long, the former head of strategy at the International Cricket Council.
Paradoxically, this pressure for more cricketwill coexist with pressure for less. Countries will want to play more of the most lucrative games – but they are also ‘‘going to have to scrutinise where the loss-making cricket is’’, says Wasim Khan, the chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Most tests not involving one of Australia, England or India lose about £400,000 (NZ$800,000) net, so there are likely to be fewer in future. There could also be a further exploration of reducing tests to four days, which some hope could save 10 to 15 per cent of net costs.
The economics of limitedovers games are better, but some fixtures also lose money. ‘‘If the broadcast revenues fall significantly, more series outside of England and India matches, in particular, are going to become unviable,’’ warns Johnny Grave, chief executive of Cricketwest Indies.
The Indian Premier League looms largest in cricket’s immediate restart plans. This year’s competition could now run from late September to November, with the men’s T20 World Cup likely to be postponed.
If the 2021 IPL is played in its normal slot of April and May, the tournament will run for four months out of eight, limiting the time for countries to stage home
internationals. Such stresses could become even more acute, with growing support in India for the IPL to expand, probably from 2023.
Covid-19 may well accelerate the rise of club cricket. Overseas travel could become more cumbersome and expensive, making domestic competitions more important – and potentially encouraging boards such as England’s to embrace private investment in competitions.
Greater emphasis on domestic cricket will contribute to greater inequality, with the economic advantages enjoyed by India and England – and, to a lesser degree, Australia – becoming even more pronounced.
At a recent ICC call, Tom Harrison, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s chief executive, described world cricket as a family of nations, stressing the need for unity. And while there are promising signs, whether the family can stick together will depend on decisions for the collective good being taken.
Naturally, this is a discussion about money. Countries from outside the big three will call for the ICC to make its global distribution model more equitable – which is linked to debates about the shape of the global calendar from 2023 – and for the IPL to do more to compensate boards for giving the competition a de facto window.
Economic imbalances are such that West Indies, England’s first opponents this summer, earn £12 million a year from broadcast rights, compared to England’s £220 million. Grave has already advocated that touring teams receive one-fifth of what the hosts earn for a series. There may also be calls for the ICC to do more to safeguard test cricket.
Who leads the ICC is an intriguing point, with reports that Sourav Ganguly, the Indian cricket board president, may now run for chairman in elections later this year.
Covid-19 will change the global game forever.
‘‘The calendar will look very different,’’ says one insider. ‘‘They’ve got to rip it up and start again and use this as the opportunity to do so.’’