Money worries, Aussies on radar
USUALLY in early May, as New Zealand Cricket approaches winter hibernation, it locks in its international schedule for the summer.
The best it can do now is frame four potential scenarios for its 2020-21 home season, none with any certainty in this Covid19 world.
Chief executive David White and the NZC board discussed these on Thursday, with financial forecasts ranging from alarming to adequate.
White was tight-lipped, apart from confirming a full domestic season would start in October, as per usual. ‘‘Our planning is, that won’t be impacted at all,’’ White told Sunday News. He also confirmed funding for domestic and community cricket would remain unchanged.
But under the worst balance sheet scenario, domestic cricket could be where it ends: the Twenty20 Super Smash and a possible all-star series the high points. Locked down borders and no exceptions means no home internationals and no Women’s World Cup in February.
The financial nightmare would be complete if the men’s Twenty20 World Cup, scheduled for Australia in October, can’t be staged at some point of the season. It means a chunk of NZC’s promised NZ$211 million funding from the International Cricket Council for 2016-23 would vanish, the bulk of that still to land in the next three years.
The equation is simple: Black
Caps home matches (broadcast rights, commercial deals and ticket sales) and dividends from ICC men’s tournaments, contribute between 80-90 per cent of NZC’s revenue. That revenue, $59.4m in last year’s annual report, funds its associations and pays the players.
‘‘If we didn’t have international cricket next summer, there would be challenges, no doubt about that,’’ White said. ‘‘If we can have that, and the ICC events, then we’ll be in a reasonable place.’’
A mooted trans-Tasman bubble would be a good start and allow substantial series with Australia if no-one else. Crowds are another question mark in this new world of social distancing, with ticket sales contributing around 10 per cent of NZC’s income.
Australia’s big-ticket item is India’s tour, reportedly worth $317m in revenue, which looks likely to proceed – crowds or not – using bio-secure venues like Adelaide Oval.
Under the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, the Black Caps are set to host Bangladesh, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia this summer. The arrival of any of them before the end of the year looks unlikely, but White has raised the prospect of playing international cricket into April.
‘‘The most likely scenario we’re working on, at this point in time, is both World Cups proceed, a full domestic season will be played and we will play some international cricket next season. But things could change and we need to be flexible,’’ White said.
Under the best scenario, New Zealand is a coronavirus-free cricketing oasis where international sides clamour to visit. The lucrative T20 World Cup goes ahead – possibly delayed – followed by the Women’s World Cup where the White Ferns chase a repeat of their 2000 triumph on home soil.
‘If we didn’t have international cricket next summer, there would be challenges . . . ’ NZ CRICKET CEO DAVID WHITE