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Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has advised the International Cricket Council (ICC) to perform an audit of various cricket boards to justify their revenues. Notably, earlier this year, the ICC suggested a financial distribution model for the 2024-2027 season. As per the model, the BCCI would receive 38.5 percent share of the revenue shared by the ICC, which is larger than the combined revenue shares of Cricket Australia (6.25 percent) and ECB (6.89 percent).
The suggestion sparked widespread criticism from several boards, especially the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The board issued an official statement for the ICC to reconsider the allocated wages. Following this, the former Indian batter advised the international cricketing governing body to perform audits of several cricketing boards to determine their expenditures.
Audit will nullify the case of giving additional share to usual moaners: Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar in a write up for Sport Star, said that the audits will clarify all the expenditures while nullifying the demands of the boards or ‘usual moaners’ who are asking for a bigger revenue share from the ICC. ‘The Little Master’ also added that all boards are getting “more than enough” to run the game and still have “something left over.”
He wrote, “It would be worthwhile to do a forensic audit of where the ICC’s revenue share to the various boards goes. That would be far more revealing and could well nullify the case of giving additional share to the usual moaners.” He added, “Make no mistake, whatever share the various boards are getting is more than enough to run the game in their countries and still have something left over. Depending on getting an increasing share of the ICC pie makes for lazy administration, for then, they just have to enjoy the perks of office without looking to strengthen the game in their country.”
Apart from this, Gavaskar is of the opinion that the home team should bear the hotel and travel costs of the touring sides. He wrote, “…it is a good idea for the ICC to suggest that the home team should bear the hotel and internal travel costs of the visiting country’s team. That can be a big relief for some, for sure, and would help them balance their budget to a great extent.”
