WCA releases Global Game Structure Report

WCA has today (Wednesday 26 March) released its report: Protecting History, Embracing Change. A Unified Coherent Global Future. The Report (accessible HERE) is the culmination of a six month review of cricket’s global structure, led by an expert multi stakeholder Sub-Committee Chaired by Paul Marsh, and in conjunction with The Sports Consultancy.

The PCA has contributed to the report through President and former England captain Eoin Morgan, alongside Chief Executive Daryl Mitchell, PCA Vice Chair and former England captain Heather Knight and former England white-ball captain Jos Buttler.

The Report:

• Draws on interviews with 64 senior game stakeholders, including players, administrators, and commercial and media partners, in addition to the compilation of data from various experts
• Focuses on the ‘top of the game,’ where the best players compete, and on the cricket that funds the rest of the sport globally (ICC Events, bilateral international cricket, major DT20 leagues)
• Covers both the men’s and women’s games – focusing on issues applicable to both, but at different stages of coming to pass

1. Cricket’s Direction of Travel

• Global cricket is shifting towards a ‘club v club’ based model – that is a multi-employer, transnational system for players, with T20 increasingly the dominant format globally

• Revenue is moving towards cricket with context, jeopardy, and calendar space – and away from bilateral international cricket

Current scheduling and economic models embed inequity and lost opportunity – with an estimated:

• 83% of global cricket revenue shared between three countries and 11 of the last 13 major ICC Events won by the same countries
• 2% of global cricket revenue distributed to countries ranked 13 – 108
• 5% of global cricket revenue shared with the players who help to generate it

2. Major Problems Identified

Whilst many of the shifts in cricket are positive, some significant problems with the global game across four areas have been identified by stakeholders. These require urgent addressing:

• Scheduling – Current global cricket scheduling is chaotic, inconsistent and confusing, limiting the overall quality of the product, and putting the future of the international game at risk
• Economics – Global cricket’s finances are not optimised, balanced or used effectively to achieve competitive balance and growth, resulting in the sport not reaching its global potential
• Regulations – Cricket’s global regulations are outdated for the current transnational era, with arbitrary restrictions and limited protections and security for players, and risks to game integrity
• Leadership – There is a lack of overarching leadership in the game providing global direction, leading to regional self-interest, short-term thinking and an imbalance of power

3. Recommended Solutions

The Report makes a number of specific recommendations to address these problems, guided by principles.

Scheduling:

Cricket’s global schedule should align international and domestic formats to drive growth, ensuring all matches have clear context and purpose, through:

• Simpler, easier to follow global calendar and international competition structures – which should apply from 2028 and 2029 onwards. This requires more centralised management of the schedule
• Scheduling windows for ‘Core International Cricket’ – which should be implemented to cover one match per format against all other teams within consistent divisional championships with promotion and relegation, culminating in qualification for existing pinnacle ICC Events across two year cycles
• This will allow international cricket to co-exist with the growing DT20 leagues – rather than compete with them, thereby ensuring its future survival. It will also ensure most of the calendar remains for the market to continue to evolve and innovate

Economics:

Cricket’s financial structure should support global growth and competitive balance, through:

• A centralised Global Growth and Development Fund – to be established, underpinned by pooled rights model applicable only to Core International Cricket, to fund Core International Cricket and other global initiatives
• ICC revenue distribution – occurring within minimum and maximum parameters
• Stronger regulation and accountability – on how distributed money is spent in all countries
• Player revenue sharing parameters – to be applied in all sanctioned cricket

Regulations:

Cricket’s global regulations need to reflect the new transnational reality to protect the game and people in it, through:

• Fit for purpose global regulations for professional cricket – developed to establish modern global calendar, player movement and professional cricket standards

Leadership:

Global cricket needs to come together with clear leadership to reflect the sport’s changing landscape and prevent fragmentation, through:

• Modernising the ICC – to ensure it is empowered to lead the global game and built on shared ownership, independence, and representation reflective of the whole sport
• Establishment of a Global Game Leadership Committee – as an interim step to make recommendations to the game and to the ICC

4. Benefits of Making These Changes

The report highlights the expected stakeholder response, along with independent modelling that indicates proposed changes will have significant benefits for all stakeholders, including:

• Survival of international cricket in more than just a few countries – the future of international cricket is at genuine risk. These recommendations would entrench a place for a base level of sustainable international cricket in the calendar
• Increase in revenue– an estimated addition of more than USD 240M per annum into the global cricket economy, along with significant cost savings
• Easier to follow cricket calendar – with greater consistency, meaning, jeopardy, and competition integrity
• Enhanced global growth and competitive balance – through investment in men’s and women’s depth in international cricket
• Greater ability for National Governing Bodies and DT20 Leagues to plan and structure high performance, contracting and player retention strategies
• Enhanced player protections– reducing the need for players to choose between representing their countries and optimising their careers

WCA Chairman Heath Mills said: “This process has brought to light an almost game wide appetite for change and a need to address the significant issues with the game’s global structure.”

“Whilst there is no silver bullet, the report defines the trends, and major issues facing the sport at global level, along with some recommended solutions, intended to be both aspirational and realistic. The players have an interest in the health of the game globally, and we look forward to discussing and debating the report over the coming months.”

Former England captain Heather Knight said: “As players we understand our responsibility to the game, and we have an interest in it being successful. A unified sport is going to achieve better outcomes than a fragmented one.”

PCA President and former England captain Eoin Morgan said: “We either watch international cricket die in many countries, or we set up a balance and windows are the key to that. Windows are the best solution to give players, fans and administrators clarity on how you can structure a year, plan and regulate.”

Protecting History, Embracing Change. A Unified Coherent Global Future Sub-Committee:

• Paul Marsh Chair (Former ACA CEO and current AFLPA CEO)
• Sana Mir (Former Pakistan Captain, Broadcaster)
• Sanjog Gupta (Head of Jio-Star)
• Tom Harrison (Former ECB CEO and current Six Nations CEO)
• James Kitching (Former Director of Regulatory, FIFA)
• Tony Irish (Former CEO SACA and Executive Chairman of WCA)
• Ex Officio: Tom Moffat (WCA CEO), Stephanie Bond (WCA Head of Legal), Cameron Borgas (WCA Head of Player and Member Operations)

To learn more please visit www.theworldca.com