ECB will be paying a touring fee to Zimbabwe when they visit the UK next year for a bilateral series. Zimbabwe will be touring the UK in 2025 summer for a one-off test. This will be the first ever instance in the modern era where a touring team will be paid for a series. The development was confirmed by ECB chief executive Richard Gould on Friday during a chat on Sky Sports during the first day’s play of the Edgbaston Test.
Gould was the one who originally put forth the suggestion last year to offset the disparity in revenues earned by various full-member countries and ensure the quality of Test cricket remained strong. Since then he recommended one solution which was to pay a touring fee to the travelling sides.
“There’s a huge responsibility,” Gould told former England captain Mike Atherton on Sky Sports about the need for the ECB and other financially strong boards like the BCCI and Cricket Australia to ensure Test cricket is competitive. “When you look at whether it’s the revenue share from the ICC or indeed the revenue share from bilateral cricket, which is fairly old fashioned in truth in the way that it’s delivered.
“For example, next year Zimbabwe are coming to tour [England]. Normally the way the things happen is that it’s the touring team gets itself into the country and then it’s looked after in terms of accommodation, all the rest of it. But there’s no fee for that team that’s touring. Next year when we play against Zimbabwe, there will be a fee for that team that’s touring.”
The disparity between smaller countries and the bigger nations has become huge. The broadcasting rights in countries like the West Indies, Zimbabwe, etc have become negligible. The sides spend a huge amount on sending their teams to other nations but receive nothing from those series. Steps would need to be taken to make it a level playing field for the nations even when they tour another country. The initiative taken by the ECB can prove to be a way forward for several other boards as well to promote cricket and also help the smaller teams.
