England’s decision to pay Zimbabwe touring fee is the right thing to do

Zimbabwe celebrate after getting a wicket in Harare against Sri Lanka PIC: 3-mob.com

The decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to pay Zimbabwe a ‘touring fee’ is the is a welcome development in bilateral cricket.

Chief executive Richard Gould confirmed the development in an interview on the Final Word podcast of Friday.

Gould called it a ‘huge responsibility’.

“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,” Gould said.

“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 debate over Test cricket has raged as the big three, England, Australia and India take the lion’s share of revenue from the ICC, the world’s governing body.

It is often argued that those boards have more developed commercial broadcast systems, as the game has moved to more of a made-for-TV event, and less of a focus on in-person experience.

However, hat move was deliberate and has resulted in poorer performances by the bigger nations. In addition, smaller boards have found it difficult play Test matches because of the cost associated. Even more, the smaller boards rarely get the opportunity to play the format against the big three.

The scarcity of matches for the smaller boards has also affected their form in the format, a move away from the 1990s and early 2000s when there were more games to spread. That meant Zimbabwe could develop a talent like Andy Flower in Tests because he had more games to play.

It is hoped that this move is not a one-off and more can be done.

The ICC itself says it is exploring a Test fund to help smaller boards like Zimbabwe to play the format.

Having all 12 full member nations playing Test cricket can only make it more attractive.

England has pressed the button in leading towards a more egalitarian approach to Test cricket.