West Indies skipper Jason Holder feels if England travel to the Caribbean islands for a series before the end of the year, it would help Cricket West Indies financially. Holder made these comments in the aftermath of defeat in the third and final Test at the Old Trafford Tuesday that saw them concede the Wisden Trophy.
Holder explained that CWI gain financially only when England or India tour the Caribbean and if the ‘Three Lions’ touchdown in the country this year, the hosts would benefit from it a lot.
“I was speaking to our chief executive, Johnny Grave, who highlighted that we really only make money from playing England and India (at home),” Holder told reporters as per cricbuzz. “Maybe we break even with Australia and Pakistan. But we lose money against other teams.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen after this series with the international calendar but if there is an opportunity for England to come over to the Caribbean before the end of the year, that would help significantly.
“It’s been a tough last few years for us financially, pretty much and we’ve taken a pay cut due to the circumstances. A tour hopefully, if it is possible before the end of 2020, would help keep us afloat,” he added.
Holder also gave an insight into how ‘smaller’ teams have been struggling around the world, financially, in the wake of COVID-19 crisis. He also pointed towards the ‘big three’ and stated only they will be able to ride the wave, considering the amount of money they generate.
“Now more than ever highlights the differences in revenue scale when it comes to international cricket. England get a huge chunk of money, Australia can stand on their own two feet, India is a powerhouse,” Holder said.
“Outside those top three nations, pretty much most other nations will struggle. We’re having a massive difficulty in funding our cricket – not only international cricket but every single age group-level cricket, A team programmes, our development programmes.
“(Revenue-sharing) is definitely something that needs to be looked at from the powers that be. I don’t think there’s any other series that could have been played during COVID-19 . The additional costs of hosting the series is massive. We would have struggled in the Caribbean to host any team in the Caribbean without any financial support.
“This is me personally bringing up a case for looking at the revenue distribution, particularly from the ICC, to see how better we could support the smaller countries in world cricket,” he added.