Good morning!
I’m here to burst your bubble about finances in Indian cricket. The Women’s team aren’t paid as much as the Men’s – they’re only given similar match day fees. But their annual contracts are worth about 7% of what the Men make. Oh – and the Women play far fewer games, and virtually no Tests (which offer the most valuable match fees).
Why do I bring this up? Because Sharda Ugra has a brilliant piece decoding how the BCCI have put all their effort into marketing how amazing they are, and how amazingly they’ve supported and promoted Women’s cricket in India – instead of actually putting that effort into supporting Women’s cricket itself.
Here’s another number; the BCCI have INR 20,686 crore lying around in cash reserves. That’s $2.3 billion. That’s enough money to donate a dollar to every Indian in the country, and still have ~$600 million lying around. Which is comparable to what Australia ($239.5 million) & England ($440 million) made together in 2024!
Last year’s IPL mega auction saw 182 players bought for INR 639.15 crore ($72 million), and this year WPL mega auction will see a maximum of 90 players bought for a maximum of INR 75 crore ($8.45 million). Both the WPL and IPL numbers are spread across three-year contracts.
The BCCI has enough money lying around (not new revenue or profit, just cash lying around) to pay all the IPL and WPL players’ salaries for the next 86+ years.
“But, those are franchise numbers! What about national team pay?!” The BCCI pays 34 Men’s cricketers a total base salary of 92 crore ($10.37 million) and 16 Women’s cricketers a total base salary of 3.6 crore ($0.41 million) every year. With just the money lying around, the BCCI could pay both squads for the next 153+ years.
“Market forces” is a bullshit excuse to underpay your employees.
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🏏 Cricket Roundup: IND spin to win, Weatherald’s moment, & an intriguing fiction.
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Australia v India:
IND beat AUS by 42 runs.
👉 Andrew McGlashan on IND’s spinners winning the game.
👉 Sidharth Monga on Axar Patel’s deceptive simplicity. -
The Cricket Roundup:
SA beat PAK by 8 wickets, & NZ beat WI by 3 runs.
👉 Ben Gardner thinks AUS’ old guard are still better than ENG.
👉 Daniel Brettig with Jake Weatherald on his selection call-up.
👉 Atif Azam with BAN coach Mohammad Ahsraful on freeing the mind.
👉 Cameron Steel on the (fictional) troubles of a cricketer.
📚 Best Features: Ugra on the BCCI’s “support” for Women’s cricket.
🗞️ Quick News: T20 WC venues, WPL retentions, & more cricketers involved in promoting illegal gambling.
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The ICC has shortlisted venues for the T20 World Cup.
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The WPL retention details are out.
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The BPL will only have 5 teams this year, with 3 seeing new ownership. The BCB will also investigate abuse claims against their Women’s captain.
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Shikhar Dhawan & Suresh Raina have been caught in the ongoing illegal betting investigation in India, with both accused of taking crores to market the sites.
📺 A/V: Bradman’s invincibles, & the impact of the wobble ball.
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“Bradman the Invincible”
🎤 Simon Hughes continues his look back at iconic Ashes games; we’ve reached Don Bradman’s final hurrah with his 1948 Invincibles. [Apple/Spotify] -
“Has the wobble ball ruined cricket?”
🎤 Steve Harmison, Jarrod Kimber & Jon Norman discuss the impact of the wobble ball. [Apple/Spotify]
That’s it for today!
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