A six-person team has been appointed by the World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) to examine the condensed international schedule, which it regards as “broken and unsustainable”.
According to an ESPNCricinfo article, the WCA, formerly known as FICA, is seeking a “clear and coherent structure” that will allow domestic leagues and international cricket to coexist.
WCA is made up of members from sixteen boards, excluding PCB and BCCI.
Heath Mills, the chairperson of the WCA, stated that they had “given up hope” that the leaders of the game could provide a clear framework.
“One of those solutions, which WCA says 84% of the players they have spoken to are in favour of, is ring-fenced windows to ensure international cricket and domestic T20 leagues can co-exist,” added the report.
The scheduling model, which it said was “broken and unsustainable” and “confusing and chaotic” which was forcing players to choose between “representing their country and optimising their careers.”
Six people will be involved in the evaluation, including former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, former FICA president Tony Irish, former ECB CEO Tom Harrison, and head of sports at Disney Star Sanjog Gupta. The panel will be overseen by former Australian Cricketers’ Association head Paul Marsh.
After consulting with a range of stakeholders, such as players, franchise owners, and current and former administrators, the committee will create a set of suggestions that will be shared with the ICC and the WCA board in addition to other members of the cricket community.
The study states that while there isn’t a timeframe, the goal is to complete the suggestions by year’s end.
“Change is badly needed to create ongoing clarity, and value, for players, Boards and fans alike,” WCA said in the statement.
“We are fortunate that cricket is spoilt for choice and has three core formats across both the international game and domestic leagues,” Mills said in the statement.
“However, to date, the game’s leadership has collectively failed to come together to establish a clear and coherent global structure in which they can co-exist. We have virtually given up hope of it doing so.
“The players deserve a say on the future of the game and want us to start putting forward some solutions to known issues. The process we have put in place, guided by independent expertise, will be focussed on making recommendations to our Board on optimising the game’s global structure, ensuring sustainable value, and providing more clarity, consistency, and less confusion for players, fans and commercial partners alike.”
