CricDigs Blogs

This may sound very strange but it is not only Pakistan that is facing a cricketing financial crisis. It is there in Sri Lanka and England too. The Lankan players are fighting over the right to pay hikes that they demand should be handed over because of their pretty good record for the past few years but the Board has been relenting saying its resources are very limited. Now, the Lankan international and domestic players are fighting hard to make sure that their Board either provides them a financial coverage against injuries and expensive treatment or allows them to apply for selection in the IPL/ICL leagues even at the cost of domestic matches.

England is facing a bit of crisis of its own with increasing payments to its county players both domestic and international ones. They are still involved in the financial mess that they have entered with the Stanford failure. Their coach recently remarked about Alastair Cook’s releasing his autobiography!! Are their players so insecure about their financial future that they have got to start authoring books about themselves after playing for a couple of seasons? Now, England is trying hard to make things work out by trying to team up with the BCCI and the next IPL season.

The ICC had recently stated that they are finding it hard to establish the proposed leagues in nations like Canada and Ireland because of the lack of funds. It is said that the financial crisis eroded a part of its investments and there has been a decreasing support from corporates when it comes to spreading the game in far-off continents like Africa and central Europe.
Even Bangladesh cricketing authorities are thinking that the non-payment of promised dues and timely match fees had in fact forced their players to seek solace in the comfort of the ICL’s more secure format. It is a bit far-fetched to call it the Game’s recession but things are getting a bit stretched.