Earlier this month, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting raised a crucial issue regarding the pay disparity between Test-playing nations during the opening match of the World Test Championship final. Wasim Khan, general manager of Cricket for the ICC, disclosed that while the issue was brought up during the meeting, it failed to pique the committee’s interest.
Ricky Ponting’s views on the remuneration disparity between Test-playing nations garnered considerable attention. The batting legend’s perspective on the matter underscored the significance of smaller pay disparities between players representing their respective nations in the longest format of cricket.
Several former cricketers have shown their support for the Australian legend following his outspoken opinion. Wasim Khan, the general manager of the ICC, disclosed that the highly contentious topic was withdrawn from their discussion at their most recent meeting. He established that there has been no concrete discussion on this topic with the members.
“I believe it was possibly a misquote. It was first brought up in the ICC Cricket Committee. It was a topic of discussion, but no action was taken regarding player compensation. Ricky’s views were a topic of discussion within the Cricket Committee, as are many other topics, but there has been no discussion with the members regarding this,” Wasim stated in a select media interaction.
The emergence of leagues necessitates a means of coexistence: Wasim Khan
The ICC official stated that while there are concerns in the cricketing community about the emergence of franchise leagues diminishing cricketers’ motivations to play red-ball cricket, the boards will need to find a method to coexist in order to maintain the significance of Test cricket among players.
“It is safe to assume that the benefits the members will receive in the next cycle will be greater than in previous cycles. The payment of participants is the responsibility of the members [individual boards]. With the emergence of leagues, a means of coexistence must be found.
We must coexist in the future. Members have signed up for WTC for the next eight years, which is fantastic. We have some of the game’s greatest players discussing the significance of Test cricket,” he added.