Minnow or never: How Karl Marx can solve world cricket's income inequality

For a brief moment in 1996, Kenya etched its name on the global cricketing map when it orchestrated the biggest upset in World Cup history, maybe even in cricket history, by toppling two-time champions West Indies by 73 runs in Pune.

It would be the first time West Indies would lose a one-day international (ODI) to an International Cricket Council (ICC) Associate team.

It was literally Miracle on 22 yards. “The West Indians, as if infected by their shame, hid behind the curtains of the dressing room after the loss,” Michael Henderson wrote in the Times.

Cricket is awash with such instances of glorious upsets, of David slaying the Goliath. The ongoing ICC World T20 in the United States and the Caribbean islands has thrown up two more.

Last week, the USA cricket team, which most Americans did not know existed, did the unthinkable — they defeated Pakistan in a pool game in Dallas. 

What made the result even more shocking was that the USA team included six players of Indian descent, who were in the country on H-1B visas.

Two days later, Afghanistan, world cricket’s rising upstarts, enhanced their already rising  glory by defeating a heavy-duty New Zealand team.

Punching above weight

Afghanistan, with their effervescent bunch, have been punching above their weight at ICC events for some time now. During last year’s 50-over World Cup in India, they finished in the creditable sixth place, securing a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Afghanistan’s dream run included victories against former champions England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

With an emphasis on improving cricket at the grassroots level, the emergence of an eclectic mix of cricketers who play in franchise leagues across the globe, and backed by an arsenal of coaches — Afghanistan cricket has come a long way from the days of war and refugee camps.

There is another important footnote that needs to be mentioned while chronicling Afghanistan’s rise: The role played by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In 2016, the BCCI refurbished Greater Noida's Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex and laid the red carpet to these cricketers.

It also provided technical support in helping this fledgling team prosper, sending former Indian cricketers such as Lalchand Rajput, Manoj Prabhakar, and Ajay Jadeja as coaching staff.

“Things changed for Afghanistan once they got Test status in 2017. The ICC funding improved, since they were no longer an Associate nation. They built four stadiums and also set up a proper first class structure in place,” Rajput told Business Standard.

But other Associate nations have not been as lucky. Though the ICC has always advocated spreading the game to new frontiers, it has barely translated into much on the ground.

Since that delirious afternoon in Pune 28 summers ago, Kenyan cricket has been languishing, fighting factionalism and funding apathy. In Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, cricketers are increasingly getting lured by franchise and county cricket, because of the low pay on offer in their countries.

USA Cricket is hopeful that the euphoria of the win over Pakistan will ignite interest in a sport that has lived in obscurity in the country.

Hand of Karl Marx

Tim Wigmore, who has co-written the delightful Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket with Stefan Szymanski, a leading expert in the economics of sports, has the answer on how cricket can go global.

Wigmore believes German philosopher Karl Marx’s Communist ideology of “Equitable distribution of wealth” is the antidote to cricket’s travails.

“The biggest thing that cricket needs to globalise the game is to share its wealth more evenly. Football has been the most successful sport with growing interest in part because all countries receive the same amount of money from FIFA — so Germany and Brazil earn as much from the broadcasting rights for the World Cup as smaller countries. This has helped to increase standards around the world,” Wigmore told Business Standard in an email.

Wigmore said ICC’s faulty revenue share model is the reason for cricket’s stuttered progress as a global sport.

Under the ICC’s distribution model from 2024 to 2027, India will receive $230 million a year from the global governing model, accounting for nearly 40 per cent per cent of all revenues, while England is poised to get about $40 million.

The 94 Associate members combined will receive just $67.5 million.

Scotland and Netherlands, on the other hand, will receive about $3.8 million a year from the ICC, which is the bulk of their total income, to be spent on their men’s and women’s programmes, and grassroots and international games.

“Closing this gap would allow Associate nations to invest more in their facilities and grassroots and also contract their players, thereby preventing the situation where a number of Netherlands and Scotland players are not available for the World Cup because they earn more through their county commitments,” Wigmore explained.

After the notable successes in World Cups, Kenya and Ireland found that 

Test nations became more reluctant to play them.

One senior ICC official described Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the two lowest-ranked Full Members, as “scared” to play leading Associates, fearing that a defeat would bring their own Test status under scrutiny, according to an extract in Crickonomics.

In the football World Cup, teams have grown from 13 to 48.

The ICC, however, contracted the 50-over World Cups to a round-robin 10-team format in 2019 and 2023, down from 14 teams in the 2015 edition.

India’s financial clout

Dave Richardson, the former ICC chief executive, admitted that it was done to guarantee India at least nine games in World Cups.

“That’s one of the factors, yes. The increase in the revenue is significant and everyone gets the benefit of that,” Richardson had said.

India’s financial clout leaves the sport uniquely vulnerable to the risk of the national team underperforming, another extract from Crickonomics read.

India’s exit in the 2007 World Cup could have been tolerated in football, whose men’s World Cup survived Argentina and Germany being eliminated after just three games, it added.

Cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is expected to boost its global profile. The financial implications notwithstanding, Wigmore wants franchise leagues to play a proactive role in the game’s globalisation.

“For instance, the Indian Premier League (IPL) allows all teams eight overseas players each. What about allowing each team one extra overseas slot for players from Associate nations. That would be a brilliant device,” he elaborated.

With the international schedule already saturated, accommodating additional fixtures is an arduous task. Wigmore has a suggestion.

“The Asia Cup, which currently has six teams (five Test nations + one Associate) should be expanded to at least eight to give more exposure for Associate teams. 'A' teams from countries like Australia, England and India could also play against Associates far more. And before major tours, Test nations should play a match or two against nearby Associates,” he added.

Does the ICC have the will to make cricket a global sport? Or is it happy with a cosy club of 10?

Slaying Goliath
 

1983 India vs West Indies: The mother of all upsets. The unfancied Indian team led by Kapil Dev clinched the 1983 World Cup, toppling Clive Lloyd’s all-conquering team from the Caribbean at Lord’s.

1996 West Indies vs Kenya: The classic underdog tale. Kenya, playing in their first World Cup, upstaged two-time champions West Indies in Pune.

1999 Pakistan vs Bangladesh: Pakistan were involved in a final over upset against Zimbabwe in the 2022 World T20. But what would haunt them even more was their loss to Bangladesh at the 1999 World Cup.

2007 India vs Bangladesh & Pakistan vs Ireland: It was supposed to be a walkover. The broadcasters were licking their lips at the prospect of an India vs Pakistan game in the Super Eight. But Bangladesh and Ireland knocked out India and Pakistan at the pool stage.  

2023 Afghanistan vs England: It was a repeat of 2015, when Afghanistan punched above their weight to clinch a historic 69-run win over defending champions England.