ICC chairman N Srinivasan yet again represented India at the governing body’s board meeting that concluded here as the newly-elected BCCI president Shashank Manohar skipped the proceedings.
According to an ICC release, Srinivasan’s name was there in both the chairman’s as well as the India representative’s column in the list of members attending the meeting. It was learnt that Srinivasan was in the thick of things discussing commercial future of bilateral series.
While PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan was present but in Manohar’s absence he might not have made headaway into discussions on an Indo-Pak series, the possibilities of which look bleak at the moment.
“ICC Chairman N Srinivasan led a joint session of the Board and the Chief Executives’ Committee to discuss and identify ways to enhance the context and value of future bilateral cricket. The ICC’s management will now consult widely in respect of many of the areas that were discussed before presenting recommendations in due course under the directions of the ICC Chairman,” the ICC release stated.
Meanwhile the Chief Executives meeting that concluded last Friday was attended by BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur and PCB’s Subhan Ahmed.
ICC doubles prize money
The ICC Board on Tuesday decided to double the prize money of the top-ranked Test team to $1 million from its existing $500,000 from April 1, next year and also increase investment in women’s cricket by five-fold.
According to a media release issued by ICC, “The Board approved an increased allocation of $65 million as the prize money for the top ranked Test sides and for men’s and women’s ICC Events during the period 2016-2023. This represents a 41 per cent increase in the total prize money paid compared to the previous eight-year cycle.”
“This prize money is in addition to the Test Cricket Fund of $70million, which the ICC Board introduced last year to help ensure Test playing sides are able to sustain a home programme of Test cricket through to 2023.”
In line with the ICC’s new strategy which aims to assist the development of more competitive teams, the Board approved that direct funding available to the Associate and Affiliate Members (AMs) will increase from $125 million to $208 million.
The next edition of ICC U-19 World Cup will be held in Bangladesh.
The Board also approved a five-fold increase in the prize money allocated to the six ICC women’s events during 2016-2023. The women will compete for total prize money of $4.4 million during the period, including a prize money pool of $1 million for the Women’s World Cup 2017.