West Indies players just took a 25% salary cut. I agree with Chris Daring that the ICC's FTP revenue model is not equitable.
West Indies players have had their salaries cut by 25%, and the reason sits in how the ICC's Future Tours Programme splits the money. Chris Daring, the CEO of Cricket West Indies, has pointed at the current revenue sharing model and called it not equitable. I agree with him.
Under the current arrangement, the home country keeps almost all the revenue from a bilateral tour. When the return tour happens, the reverse applies: the other side hosts and takes the money. On paper that looks balanced, since everyone hosts and everyone travels.
In practice it only balances when the two countries are equal in what they can earn from hosting. They are not. Boards operate with different infrastructure and a different setup, and a home series in one country is worth far more than the reciprocal series in another. Swapping hosting rights then swaps unequal amounts, and the smaller board loses on the exchange every time.
The fix is simple to state. Every bilateral tour has to include revenue sharing, not just some of them and not only when a board is in trouble.
Every single bilateral tour has to encompass revenue sharing. That is the equitable way forward.
A reciprocal schedule only counts as fair if the revenue is shared as well. Without that, the FTP hands the biggest earnings to the boards that already have the most, and the rest absorb the shortfall. West Indies is absorbing it through its players' pay.
Right now, the home country keeps almost all the revenues and then the reciprocal tour, the reverse happens.
Chris Daring is right. The salary cut shows what the current model costs a board without a big home market, and revenue sharing on every tour is the only change that addresses it.
