Pakistan accepts ICC new financial model

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday accepted the new financial model proposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) through which the board would now get more than two times its revenue. 

The ICC meeting and annual conference took place in Durban, South Africa, from July 10 to 13 which was attended by a PCB delegation where several matters were discussed.

The "Financial and Distribution Model 2024-27" envisages the largest-ever investment to go into global cricket and provides a huge opportunity for the game to grow further.

In determining the distribution share to members, the model considers on and off-field performance including cricket rankings, performance at ICC events, and commercial contribution to the ICC Events.

"PCB, in accordance with its constitutional right, has over the past few weeks and at the ICC meetings, consistently sought additional information to better understand the rationale behind the allocation of weightage to each of the criteria and the calculation of the distributions.

"The PCB felt in the absence of all relevant information, data and formulae, such a significant decision should not be taken in haste. The PCB, therefore, proposed that this item may be deferred to the next ICC meeting," said the statement issued by the cricket board.

"Ultimately, the majority of members did not find it feasible to defer this item and voted in favour of passing the model, while the PCB recorded its dissent as a matter of principle," it added.

The statement added that the team's performance in the men's ICC events and in bilateral cricket, the PCB’s own huge fan base, which leads to significant commercial value, the PCB was ranked amongst the top-four nations in this model."

Therefore, the board will receive more than two times the revenue when compared to the last cycle, said the statement.

The PCB said that the increased share of revenue will lead to far greater investment in developing cricketing skills and will be beneficial in taking Pakistan Cricket to new heights.

As reported by ESPNcricinfo previously, India’s new revenue share in the ICC's finance model would stand at 38.5%, while England and Australia would bag 6.89 and 6.25% respectively. Pakistan is set to earn 5.75% of the ICC's projected earnings, which will come primarily through ICC’s $3 billion media rights deal for 2024-27.

A number of meetings were held by PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf with fellow cricket board officials on the sidelines of the ICC meetings where collaborations and mutually beneficial programs to further cricket development and growth were discussed.

On Saturday, 15 July, a meeting was held between the PCB and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials in respect of finalising the schedule of the Asia Cup 2023, logistical and organisational arrangements and marketing campaigns.

The finalised schedule is likely to be announced this week.