A World Cup that began with controversies over sponsors on a carbon footprint basis has ended with an admission by the global body’s chair Greg Barclay that climate change is adding to complications for tournament organisers.
There were deep sighs of relief among planners of the T20 World Cup when a bucketload of Melbourne rain held back until a few hours after Jos Buttler’s side had lifted the trophy at the MCG.
The covers were not needed on World Cup final day – but only by a narrow margin.Credit:Getty Images
Showers continued on all the way through the reserve day set aside for the tournament finale, underlining how fortunate it had been that a narrow sliver of fine weather held on throughout Sunday night.
Australia’s third year in a row of La Nina has added spice to the pitches but also anxiety to the schedulers, and Barclay said that the combination of capricious weather conditions and the desire of member countries to host events outside the prime months of their home seasons was a tricky one.
“Cricket’s the one international sport that is very affected by weather, so it is an issue,” Barclay told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald after he was re-elected as ICC chair for another two years. “Trying to get those events into the optimal parts of the season, country by country, is always going to be difficult, and it’s going to become even more difficult.
“Overlay that with what I suspect is a bit of climate change going on, and there’s another layer of complexity that’s been introduced. So I guess that, in part, we’re just going to have to put up with what we get.
England skipper Jos Buttler and his teammates celebrate World Cup victory at the MCG.Credit:Getty Images
“We’ll still make every effort to work with the hosts to try to optimise the parts of the season that are going to give us the best weather, to ensure we get as much cricket as we possibly can.”
Barclay’s re-election, ultimately unopposed after Zimbabwe’s chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani withdrew his nomination, happened against the backdrop of talks around how the new US$3 billion global broadcast rights deal into India will be shared.
Total crowds of more than 750,000 for the World Cup were driven largely by huge south Asian turnouts, including a trio of games at the MCG – India v Pakistan, India v Zimbabwe, and England v Pakistan in the final – that all drew more than 80,000 people. Barclay said this pulling power had to be a consideration in terms of rights distributions.
“It’s a factor without a doubt,” Barclay said. “Equitable distributions can be looked at in a whole lot of ways, and one of the things we would look at would be investing in areas where we’re going to get good returns.
“Fan engagement, breadth of audience, exposure to more people, as well as looking to grow the game in countries that don’t have that number of fans that are as engaged with the game.
“But if you look at it purely from a business point of view, you fish where the fish are, and if there are fans that we can look to engage and use to support the game, then of course we’ll look to invest there.”
The ICC’s meetings also took place in parallel with those of the global players’ federation, FICA, amid rumblings of labour market issues in numerous member countries, but also the growing challenge posed by T20 franchise leagues. Barclay said he would not impose one rule for all nations, but backed the principle of players to be represented and supported in their quest for better pay and conditions.
“We don’t have a game if we don’t have players,” Barclay said. “The players do deserve to ensure they’re protected and supported, and making sure they’re remunerated for what they do. And not just remunerated, there’s a whole lot of other issues as well, welfare, education and post-playing support.
“I do accept that a number of countries see it differently and have different relationships with their players, so I wouldn’t put myself in a position to say one size fits all for every country, but my personal experience is that players associations have done a wonderful job in terms of protecting those rights, looking after their members and advocating on behalf of the group generally.
“The world’s changing. I think the players are both becoming more valuable in terms of their exposure and proprietary rights and recognising that, and the players associations are becoming more sophisticated in terms of understanding some of those commercial aspects of the sports rights world.”
