In an attempt to protect and foster the economically less stable cricket bodies, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to pay a touring fee to Zimbabwe when they set their foot in England to play a one-off Test in the 2025 summer.
The ECB chief executive Richard Gould confirmed the development during a conversation on Sky Sports during the first day of the Edgbaston Test between England and West Indies.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is walking the talk under the watch of Gould who had proposed the idea of financially stable boards coming together and supporting boards who are financially struggling.
"There's a huge responsibility," Gould told cricketer-turned-broadcaster Mike Atherton in an exclusive chat on Sky Sports about the need for boards like BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia coming together and looking after the health of Test cricket by supporting other boards. "When you look at whether it's the revenue share from the ICC or indeed the revenue share from bilateral cricket, which is fairly old fashioned in truth in the way that it's delivered.
"For example, next year Zimbabwe are coming to tour (England). Normally the way the things happen is that it's the touring team gets itself into the country and then it's looked after in terms of accommodation, all the rest of it. But there's no fee for that team that's touring. Next year when we play against Zimbabwe, there will be a fee for that team that's touring."
Notably, West Indies are currently touring England for a three-match Test series and Gould revealed that Cricket West Indies also had a unique request for ECB - totally unrelated to revenue share.
"I had conversations with the West Indies six, nine months back before they arrived, (about) what assistance we can we provide. And it's interesting because it won't just be on the Test match cycle. For example, we played an extra two T20s before Christmas in the West Indies (in 2023) in order to help them.
"The specific request that came from the West Indies in this for this particular tour is: can you help us with an Under-19 tour at some point so that we can get more of our players getting access red-ball cricket in those (England) conditions? So, it's not always about the money. It's, and, and there are different ways of doing it."
