New Zealand sport fans are becoming increasingly excited about the Cricket World Cup. They sense that the much-improved Back Caps have a realistic chance of winning the tournament for the first time. To a lesser degree, there is also an understanding that the event, being jointly hosted by this country and Australia, is no small part of the international sporting calendar. One measure of that is highlighted by today's story detailing how much the Black Caps will receive if they emerge victorious. An unbeaten run would earn the team $5.2 million, a figure that would mean each Black Caps pocketed up to $350,000.
Contrast that with the $100,000 bonus each All Black was paid for winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup. It seems out of proportion in a country where rugby is king and in which New Zealand Cricket was forced to shed staff to cut costs as recently as three years ago. But it is explainable in terms of the extraordinarily good health of cricket worldwide. This is largely a consequence of the popularity of the game in India, the source of 80 per cent of International Cricket Council revenue.
Media, sponsorship and licensing rights are so lucrative that showcase events can easily boast large prize pools. For the World Cup, it is almost $13m. That sum is the most that international cricketers will vie for during their careers. But even it pales against the profit garnered from such tournaments. The 2012 World T20 Championship in Sri Lanka, for example, generated a budgeted surplus of US$83.4m ($106m). It is only fair, as Heath Mills, of the Cricket Players Association, suggests, that the ICC and its member boards share some of the commercial returns with the players.
The prize money on offer also adds clout to cricket governors' wish for the huge global viewing audience to see their game in the best possible light. At present, a major fear appears to be a repeat of the sledging that blighted the recent test series between Australia and India. Before the opening match between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka on February 14, players will be told of a clamp down on abusive behaviour.
As much is welcome. A game's showpiece event should feature all that is good about it. And there will be no better feeling in this country than if the Black Caps win the World Cup. No New Zealander would begrudge the players their $350,000. The Black Caps' re-emergence as a force in the game has the country talking enthusiastically about cricket for the first time in many years. The World Cup represents the ultimate prize for the players and a country eager to salute a new band of champions.
