Shortly after India’s victory over the United States of America on June 12, 2024, at the Nassau County International Stadium in New York, cricket’s inaugural entirely modular stadium was being dismantled, packed, and folded up. Before either team left, cranes were at the location to remove the four drop-in fields, and workers were prepared to disassemble the stands so they could be returned to Las Vegas Formula One, from which ICC had borrowed the majority of the infrastructure.
With a venue constructed entirely from scratch in 106 days, the New York project was one of the ICC’s most ambitious projects to date. But from nearly the start of the competition, concerns have lingered over the USA leg, home of 16 of the 55 World Cup games. The ICC Board will now delve more into a number of those issues during its weekend meeting in Colombo, specifically the allegations that the US leg’s expenses greatly exceeded the initial budget, the reasons for that, and who should bear responsibility.
A board official stated that the initial budget agreed by the ICC Board for the USA portion of the event was between $40 and $50 million. The director stated in that first estimate that $15 million was intended for operating expenses and around $30 million for the construction of the temporary stadium outside of New York City, however ESPNcricinfo has not been able to independently verify that sum.
But, T20 World Cup USA Inc., the US-based organisation established to manage the US leg by the ICC’s commercial arm IBC (ICC Business Corporation), requested an extra $20 million on the eve of the World Cup. A second director said that this “outraged and alarmed” a number of board directors, not least since the request was made so last-minute. The director questioned why there had never been any warning signs brought up with the board prior to the request.
However, the $20 million T20 World Cup USA Inc. requested was not more funding, but rather a loan to maintain cash flow, according to one individual engaged in the tournament’s planning and administration: “T20 Inc had to pay people and needed a cash injection as a loan.”
Imran Khwaja, the deputy chairman of the ICC, Pankaj Khimji, one of the three associate directors on the ICC Board, and CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow were among the directors who voiced concerns about the exaggerated expenses that led to the loan request. Concerns were also raised by the heads of other Full Member boards. It is thought that Khimji requested an inquiry into the US leg in an email to the ICC last week.
The T20 World Cup was primarily hosted by the CWI, as USA Cricket was not allowed to co-host by the ICC because the board was bogged down in financial and governance matters. As a result, T20 World Cup USA Inc. was essentially designated as the USA leg’s local organising committee. The new business is independent of the ICC and was registered as a not-for-profit entity. Former AFL player Brett Jones, who played multiple roles in state cricket and signed a rookie deal with Western Australia, was named CEO, with broadcast industry veteran Peter Hutton serving as chair. Heading the operational side was former West Indies hitter Adrian Griffiths, a former senior manager for umpires and referees at the ICC.
Originally, T20 World Cup USA Inc. and a CWI-appointed LOC were supposed to collaborate, but as the competition went on, according to multiple operational officials, “all communication had broken down” between the two.
The US leg will not be the only one to be questioned. It is anticipated that certain directors on the ICC Board will draw attention to the negative effects on the tournament’s reputation resulting from the poor condition of pitches at certain locations and the empty stands during the Caribbean leg. The outfield and pitches were slow and uneven, even though they had been kept fresh, which made it immediately unclear if they were suitable for Twenty20 cricket.
One instance was the first-ever semi-final between South Africa and Afghanistan at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba. Afghanistan’s head coach, Jonathan Trott, lambasted the field, saying it was “not the pitch that you want to have… a semi-final of a World Cup.”
Andy Atkinson, the worldwide body’s pitch expert, has been a vital player at every ICC event over the past 20 years. He typically visits the shortlisted venues months in advance to check the condition of the outfield and surfaces. It has come to light that Atkinson was nowhere to be seen during this World Cup, which has led to questions about exactly who was in command.
Another problem was the large areas of vacant seats throughout the Caribbean stadiums, beginning with the opening match of the tournament between the West Indies and Papua New Guinea, which was attended by very few people in Providence Stadium in Guyana. The daytime nature of the contest was the primary cause of the low attendance throughout the Caribbean leg.
Day matches were scheduled with the Indian broadcast market in mind. The broadcaster was eager to air the games at prime time in India, particularly those involving India and the semi-finals and final: In the Caribbean, 10.30am began at 8pm in India. Officials note that although it was a blatant deterrent, CWI had the biggest marketing spend of any T20 World Cup to advertise the competition just in the Caribbean.
The ICC Board reviews every international competition as is typical, but in this instance, it seems like there are unanswered questions and accountability gaps. As a result, top ICC management and CWI, the tournament’s primary hosts, will be the focus of attention.
In 2021, when the ICC finalised USA as tournament co-hosts along with West Indies, the objective was to harness the untapped market in America which has a young and increasing diaspora from the subcontinent. The US leg was essentially a dress rehearsal because cricket has been added by the International Olympic Committee to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Regarding such, some directors expressed that the ICC had succeeded in obtaining some “mileage”. However, concerns about the marketing budget allocated to the US leg are legitimate. Whether the game managed to break through beyond its already captive audience of subcontinental origins will be a crucial measure of its success.
The majority of the responses are probably going to be revealed during the ICC’s quarterly meeting in October, when the ICC Board will have access to the audited World Cup financials.