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The Game Of Cricket : Cricket

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The game of cricket, is one of the oldest sports in the world, can date its origins all the way to the 1500s where it was played in small villages in England. From those humble beginnings in small British villages now known as Sussex, the game of cricket now boasts an estimated fan base of around two and half billion fans according to a research report by topendsports.com. Now, cricket has become the second most popular sport in the world. People from all over the world play and follow cricket. Cricket enjoys a large following in Asia, Australia, and the United Kingdom – including the majority of commonwealth countries. The sport is played religiously in India, Australia, and England and together they constitute the big three in world …show more content…

Does the International Cricket Council (ICC) work in the best interest of cricket as a sport, or is it skewed in its working to best help the big three. These questions are extremely significant and need to be addressed if the sport wants to continue to flourish and improve. The question stands, are India, Australia, and England trying to monopolize the game of cricket, and if yes how are they doing so?
Money is pouring into the game of cricket from left, right and center. Large television deals have taken the sport to another level of popularity. The ICC publishes an annual report every year detailing all international cricket events, series, and also gives an extensive financial report. According to the report, the total annual comprehensive income generated by the ICC has seen exponential growth over the last few decades or so. Income has skyrocketed due to numerous reasons, but none more important than television broadcasting rights and deals. International Cricket Council TV rights deals were around 50 million dollars in the 1990s. The next TV rights deal for 2000 – 2007, was signed for a little over 550 million dollars. That is 1000% increase from the previous broadcasting deal to the new one. Growth at that rate is unheard of. Yes, growth at that speed is not sustainable or reasonable. However, that spike in television deals is the product of the gargantuan surge in cricket’s popularity around the world. In 2007-2015, the TV rights

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