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With the 2015 Rugby World Cup in full swing, some on The Roar have been talking about the next Cricket World Cup and the decision of the ICC to decrease the number of teams to eight.
I couldn’t help but wonder why they would do such a thing, as it reduces the exposure for a number of upcoming teams.
Well, like most things in life, it probably comes down to money. Money is made in cricket through advertising and broadcasting rights, and to get the big bucks in both those areas, you need a large audience and supporter base.
And therein lies the problem. The established top 10 countries in world cricket already have a far larger population on which to build a supporter base than the top 10 countries in world rugby. This is mainly due to the huge populations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
| Top 10 rugby population | Top 10 cricket population |
| 1 England 53,012,456 | India 1,299,499,000 |
| 2 France 67,087,000 | Pakistan 191,785,000 |
| 3 Australia 23,792,000 | Bangladesh 158,762,000 |
| 4 Italy 60,725,000 | Sri Lanka 20,869,000 |
| 5 South Africa 54,957,000 | England and Wales 56,075,912 |
| 6 Argentina 43,466,000 | Australia 23,792,000 |
| 7 New Zealand 4,579,000 | South Africa 54,957,000 |
| 8 Wales 3,063,456 | New Zealand 4,579,000 |
| 9 Scotland 5,295,000 | West Indies 6,560,000 |
| 10 Ireland 6,300,000 | Zimbabwe 13,061,239 |
| Total 322,276,912 | Total 1,829,940,151 |
Then when you look at the next 10 in rugby – all of which were included in the current world cup – compared to the next 10 in cricket, you can immediately see why the IRB are interested in expanding, while the ICC has little interest in doing so.
| Next 10 in rugby | Next 10 in cricket |
| 1 Japan 126,832,000 | Ireland 6,300,000 |
| 2 USA 322,001,000 | Netherlands 16,923,600 |
| 3 Canada 35,851,774 | Scotland 5,295,000 |
| 4 Romania 19,942,642 | Afghanistan 26,023,100 |
| 5 Georgia 3,729,500 | Hong Kong 7,298,600 |
| 6 Uruguay 3,415,866 | UAE 9,157,000 |
| 7 Tonga 103,252 | Papua New Guinea 8,219,000 |
| 8 Fiji 867,000 | Namibia 2,281,000 |
| 9 Samoa 193,000 | Nepal 28,037,904 |
| 10 Namibia 2,281,000 | Kenya 46,050,000 |
| Total 515,217,034 | Total 155,585,204 |
The largest potential markets in the next 10 countries for cricket are in Kenya, Nepal and Afghanistan. Afghanistan is not a place anyone is likely to make much money in the next few years and the economy of Nepal is hardly dynamic.
Kenya could be seen as having a huge potential for making money, but governance issues in the cricket administration is holding it back.
Compare those to the potential growth markets for rugby of Japan, USA, Canada and even Romania. All are countries have far better economic prospects than the above mentioned cricketing nations. It is no coincidence the next Rugby World Cup will be held in Japan.
So while we true cricket fans, who just want to share our love of the game with as many people across the world, lament the lack of vision of the ICC and complement the IRB in their obvious passion for their game in spreading it to the corners of the globe, let us pause and reflect.
The IRB, like the ICC, is most likely simply acting with dollar signs in their eyes.
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