The financial blow struck to Cricket Australia due to the pair of two-day Ashes Tests last summer amounted to $20m, hurting the sport’s bottom line as it prepares for multiple years of losses.
The governing body reported a $82m surplus in 2025-26 supercharged by strong broadcast interest, ticket sales and commercial revenue associated with the men’s Ashes, the traditional peak in the four-year cycle adopted by Cricket Australia.
More sobering is the outlook, however, with two years of deficits projected. The anticipated sale of parts of BBL franchises have not been factored in to those calculations.
CA’s outgoing chair Mike Baird joked to his replacement, former Test batter David Boon, during Wednesday’s AGM that he needs to ensure future matches go the full five days.
“We’ve had a record Ashes crowd at the MCG, 94,000, only going two days there,” Baird said. “Let’s mark it down that five-day Tests are a good thing, Boonie.”
The revenue shortfall due to the abbreviated MCG match was initially estimated at $10m , but the total was even higher. The Perth fixture, which also did not reach day three, left an even deeper hole.
Chief executive Todd Greenberg said the combined shortfall was worth “give or take $20m” and it was a “significant” blow, though the organisation still managed to meet its financial targets.
“That’s a pretty solid outcome given the fact that we have two two-day Test matches, but we’ve over-achieved in some other areas like non-broadcast revenue, our sponsorship program outperformed, some of our other revenue lines outperformed, so we were able to make up the difference.”
Annual revenue rose to a record high of $601m, an increase of almost $150m over the previous year, leaving the governing body with $87.5m in cash and investments after the peak of its financial cycle.
Cricket Australia is warning of at least two years of financial losses, however, reflecting the lower level of interest in the tour by New Zealand this summer, and Pakistan and Sri Lanka the next, and one of its priorities in coming years will be “cost minimisation”.
That partly explains the pursuit of private investment into BBL franchises , which is set to proceed initially with the Melbourne Renegades despite opposition from New South Wales officials and no deal secured yet with the player association.
“We want to get to a position where we’re sustainable,” Baird said. “Part of the Big Bash work is, not only looking for the private investment, we also think that’s going to lead to increased capability and it’s going to help drive fan experience, and whole different ways it’s going to grow the Big Bash and the game.
“That’s going to bring more revenues to it, but we’re also talking to states about kind of resetting the financial model if additional resources come in.”
