Short Ashes Tests Cost Cricket Australia About $20 Million

Cricket Australia has lost about $20 million in revenue because two men's Ashes Tests ended early, its chief executive Todd Greenberg said. The board still reported an $82 million surplus for 2025-26, and its annual revenue rose to a record $601 million.

The Ashes is the long-running Test series between Australia and England, and each Test can last up to five days. The Melbourne Cricket Ground Test drew a record crowd of 94,000 but lasted only two days. The Perth Test did not reach a third day. Greenberg put the combined shortfall from the two abbreviated matches at "give or take $20m", according to The Guardian.

The board's finances look less comfortable beyond this summer. Cricket Australia held $87.5 million in cash and investments after the peak of its financial cycle, and it has projected deficits for the next two years. It pointed to weaker interest in New Zealand's tour this summer, and to the Pakistan and Sri Lanka tours that follow, as reasons for the expected losses.

Those projections do not include money from a planned sale of parts of Big Bash League (BBL) franchises. The BBL is Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition, where games are shorter and often played under lights. Cricket Australia wants private investment in its BBL teams, and that plan will go ahead first with the Melbourne Renegades.

Leadership is changing too. Mike Baird is stepping down as chair, and former Test batter David Boon is set to take over from him.

For casual fans, the headline numbers can look contradictory. A record revenue year and a healthy surplus sit alongside warnings of lean years ahead. The gap comes down to timing. Income from one strong period can carry a governing body through quieter tours, but only if costs are managed and new money arrives. How much the BBL share sales will bring in has not been spelt out, so the size of the future gap remains open.