The winner of the 2019 men’s World Cup will walk away with a monetary reward of US $4 million, with the runner up getting half the amount ($2 million), as the ICC, on Friday, announced details of the total prize money on offer for the 10-team tournament.
The total prize money of $10 million will be the same as it was in the 2015 World Cup, which was contested among 14 teams with Australia defeating New Zealand to take the trophy and the winner’s cheque. The ICC had announced in 2015 that it was increasing the total prize money by 25% from $8 million previously to $10 million.
In the 2019 edition, the two losing semi-finalists will get $800,000 each with winners of each league-stage match assured $40,000 each. There is also an incentive for teams progressing through the league phase, with each of the six teams getting $100,000.
The 2019 World Cup format is similar to the nine-team edition played in 1992, where each team plays the others in the round-robin phase, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals.
The ICC also announced its panel of commentators for the World Cup, which starts from May 30. The 24-member panel features World Cup captains Graeme Smith, Nasser Hussain, Kumar Sangakkara, Wasim Akram, Brendon McCullum, Shaun Pollock, Mike Atherton, Sourav Ganguly and Michael Clarke. Clarke, who had led Australia to victory in 2015, will be making his ICC TV commentary debut. The panel also features other experienced commentators like Ian Bishop, Simon Doull, Michael Holding, Melanie Jones, Isa Guha and Alison Mitchell, as well as Sanjay Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo