UK Edition
England owed £80,000 by Indian Cricket Board for living expenses
Phil Neale, the England tour manager, is in discussions with the Indian cricket board to try to speed up the payment of daily allowances for the touring players and officials.
England have been in India for 19 days but have still not been paid their daily £50 living expenses by the Indian board. It is protocol for the home board to cover the hotel travel costs and provide a daily stipend for the visiting team and officials. The Indian players and ICC umpires have been paid.
It amounts to around £80,000 for the 17 England players and 16 backroom staff in India. Cash flow is not an issue for England but sources have said it is a point of principle that the home board pays its dues.
The memorandum of understanding for this series has still not been signed and at the start of the tour the Indian board wrote to Neale warning they were unable to provide expenses for the England team due to restrictions placed on their financial dealings by India’s Supreme Court.
The demonitisation of India’s currency, which happened two days before the first Test, has also complicated the situation. The government scrapped the 500 (£6) and 1,000 rupee notes. It has caused chaos, with reports of people dying in long queues at banks to change the old money into new 2,000 rupee notes.
Indian players have been paid partly in the smaller denomination 100 rupee (£1.19) notes, forcing them to carry huge wads of cash. The England players and staff are using credit cards to pay for room and living expenses.