The men's senior national cricket team, the Chevrons, will rue their embarrassing absence from the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup as the organisers yesterday announced the highest prize money in the history of the tournament.
Zimbabwe would have been guaranteed at least US$225 000 for participating.
Winners of the 20-team tournament will earn at least US$2,45 million along with the trophy that they will lift at Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29.
The runners-up will receive at least $1,28 million, while the losing semi-finalists walk away with $787 500 each from the total, historic prize pot of $11,25 million.
The four teams that fail to make it out of the Super 8s will earn $382 500 each, while the teams placed ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th receive $247 500 each. Participants who finish 13th to 20th place will return $225 000.
And every team receives an additional $31 154 for each match they win barring the semi-finals and final.
The 55-match event will be played over 28 days, across nine venues in the West Indies and US, making this the biggest ICC T20 World Cup ever.
The format of this year's tournament will see 40 first round matches played before the top eight progress to the Super 8s. Four teams will then qualify for the semi-finals, which will be staged in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, ending with the final in Barbados where the 2024 men's champions will be crowned.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said:
"This event is historic in so many ways so it is fitting that the prize money for players reflects that. Hundreds of millions of fans around the world will be entertained by the players in what we're hoping to be an Out of This World event."
Zimbabwe are the only Test-playing country missing from the tournament after missing out on the qualifiers held in Namibia.
With two tickets available for the contestants, the Chevrons were favourites to progress together with Namibia but embarrassing defeats to the hosts and Uganda left them third and out of running for the global show-piece.
