The ‘Big Three’ — India, England and Australia — playing the bulk of Test cricket will eventually “kill the game” and the players of smaller boards like the West Indies must be paid better for international cricket to flourish, feels Chris Gayle.

The 43-year-old said only three teams dominating the game can’t be good for the sport in the long run.

“Over the years, cricket has changed quite a bit. It’s a big business now. A lot of money is being thrown around not just in T20 leagues, but Test cricket as well. The bigger teams are getting paid more than the smaller teams, leaving them at a disadvantage.

“It needs to be structured so that everyone can benefit. The lower-ranked teams need toplay more games to develop their skills.

“Infrastructure needs to be created for them and those players need to be paid well just like the big teams, because everyone is playing the same amount of cricket,” the former West Indies captain said on the sidelines of the Indian Veteran Premier League launch.

Gayle can’t predict what the future holds for ODIs but linked the West Indies’ struggle in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers to the lack of incentives for smaller teams to play international cricket.

“There are leagues around the world, but sometimes territories restrict those players to play in those leagues and they won’t be able to get the funding they deserve,” Gayle said, referring to the cap on the number of private leagues a freelance cricketer can ply his trade in.