Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are developing their own version of the IPL. I would ask why but it's obviously for the money. This is in addition to the Champions League, Stanford Series, the proposed English Premier League, the ICL and of course the IPL.
The game's administrators need to stop this. I don't have a problem with 2020 and think the IPL is great but why do we need all these other tournaments when players are already complaining about burn-out. Shane Warne recently said that other nations should just embrace the IPL and work together to make it the 2020 showpiece event instead of creating a dozen different spin-offs that no-one cares about.
The national boards think that they know what people want but most of the people I know want good quality Test cricket with a few 2020 tournaments scattered throughout the year to raise interest in the game and bring in new fans.
The other element to this is the players. If the players want the money then I don't blame them but they lose the right to complain about burn-out. Graeme Smith had to pull out of the one-day series in England because of tennis elbow which he aggravated in the IPL. MS Dhoni pulled out of the recent tour to India because he was tired after the IPL. Adding all these other tournaments can only make these sort of events more common.
World cricket is going to collapse at some point - players are only going to have 6 or 7 year careers instead of 10-12. Bowlers are already struggling thanks to flat pitches and a ridiculous work load. How long will people like Dale Steyn last if they are playing cricket 10-11 months of the year. Instead of saving the game, the greed of the administrators means 2020 could be the death of it.
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3 comments:
Hiya,
it is not what we cricket fans want, this has gone well past that.
This is about big money, Of selling TV broadcasting rights and raking in money from commercial slots.
Twenty20 format is ideal for business, - minimal investment >> maximum returns.
ICL first tapped into the potential, BCCI were late to spot it. Like gangland warfare they have muscled in.
Now others want to cash in on it too. If IPL is allowed to continue, then all other such leagues too should be allowed - pushing testmatches and ODIs into the empty calendar slots.
Nearly all the players, regardless of they say, will value money >> honour. Its a normal psychology.
How to save traditional cricket?
1. Make all such leagues like IPL restricted to domestic players, stop the tempting of contracted players from other nations.
2. Have one Champions league - if at all - organised by ICC, not by national boards ie BCCI.
3. Keep international twenty20 as is now, one or two with every tour and a two yearly WC.
In a world ruled by money, ICC is just a figurehead, they do not have the courage to put BCCI in its place.
Forgot to add, the bookies love it too.
The best format for micro-fixing.
Thanks for the comment. I think that the ICC has to regain some control over what is happening. The only way to make the ICC a respected organisation again is to get sensible former players involved - those who care about the game and the way it is run such as Michael Atherton, Steve Waugh, Kapil Dev, Michael Holding, Adam Gilchrist etc.
The game is being run as a business first and a sport second like Formula 1, which is no longer popular as people are fed up with all the politics and behind the scenes rulings. Cricket is headed that way.
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