IPL destroys test cricket - Carl Hooper

[Lala]

Hooper mentioned this in 2012 and now again says in 2018. 

https://www.firstpost.com/sports/ipl-one-of-biggest-threats-to-cricket-carl-hooper-485555.html

 

IPL harming West Indies cricket: Carl Hooper

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/ipl-harming-west-indies-cricket-carl-hooper-5386832/

 

 

Former West Indies all-rounder Carl Hooper says the lure of bagging an IPL contract has hurt the Caribbean outfit in Test cricket as most talented youngsters’ “ultimate goal” is to play in the cash-rich T20 league. The past disputes between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board are well-documented and the IPL has contributed to the team’s travails in the longest format, feels Hooper.

The veteran of 102 Tests and 10,000-plus international runs is back in India after 16 years to commentate on the two-Test series. “We should have seen this coming (IPL impact on West Indies cricket). T20 cricket is here to stay. You got more leagues in play than what it was five years ago. It is crazy. It is going to affect us because for most young West Indies players, the ultimate aim is sign a contract with an IPL side,” he said.

“So it would have a bearing on his availability for West Indies cricket including Tests,” Hooper, who now runs a chain of restaurants at his adopted home Adelaide, told PTI.

Owing to pay disputes and with the option of playing T20 leagues around the world, the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine preferred playing the shorter formats.

“The IPL is just a six-week window but we have had situations where we have had someone like Sunil Narine, who picked up six wickets in his last Test (in 2013), has not played for us again. Same goes for Gayle and Kieron Pollard.

“I am not saying they were finished products in the longest format but at 26-27, lets say if Pollard played Test cricket, who knows he could have developed as a good Test cricketer. “But he stuck to the shorter formats. So we are missing players. Evin Lewis just decided to push back on a central contract. He is good enough to play Test cricket. So the shorter versions of the game curtail our progress. Having said that, it would be unfair to blame the players for making the choice (of playing IPL). We all want to be financially secure at the end of the day,” said the 51-year-old from Guyana.

Hooper cited another example which could hurt the Test team. “Someone like a Shimron Hetmyer, who has had very good CPL, is highly rated. Now he can be picked up in the IPL next season and I would hate to lose him to the IPL.”

Despite playing for close to 20 years, Hooper was not able to secure his future financially. He moved to Adelaide 21 years ago, married an Australian and is now a happy owner of Paparazzi, a multi-cuisine restaurant which serves butter chicken and pasta at the same time.

“I am not going to judge players who choose IPL for West Indies. You cannot be upset with a guy who doesn’t want to sign a central contract as he wants to play in other leagues. It is a tough situation. Virat Kohli can stop playing today if he wants to but none of our guys can afford to do that,” said Hooper.

With the West Indies not able to arrest the slide, Hooper has been sad for a long time. “But I am still optimistic. The board needs to implement policies that take the game in the right direction. Your first-class level is probably good enough and that is why you can test Prithvi Shaw at such a young age. But ours is failing and to revive that, lot of work needs to be done at U-16 and U-19 level,” he said.

Hope also feels that West Indies cricketers need to be paid better and corruption can never be rooted out of the game. “Corruption is everywhere man, not just in cricket. It is what is,” he said with a wry smile.

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/ipl-harming-west-indies-cricket-carl-hooper-5386832/

 

[nevada]

If not for T20, cricket would have been dead in the Carribbean. I am a fan of test cricket but I totally understand players not wanting to play the format due to monetary reasons. There is no right or wrong here, it is a matter of evolving times and circumstances.

 

[Clarke]

He is being pretty fair in saying that leagues will stay and he wouldn't judge players on their decisions, and that wicb needs to work on the issue.

 

PS: padosis still not allowed 

[express bowling]

The West Indian Board need to find ways to pay their centrally contracted players better.

 

If that happens then their players can play the IPL, the CPL and can play for the West Indies at other times.

[CoverDrive]

WICB does not need much help to destroy cricket. They are doing a great job themselves. 

[Nikola]

and PSL makes test cricketers? It should be t20 cricket, not just IPL.

[velu]

4 hours ago, Lala said:

Hooper mentioned this in 2012 and now again says in 2018. 

 

he was born little early  

[Kohlifan]

WICB is trying hard to become financially independent. Once they are there i m sure they will take steps to stop this.

[rkt.india]

Cricket in WI was dying slow death before IPL due to player choosing basketball and baseball.  T20 gave birth to some new stars in WI cricket and young players are coming up.

[Khota]

good athletes in WI will never take up cricket. round ball is a better money making option. IPL is a shot in the arm of a sport that is about to die .i.e. test cricket. 5 days of crapfest in 2018. Seriously.

[Sean Bradley]

So IPL is Hurting West Indies Cricket, especially Test, but it has not harmed India's Test Cricket ? You can keep directing your frustration at IPL, but it will not change the fact that your domestic cricket is in doldrums, your cricketers are not getting paid, your board is corrupt and incompetent, your young gen has moved on from the sport which was once a thread that tied your non-existent country. There is no motivation to play Cricket in the Caribbean. You cant blame the handful who chose cricket as career to have aspirations of driving a Porsche and spending their vacations at the Hawaii.

[LordPrabhzy]

2 hours ago, Sean Bradley said:

So IPL is Hurting West Indies Cricket, especially Test, but it has not harmed India's Test Cricket ? You can keep directing your frustration at IPL, but it will not change the fact that your domestic cricket is in doldrums, your cricketers are not getting paid, your board is corrupt and incompetent, your young gen has moved on from the sport which was once a thread that tied your non-existent country. There is no motivation to play Cricket in the Caribbean. You cant blame the handful who chose cricket as career to have aspirations of driving a Porsche and spending their vacations at the Hawaii.

So how many series wins we have had in SENA test tours since 2011? 

[Vilander]

Carl Hooper is wrong.

 

WICB ineptitude destroys their Test cricket.

 

IPL is 6 week window - India does not play tests at this time - at the max WICB has to reconcile that they can not play full strength team during this time.

 

Outside of this, if WI players want to play in every T20 league and want to miss tests for WI -> then it is market economics - its dumb to blame IPL or the other leagues for it.

 

Its like blaming smart phones for decline in  feature phones or walk mans or compasses etc. Its product innovation. 

 

England Aus are able to have a market for tests and Ind is able to by sheer will of administration pump sufficient cash into tests to keep it afloat, even a poor board like PCB does the same - BD is a mini India they make money through their league but keep their players for tests - if WI is not able to replicate it - its their fault not the markets fault. 

[Frustrated]

3 hours ago, LordPrabhzy said:

So how many series wins we have had in SENA test tours since 2011? 

Before the inauguration of IPL in 2008, we hardly won any test series in SENA.  So, there is no evidence to state that IPL has hurt Indian test cricket.  Our performance in SENA had always been poor. 

[Mariyam]

Carl Who?per

[zen]

This is like the wife blaming the other girl for being beautiful for her husband's indecent behavior  

[Adi BB]

At least these guys have reasons to berate ipl because their players play/involved in the league but what about padosis? They are not allowed in the ipl and are still a sh1tty side ,what excuse do they bank upon for their horrible test and odi rankings ?

[Zero_Unit]

thanks heaven to that. Am all in for any format of cricket that would destroy test cricket and bury it in history book where it truly belongs.

[mishra]

Carribean Cricketers do not know where to get pride/inspiration from. In past, It was to do well and beat whites? Now, society has changed. Money is more important. West Indies Board should learn to accomodate the new reality. IIRC, It all started with Gayle contract and Internal politics about representation. IPL is just a escape goat

Quote

April 14, 2011: Chris Gayle is left out of the West Indies squad for the first two one-day internationals against Pakistan, along with fellow senior players Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/517215.html

[mishra]

^ My question to WICB. When Lara scores 500 runs in County Cricket, they make him cricket God and "a Brand" on which WICB Cricket could generate revenue on but another player Gayle shines in another league called IPL and you drop him from squad declaring his achievements as negative.

Edited October 10, 2018 by mishra