More T20 leagues: Cricket is embracing its economic reality

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Two countries, effectively a quarter of world cricket remember, broke with tradition and embraced a new reality this week. More... More T20 leagues: Cricket is embracing its economic reality Harsha Bhogle Posted online: Saturday , July 19, 2008 at 0029 hrs IST Two countries, effectively a quarter of world cricket remember, broke with tradition and embraced a new reality this week. It wasn’t surprising. The wind rarely keeps its direction a secret. England and Sri Lanka moved towards a new world; a tumultuous, uncertain world at the moment (almost as uncertain as the grammar in this paragraph!) but one which leads towards the biggest revolution since Kerry Packer. Again, money is at the centre of it all. The world must move and change must be constant and often, it is commerce that shows the way ahead. Cricket runs the risk of being mired in squabbles. That is inevitable when there is a decently large pie and everyone’s interests have to be protected. A sport like football can exist without Brazil, or Germany, or Italy or England. But cricket is too small and the only way to ensure that family quarrels do not derail the sport is to ensure that there are many more than the pitiable number of teams playing the game today. That is why a franchise driven system, with more localised loyalties is so critical to the future of the game; that is why I believe cricket will inevitably go the Toyota Prius way, a hybrid with two fuels; national and local loyalties; international cricket and club cricket. Prius is an apt word actually for it means “to go before”, the predecessor of things to come. Sri Lankan cricket embraced its economic reality by allowing its players to give precedence to the IPL over a Test and one-day series in England. There was a time when a Dias or a Mendis, or even before when a Tissera or a Tennekoon, would have given anything to be able to play a Test in England. But aspirations change with the times and really there are no rights and wrongs here. Sri Lanka needs its players to form a team and since they cannot pay them well enough, they allow players the freedom to earn a living. Some people might recoil at the idea but this is just practical economics. As it is with England who have embraced T20 with the announcement of the English Premier League (had the IPL not come first would they, to borrow from Wimbledon and the British Open golf, have merely called it The League?). It was inevitable that they would go with 18 teams, one for each county, rather than a mixed group of players representing a poorly defined team. The history of sport, and of television, has shown that fans need clearly defined teams to express their loyalties. The stage is set then for the football model where there will be T20 leagues in each country; some more lucrative than others. That is why I was amused when I read of a proposal in England to ‘counter’ the IPL. You don’t need to. The Bundesliga exists, so does La Liga as does the EPL. And France, Belgium and Turkey and everybody else has its own league. The leagues with bigger markets draw the better players, the smaller leagues effectively become feeder leagues and that is how it could well be with cricket. Having said that, it raises the question of how much T20 cricket is good for the game. The key here is the definition of the “game” as we have traditionally known it. If the “game” is Test cricket, it is a valid question but I don’t think any one person decides what the “game” is. The markets decide. We didn’t decide how much rap was good for the music world, people buying cds did. We didn’t decide how much of computer animation and special effects was good for the storytelling style of movie-making. The box-office decided that. So too it will be with T20 cricket. If we believe we can control how much T20 should be played, we will seed another Packer for human enterprise fuelled by finance will always find a way. And so we need to get ready for a new cricketer; the journeyman who specialises in T20 and hops from one franchise to another (till a football style global champions league comes into existence). Also, for a new generation to whom Test cricket will no longer be as aspirational as it now is. I’m sure a lot of commercial artists dreamt of painting masterpieces till they said, “Forget it, my calling lies here and it pays for the food on the table.” I suspect, in the longer term, it will also mean lesser control for the national federations over their players. This desire for control is the only factor that can limit the progress of commercial enterprise for the moment. But if fairly autonomous leagues take shape, it will only be a matter of time before national federations lose control. “You can’t play for your country,” they might thunder till the response is “But I don’t really want to, sir!” I don’t know how far away this scenario is. As indeed I don’t know how far away we are from creating a window for Test cricket.

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T20 explosion : Balance between sport & mirth key India gave the game widespread publicity by unveiling the IPL. Now there is a planned EPL in England and Australia is considering an upgrade to their competition. Twenty20 cricket is suddenly the rage, writes Ian Chappell. More... Balance between sport & mirth key Ian Chappell July 20, 2008 First Published: 01:59 IST(20/7/2008) Last Updated: 02:11 IST(20/7/2008) The game started in England, as is the tendency with cricket, but soon received a considerable boost when Texan entrepreneur Allen Stanford invested some of his millions in the Caribbean. Then India gave the game widespread publicity by unveiling the IPL. Now there is a planned EPL in England and Australia is considering an upgrade to their competition. Twenty20 cricket is suddenly the rage. So what is it about T20 that attracts feverish interest and substantial investment? Firstly, the fans have embraced it. Secondly, in a fast-moving world it requires a comparatively short time to complete a match. Finally, with all the hype surrounding T20 it’s easy to overlook another considerable advantage, equal conditions for both teams. In most limited overs matches, one team bats in daylight and the other at night and if the pitch deteriorates it hampers the team batting second. A T20 match is played under virtually the same conditions. While the game is often denigrated by being classified alongside a short stay with a prostitute, there is no better spectacle than a well-played match. The IPL franchise system also provides T20 with another huge advantage over its longer relation. In theory, every IPL game is between two evenly matched sides, whereas some ODIs are a mismatch. For the sake of its long-term health, it is important T20 retains elements of a tactical battle and the thrill of a contest, with the result decided by the superior skill and thinking of one outfit on that day or night. There’s a temptation to be seduced by the excitement of sixes regularly flying over the ropes. There’s no doubt the most thrilling and best-recalled moment of the tournament in South Africa was Yuvraj Singh’s six strikes in an over. Nevertheless, these performances should be the exception not the rule so they retain the quality of being rare. There’s another good reason why administrators should keep a eye on the correlation between bats and boundaries. Sure, the improvement of one and the shortening of the latter can lead to more sixes but that in turn will drastically reduce the importance placed on fielding. Whenever the limited overs game is discussed, one of the first things mentioned by fans is brilliant fielding. Two of the most beloved players in recent memory are Jonty Rhodes and Andrew Symonds and while no one would classify either as a one-dimensional cricketer, it’s their fielding that first attracted the attention of the selectors and fans. The other reason to keep an even balance between bat and ball is to ensure the game doesn’t literally become the stronghold of the “power” players. The wristy Sunil Gavaskars of the world should occasionally be able to have their way with the gigantic Joel Garners and likewise the lithe Malcolm Marshalls should always be able to threaten the scone (and wicket) of a lanky Kevin Pietersen type. The contest is the thing that keeps people coming back to watch cricket whether it lasts five days, five hours or five overs. T20 is a vibrant game but the crucial job the administration faces is to get the balance between game and entertainment.

[cowboysfan]

I like T20 cricket but chappell is right-the boundaries should not be shortened.the shortened boundaries mean that even top edged balls are going over the ropes.