Celeste Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 CRICKET Australia has reached an in-principle agreement to host the game's biggest drawcard, India, in four out of six summers under the new Future Tours Program. The deal is designed to ensure that world cricket's heavyweights - Australia, India, South Africa and England - play each other more often when the new international schedule comes into effect from 2012. Australia already visits India, the financial heartland of the modern game, for either Tests or one-day internationals every year, and commences a seven-game ODI series in Vadodara on Sunday. Under the new arrangement, which is not yet set in stone but has the provisional backing of the International Cricket Council, India would come to Australia almost as often, visiting for Tests one summer and one-dayers the next. South Africa could also divide its Test and limited-overs tours. ''The objective has been to spread the quality of touring teams over the period so that we get better value for the fans. If we get it right, we could have India touring here in four out of six years during the next FTP period,'' said Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young. There is an obvious benefit to hosting India more regularly - the value of television rights to CA when India's stars are in town exceeds television revenue for an Ashes tour because of the huge, cricket-mad population on the subcontinent. However, the likely agreement between the ''big four'' nations is sure to cause consternation among smaller cricket countries looking for their own slice of the pie. CA faces an uphill battle to sell this season's touring sides, the West Indies and Pakistan, to the Australian public and is determined to attract a ''marquee'' team for future summers. Though Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team missed the semi-finals of the recent Champions Trophy, Australian captain Ricky Ponting regards the rivalry with India as one of the most compelling in international cricket. ''We are the number one and two teams in the world and it all points to an entertaining contest over the next few weeks,'' Ponting said after the team landed in Mumbai for the one-day series. ''We have always enjoyed playing in India and against India. Our rivalry over the last few years has been growing and it's good for the world game.'' With the next Ashes only 13 months away, there are also ongoing discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board about adjusting the Ashes cycle so that future series do not clash with other major events, such as the 2015 World Cup in Australia. http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/cricket/big-four-aim-to-cut-out-small-fry/2009/10/22/1256147842618.html :wall: Link to comment
Malcolm Merlyn Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 :yay::two_thumbs_up: i thought sri lanka was in it as well...the top 4 test countries....not sure abt england Link to comment
ViruRulez Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 :amitdance::amitdance::amitdance: BTW why is England there.. they are not in the top four for sure :giggle: Link to comment
Sooda Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 overkill? I think Pakistan might surprise them. Link to comment
Malcolm Merlyn Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 overkill? I think Pakistan might surprise them. naaaaaahhhhh...even if their bowling does......pakistani batsman are very consistent......at collapsing i mean Link to comment
cowboysfan Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 i dont agree with this at all.squeezing out the smaller cricket playing nations is not the way forward for cricket. Link to comment
SachDan Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Yes overkill. It happened with Pakistan and I'm afraid same is going to be the case with India-Australia rivalry. CA wants India to tour down under four times in six years. Now BCCI may ask for Aussies touring India every year, be it for tests,odis or even T20s :( Link to comment
DomainK Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 i dont agree with this at all.squeezing out the smaller cricket playing nations is not the way forward for cricket. Individual boards want money. ICC is spineless. In the short run, we will have some exciting cricket. In the long run, the game will start dying. Link to comment
Params7 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 When they'll see dying enthusiasm for Ind-Aus games because it happens every year then they'll stop touring :wall: Link to comment
Desi Cartman Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I excite ! It also makes sense because the touring teams wont have 2-3 month long tours of Australia anymore Link to comment
Mamu Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 :amitdance::amitdance::amitdance: BTW why is England there.. they are not in the top four for sure :giggle: Surely Money Wise England is there. Infact if I am not wrong England is the second best team to play against for any country. Not to mention the Huge contingent of English Fans that swarm the nations when England plays. Link to comment
Mamu Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 :yay::two_thumbs_up: i thought sri lanka was in it as well...the top 4 test countries....not sure abt england Sri Lanka has a side deal with India -- remember. The 10 year secret deal. Honestly Sri Lanka is a bad draw in any nation, the only way it could survive was to strike a secret back-door deal with India and live with it Link to comment
Zap_Brannigan Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Its big 4 in terms of economics. Its India >>>>>>>>>>>England >Aus >>SA >>>>>>>everyone else. Its a good move. Its not that i dont enjoy watching cricket from other countries but they need to get their **** together. WI with their 1st string and 5th string sides, horrible pitches. SL with their blatant home team advantage that its almost worthless to watch their away game. The less said about Pak, the better. Link to comment
coffee_rules Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Who wants to play competitive cricket in Pak in front of near-empty stadiums? Link to comment
ViruRulez Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Surely Money Wise England is there. Infact if I am not wrong England is the second best team to play against for any country. Not to mention the Huge contingent of English Fans that swarm the nations when England plays. Yup .. money wise these 4 are the biggest nations.. maybe it is second richest board after BCCI and then would come CA and then CSA. Sri Lanka is also a good team but their board is financially not strong. I would rate SL better than England in terms of talent. But the first three India, SA and Aus are the best teams as well as the most powerful economically. BTW Aus media will perhaps soon turn India-Aus fight similar to the Ashes :eyedance: Link to comment
Pak_Forever Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Who wants to play competitive cricket in Pak in front of near-empty stadiums? You got empty stadiums in India too...that too against Australia. Most posters got it right here that these four teams playing against each other more often will make it boring and will harm cricket in the long run. SL, NZ and WI are pretty good teams too and got their share of talented and exciting players. As for Pakistan, you guys will change your opinion once we brown-wash NZ in Test (as always) and easily beat Australia. :two_thumbs_up: Link to comment
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