Will the ICL really improve Indian first class cricket ?

[maaki]

Is ICL good for indian cricket? Lot of players from Ranji teams have left for ICL. I wanted to start a discussion on the impact to our List A cricket. 1>Most of the players were written off for a chance to play in indian team so other than filling their own pockets the impact to List A team. 2> Give a lot of new and younger players a early break. May be a new Tendulkar could come through. 3> ICL has forced BCCI to compete by starting the parallel IPL. IPL will bring a lot of frontline foreign players and give these new and upcoming Indian players a chance to improve their games. 4> BCCI was force to increase pay packages Ranji players. I have one question did we lose any good players to ICL who have lost their chance to play for India.

[sm332]

I dont see how 20/20 will improve any aspect of our domestic cricketers aside from perhaps fielding and match awareness. This hit and giggle mode will not provide lasting improvements for the longer version of the game. But it will certainly provide exposure which would not have otherwise been available.

[Rajan]

ICL is good for indian cricket. I watched the best ever fielding display by indian fielders in that tournament, despite the rough outfield. ICL gave a reality check to BCCI. I read somewhere that we would be still using P-4 processors and the Cost would be $1000 per such Processor from intel, if AMD was not on the scene and compete with Intel. Similarly ICL is good for cricket in india.may be IPL would be much more professional than the regular domestic matches. at the end of the day, the paying public should get better facilities in the ground and the domestic cricketers should have a comfortable life after retirement, the cricketing infrastructure across the country, especially in the mofussil towns should be strengthened.Iindian parents must be persuaded to consider sports an alternative career for their children. there is a hope and certainly ICL is the catalyst.

[MundaPakistani]

Good for India bad for the rest(at least for now).

[msb1991]

I made a blog entry about the ICL not too long ago. A (positive) rant about the ICL After a brief hiatus, I am back posting my opinionated views about Indian cricket. Now that I feel more informed and am aware more of Indian domestic cricket, I am starting to support the ICL more. The BCCI are pathetic in banning people from their jobs (or making them enforce stricter hours) and from grounds. It perplexes me as to why they did not embrace the idea of grooming Indian talent in parallel to the BCCI tournaments. The idea of feeling threatened is pathetic too because I feel that the original intention of the ICL was a parallel (not a rebel league) and so the BCCI could have supplied grounds and possibly players in exchance for slight control over the league. Reading an article on cricinfo, I have learnt that one state association introduced central contracts of just $500 a year (in rupees of course). For those not familiar of the Indian economy, that will go about as far as $1000 so it is hardly anything. All domestic cricketers have jobs with allowances for cricket in return for playing in company games. This is insane, domestic cricketers should not have jobs outside cricket, they should be able to earn a living from their states and be paid in the winter too, to train and participate in winter training. The whole idea of company games is a bit of a joke too, it just becomes a contest about money and who can hire the best players - where the hell is the pride in that? They might as well just compare turnover figures. The BCCI are among the richest boards in world cricket, they should make sure that domestic cricketers are at least paid contracts of over $5,000 a year. This brings me on to my next point, cricinfo note that the ICL teams are being given access to trainers and physios who are 'streets ahead' of what they would have had in domestic cricket. Can the BCCI not afford quality trainers and physios? I doubt that a quality sports physio such as Liz would not have a fee beyong the unlimited funds of the BCCI. It is just stingyness and lazyness and I support the ICL's committment to quality of cricket. I read a very interesting snippet of an article from cricinfo: "The ICL, for all the talk of being the poor cousin to the Indian board's Indian Premier League, is still an option that a number of Indian domestic players are seriously considering. As recently as September, a couple of players on the fringes were apparently seriously contemplating joining. Both made their India debuts subsequently and shelved the plan." With a quick cricinfo search, I figured that these people were, two of: P Kumar - Would have been a fantastic performer in ICL, is a great talent but it would not have been right for him to join ICL since he has been treated well. Joginder Sharma - A great domestic performer, especially in FC cricket (with a bowling average of approx. 20 in Super League games and a batting average hovering around 30). He should play in India As four day games but has not been treated well. India are adament in blooding him in through T20 and ODI and for this reason, he should join the ICL in perhaps one or two years when FC games are being introduced. YK Pathan - A fantastic talent with the bat, with an ability to score at over a run a ball in ODIs and over two runs a ball in T20, he is also a more than handy off spin bowler.

Three great talents, two of whom were thinking about the ICL; the BCCI should take notice and up the standards before it is too late and they will have lost a large chunk of talent. In my opinion, the ICL should look to recruit a slightly higher standard of player. Someone like Balaji who is not likely to play for India again, with the endless fast bowling pool or even Badrinath, who it seems will never get that Test cap, even though he has undoubtably been the best Indian domestic cricketer outside the team for half a decade. The BCCI has had a major kick up the arse and have responded by throwing wads of cash at the Indian Premier League, the ICL should look to hire more abused domestic cricketers and make the BCCI realise that a solution will be complex and (God forbid), require some hard work on the part of the BCCI.