6 June 2012

The latest ECB deal


Slight concern that these deals get done so far in advance that they get in the way of sensible changes to strategy - i.e. this deal with ESPN Sports will net the ECB $240m apparently but it runs until the 2019.   I really hope that the ICC use the 2015 World Cup as a cut off for 50 over cricket and revert to two formats of the game, but I said that about 2011 so I'm not very hopeful.   Perhaps if the ICC is on the ball they can ask the Boards to all work to the same time periods when negotiating these kind of extensions so they can all aim for deals up to 2019.....I can't see it happening though.
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Posted by Ed at 09:34

2 comments:

Peter Lamb said...

You do realise that the 50-over game that you're wishing away is the closest professional equivalent to the club cricket that you and thousands of others play every summer weekend, don't you? Killing it off would certainly adversely affect numbers attracted to start playing the game at amateur grass-roots level.

6 June 2012 at 10:14
Ed said...

It's the closest in terms of the time it takes but you can draw so I think of it as one innings long-form cricket.

Interesting point about what it would do for participation. My guess is that it would have little impact short-term but that mid and long-term it may lead to some of the lower standard club cricket becoming Twenty20. If that was the case it would probably increase participation but reduce standards at a guess.

They've (the ICC and the Boards) got to do something - 3 formats isn't sustainable so they need to decide on an approach that is (or accept that teams like England will play a development XI in ODIs or Twenty20s and accept the drop in revenues that will result). I read on Cricinfo that "Those members of the squad who play all three formats of the game can expect to spend less than two weeks in the UK between mid-October and April. Those involved in the World Twenty20 will be absent for several weeks before that. Irrespective of the actual amount of cricket the squad play or of the comparison with teams of the past, the fact of the matter is that men with young families - be they players or coaches - are uneasy with those demands."

My thinking is that Twenty20 is where the money is and Test cricket is where the real skill is, so they need to stay but if there's an alternative that gets rid of Twenty20 I'd love it - just don't think that's realistic unfortunately.

I'd rather see them take decisive action than wait for this to become a critical problem (if it isn't already). If they do nothing the players will decide by choosing which formats they wish to play in. I think it will be mostly ODIs (think Pietersen) and in some cases Tests (think Malinga and Lee) that they will retire from, so by getting rid of ODIs you ensure the future of Test cricket.

6 June 2012 at 11:32

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