An opportunity
So Sri Lanka are now unlikely to come to the UK in the first part of next years season because of a clash with Twenty 20 cricket elsewhere and remember that they are only replacements for Zimbabwe. Therefore the ECB has to go into a panic to find replacement replacements and the suggestion is that we get the West Indies to come over, presumably on the same plane that our International players will be on.
It seems like only the other day (well before ICL etc.) that all we heard about was that there was about too much cricket. Whereas we all know that it's all about money (did I see nearly £100 to spend the Saturday at a Lord's test in an uncovered stand next year ?).
Why not just admit that, unlike those of most other financial undertakings currently, cricket's coffers are pretty full and just leave a blank so that we can all concentrate on county cricket. Better still get the Australians (of whom fewer will be in ICL) over here for a proper tour with more (and competitive,please) matches against the counties. Maybe by then they'll need the practice.
5 comments:
I'm still mulling a few thoughts around from my trip to India...the ICL was on and was interesting to watch. Grounds weren't full, but there seemed to be good crowds and what struck me was the players that were playing.
Players like Paul Nixon (who I noticed had hit the largest six to date - 108m), Chris Harris, Stuart Law, Jason Gillespie to name just a few. I couldn't help but think how simple things would be if the ICL was the only Indian Twenty20 tournament as it doesn't tempt current international players away from playing international matches for the increased money.
Not quite sure what my conclusions are yet on this topic, but plenty more to be burbled about!! I presume what you're really concerned about though is the IPL?
The reason that the ECB need to find a replacement for Sri Lanka is apparently the sponsorship and TV deals are based on 7 Tests per English summer. It'll need some lateral thinking to work out a solution because any international side will be weakened by involvement in the IPL. The best I can come up with is a Rest of The World XI made up of the top players outside of the IPL (including associate countries), plus any international players who have retired who aren't in the IPL. But I'm not sure whether that would satisfy the terms of the sponsorship and TV deals.
More ideas needed - I'm sure the ECB are racking their brains. But bringing a weakened international side to play without their best players would reduce the interest in the matches - exactly what the sponsors and TV want to avoid....
The only reason people in Eng are upset by the IPL is that it's based in India.. If it was based in Eng then there would be no problem with it.
nice pic by the way!
I don't have a problem with ICL or IPL as much as I do with people who try and tell us that Twenty20 isn't 'proper' cricket. One of the main benefits of cricket is its flexibility. Mind you I'm nor so sure about that Mr. Stanford.
Incidentally I did of course get it wrong when I said that the ICL didn't tempt current international players. The Dhaka Warriors have recently taken some of Bangladesh's best players which can only weaken Bangladesh further.
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