As the song goes: “I don’t like cricket, I love it.”
But the ICC and tournament organisers across the globe are in danger of killing the golden – not to mention red, white and pink – goose.
There is simply too much cricket and with the never ending glut of meaningless matches across the world it won’t be long before audiences – followed by advertisers and broadcasters – start to switch off.
Few would argue there is too much cricket, which is clearly visible in the increasing injury rates suffered by elite players.
But what’s the solution? Cricket boards across the world need to pay their players and staff and to do that they have to play matches and sell broadcasting rights. They are going to hold on to every fixture with gritted teeth and clenched claw.
Try suggesting to the BCCI, India’s governing body, that they should drop a few fixtures from their list: you will get very short shrift indeed.
Driven by opportunism and greed, if something is not done the tournaments, tours and series will continue to multiply and soon players will play 365 days a year (366 in a leap year).
Wake me up when this One-Dayer is over.
It’s time for the ICC to act and to cap the number of matches played by players. It happens in other sports – rugby, basketball, American football – so why not cricket?
The players are not machines and has been seen in tennis in the last few months, if over-used and unrested they will break down.
Before you throw up your hands and wonder how to ease the global congestion and which tournaments and tours to do away with, I have a very simple solution – phase out one-day cricket.
It is old fashioned, unnecessary and was doomed for the chop ever since someone came up with the bright idea of T20.
Cricket no longer needs three formats and it is the least popular format – 50-overs-a-side – that is in danger of killing the game.
Stop shaking your head and think about it – what other sport in the world has three different formats?
There are examples of two formats: football has 11-a-side and five-a-side and rugby has 15-a-side and the very popular sevens.
Rugby incidentally also has a 10-a-side version. You never hear of it because it never caught on and is completely unnecessary. The same will happen to one of cricket’s formats because it simply cannot sustain three different time spans.
Take the emotion out of it and think about it logically – the fall guy has to be one-dayers.
The Ashes was full of thrilling moments.
Tests are cricket in its purest form and nothing will ever replace the push and pull of two great teams over five-days (or nights) – as seen recently in South Africa and Australia. It’s timeless, classic – like Wimbledon, St Andrews.
T20s are the other end of the spectrum – biff and bash over a few hours. Perfect for families or those with a short attention span. Colour, movement, close finishes and lots and lots and lots of sixes.
One-day matches are… are… somewhere in the middle. Not as complex and challenging as Tests or as spectacular or exciting as T20 – and though they are only 50-overs-a-side they tend to drag and rarely have last ball or last over finishes – as so often seen in T20.
Why do you think T20s were conceived in the first place? Because one-dayers are boring!
And it’s not like phasing out one-dayers is anything new – 50-over cricket as a spectator sport is already dying. They just need to take it off life-support.
Don’t believe me? Try this quick quiz. What’s the name of the domestic one-day tournament in Australia? You’re thinking, do they even have one? Yes – it’s called the JLT Cup. It will take you a split second to name the T20 equivalent – the super-successful often sold-out Big Bash. (The final is on this Sunday.)
Another stunning catch in the Big Bash
India has the mind-boggling lucrative IPL, what’s their one-day cup called? The Deodhar Trophy. Yep – I had to look it up too.
Look at what’s just happened in Australia. A pulsating Ashes Test series followed by a complete damp squib ODI snore-fest. And I’m not just saying that because Australia got hammered. Crowds at most games were less than half of the BBL taking place at the same time.
Same in South Africa – a thrilling three-Test series and now an absurd six one-dayers! Why? Get rid of those and they could have played a five-Test series which would now be deliciously poised at 2-1 to the home side with Virat Kohli’s India resurgent.
The answer for the ICC is clear. Get rid of the overlong and very boring 50-over World Cup, which runs for six-weeks (!), and instead replace it with a T20 World Cup. Similarly for the Champions Trophy – make it T20. More action, more drama – in half the time.
Players rest up more and thus perform better – and watch the crowds, ratings and sponsorship figures soar! Persist with one-dayers and the whole game will begin to suffer.
The goose will soon be cooked.
