There is a certain class of English cricket enthusiast who will have barely registered that the Champions League was even taking place this past two weeks. If you are a member of this class, you would probably snort in derision at the idea that it is set to become one of the most important competitions in cricket.
Twenty20 is still percieved, in England at least, as “hit and giggle”, a bit of fun that shouldn’t be taken seriously. It’s referred to as a lottery, the ridiculous idea that a team’s level of skill has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not it is successful.
It is time to drop the snobbery.
There has been renewed press speculation that the 2012 Olympic stadium could be used for cricket once The Torch has begun it’s four-year crawl in the general direction of Rio. Naturally, the ECB and surrounding counties say they know nothing about it.
But, in order to keep up with the rest of the world (i.e. India) with it’s T20 finance boom, English cricket needs a modern infrastructure to match. Instead it has Old Trafford, about as modern as Alf Garnett.
Lalit Modi had probably never heard of Alfonso Thomas before tonight. Now that the IPL teams are 0-3 in the Champions League he certainly has.
The IPL, is a sleaze-filled, dripping with liquid money fake-fest. There is so much money involved that it is actually cheap. The Champions League was supposed to be that too. It was IPL teams along with 9 makeweights to pad out the fixtures and shut Giles Clarke up. Then, along came Alfonso Thomas to rock Lalit’s world.
Hype and anticipation are building for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. The two counties involved, Sussex and Somerset, are looking forward to a pay-day. But how will they actually fare against the finest the IPL has to offer? Think of this tournament what you may, it finally gives us a chance to measure the standard of county cricket compared to the rest of the world. Believe me, that is no bad thing.
As Andrew Flintoff delays the signing of his newly downgraded ECB contract at the prospect of earning more as a freelance Twenty20 cricketer, it is easy to get caught up in accusations of mercenary greed and a sport losing it’s identity.
But is cricket simply returning to it’s roots? Money, like it or not, was the catalyst for everything that has gone before. Even W.G. Grace would attest to that.
The ICC is not a world cricket governing body. It is a cosy front for the national boards. They can use it to appear to be doing the right thing by cricket whilst they sit about playing power games or congratulating each other on how much money they are raking in.
Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower will be pushing for a say in decisions about England’s contracted players appearing in the IPL. Much fuss is still being made over the injuries to KP and Flintoff in relation to their involvement in South Africa earlier this year. Freddie sustained a new injury during the IPL, whilst KP carried his achilles throughout the tournament.
What benefit is the P20 supposed to bring to English cricket? The ECB initially unveiled it as their answer to the IPL, but it has been watered down and fudged so much that the original question has long been forgotten.
The success of the recent World Twenty20 has intensified the debate surrounding the future of test cricket and what needs to be done to maintain it’s position as the pinnacle of cricket. There is little argument amongst players (Chris Gayle excepted) and officials that there is where it should remain. But how to achieve this?
Attendances for the T20 Cup so far this season has been poor, and now we will be lumbered with another overblown exercise in nothingness to go along with it. The fact that the bigwigs are insistent on two T20 tournaments shows the muddled thinking. Essentially, they are championing change without actually having to change anything.
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