Mark Chilton – LiveCricket.in
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20th
I thought it would be worth commenting on the Indian Cricket Leagues (ICL) bid to become an authorised competition. This seems quite a complicated situation and one that will be difficult to get to the bottom of so bear with me.
The recent meeting that took place in Mumbai ( in a coffee shop!) between the BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) and ICL proved unsuccessful for the ICL and apparently only lasted a matter of minutes. Clearly, the BCCI will acknowledge this tournament as an absolute last resort and up until then will do everything they can to undermine the ICL. With the BCCI owning the Indian Premier League it seems that they want to try and monopolise the market and rid themselves of any competition.
The ICL are considering legal action against the International Cricket Council (ICC), who need the blessing of the BCCI to authorise the tournament, and believe they have a strong case. The ICL has some powerful backing and they have said they will “not be going away” I don’t think it will be long before we have some answers to this contentious issue.
13th
It hasn’t taken too long for the Indian Premier League to prove how powerful it has become. There is real worry that next years touring Sri Lankan cricket team will not be a full strength team with the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakara honouring their committments to the IPL.
This is the exact scenario that officials have been worried about. They talked of doing everything they could to protect the quality and integrity of Test Cricket but the financial rewards for playing in the IPL are just too attractive for players to turn down. Since the IPL began i felt it could pose a serious threat to the current Test Cricket calender and despite what some authorities have said i see no reason to change my mind.
I think the only option is to restructure the Test Cricket fixtures. The days of five match test series will soon be over and instead it will be replaced by a Test championship where teams play one or two match series when the opportunity allows them to do it.
There is no doubt that Test Cricket needs to have the best players playing in it or the whole competition will become devalued and less attractive to the spectators and sponsors. I am afraid the time is coming where the authorities are going to have to work round the IPL to find a structure that can keep the longer form of the game an appealing spectacle.
Let me know any thoughts?