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Cricket is unique. No other sport has three formats – one that lasts multiple days using a red ball, and two games that are played over 50 and 20 overs respectively using a white ball.
Each form of the game has its own charm and popularity in different parts of the world.
In Australia and England Test cricket is very popular. On the sub-continent, the shorter forms of the game prove to be well-supported, somewhat to the expense of the longer form – especially in terms of gate receipts.
All this cricket takes time.
Let’s use Australia as an example. In the next 12 months Australia will finish the current one day series versus South Africa, play four Tests against India, participate in a 50-over tri-series, play in the One Day World Cup competition, tour the West Indies for two Tests and three ODIs, compete for the Ashes over five Tests (plus tour games) followed by five ODIs and a T20 international, then tour Bangladesh for two Tests in October, and host New Zealand in November and December for three Tests.
Wow! That does not even include the IPL or Champions league!
It gets better though. In the four months after the three Tests versus New Zealand at the end of 2015, Australia host the West Indies in Tests, tour India for Tests and ODIs, and then tour South Africa for Tests and ODIs before a T20 World Cup!
That is a lot of cricket in anyone’s language. One can see why the subject of workloads for not only players but coaches is often discussed.
This does raise a couple of points.
Is there too much cricket being played? Has the game been devalued somewhat?
To answer the first question, I would say there is, however there has to be this amount of cricket played. Why you say? It comes down to the current ICC future tours programme.
As it currently stands, television contracts are in place. From a commercial point of view, this is reality. As a consequence, countries prioritise which games their players play to get them through the schedule.
This clearly shows that there is too much meaningless cricket being played, which then answers the second question.
The game is being devalued because fans part with their hard earned to go and watch their team, but because teams need to prioritise they don’t necessarily field their strongest sides. This is reality and, from a support staff point of view, I can completely understand why teams do this.
It brings me to my point of three different forms of the game. With the advent of T20, the IPL has joined the calendar, along with a host of other T20 leagues – here in England T20 has been played for over 10 seasons now. The other tournament that has been added to the calendar is the Champions League T20 – a fantastic initiative that gives players who may never get to represent their country an opportunity to play in an international tournament for their domestic team.
So what to do about the schedule?
I offer two solutions.
1. Scrap international T20 cricket
I propose that T20 cricket be the domain of domestic tournaments, with the pinnacle of T20 being Champions League cricket.
This would cut down on days played by getting rid of the T20 World Cup and two and three-match series between countries. That’s not saving a lot of days in a year, but it’s a start.
2. Trial four-day Test matches
A bit more radical, however I would propose increasing the number of overs in a day to either 96 or 102 and play four-day cricket.
This would make teams get through their overs (most international teams are poor with this), but the total of hours and overs played would remain the same. The result would be extra free days created for players to rest, recover, train and travel.
This would also help with costs of hosting a fifth day for countries.
I look forward to Roarers’ thoughts!