Cricket, once a game where the noblest of men plied their trade in the spirit of sport, is on death-row and may never recover. Following the decision this month to scale back the ICC World Cup to ten teams, coupled with the states mulling over whether to allow Indian cricket fanatics to invest in our new Twenty20 competition, cricket is now in big trouble.
Cricket is sacrificing its organs in the hope of saving its brain without forgetting it needs organs to survive.
Cricket Australia, like most cricket boards, is putting all its time and effort into Twenty20 in the hope that it will attract fans to its matches.
However, this policy is like an old school adage – it’s bringing in fake friends who only care for it because of its popularity and driving the real loving friends away who have always supported it.
James Sutherland claims that Twenty20 cricket is attracting the under 30 category to the sport. Does the CEO of Cricket Australia make this up?
Nearly every under 30 person I speak to has more affinity with Test cricket. While enjoying Twenty20, there is no doubt to these people that a good Test will beat any other form of cricket.
Twenty20 Cricket is like a person who has had cosmetic surgery to enhance their appearance. They look fantastic but you know that it’s all fake and has no real depth to it.
It should never have been allowed to become part of the international calendar. Rather, it should have been restricted to provincial sides trying to make some money to offset the Shield and ODI Cup
However, as is the nature of the ICC, they allowed the dollar to seduce their eyes and bastardise their sport (Allen Stanford, Lalit Modi). I understand that some major sports have been seduced by the corporate dollar to shorten their sports.
However, never have sports like tennis, basketball or rugby union allowed the popularity of their shorter forms hurt their traditions and their mainstream fanbase. Cricket has done the exact opposite and compromised their traditions something unthinkable in a well run sport.
I would laugh at the cricket administrators if my heart did not bleed from watching the game die.
These, I believe, will be the last Ashes in Australia without Twenty20 leagues compromising the availability of players. Watch the game suffocate in a room of ego and money.
Chris
Guest
I am another under 30 who would rather watch a test than a Twenty20. There is however room for both if we just get rid of ODIs.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
I dont see what the fuss is about - one form of pyjama cricket replacing another form of pyjama cricket.
Tom
Guest
I'm under 30 and I too have never been seduced by twenty20. To me test matches are the true test of cricketing abilities. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
NY
Guest
Sheek I don't believe test cricket will die. Not yet anyway. I would say the fact that it has so much tradition is what will keep it alive. I just think it will be played between fewer countries (perhaps the main powerhouses of world cricket). This is more of a threat to it becoming extinct (the number of nations playing) then the actual format of the game itself.
Simon
Guest
Hey Guy's....What's New. Since when has the ACB been influenced by anything but money. Time and time again our beloved game has been compromised so that the ACB could make more money and this is just the latest effort. The ACB has even destroyed cricket traditions to make a buck. I read recently that baseball is slowly dying in the US. We are in a de-evoloving society that demands quick shot pleasure. If its not exciting 100% of the time we are not interested....and where's my mobile phone so I can Text someone. IT WOULD BE A CRYING SHAME IF CRICKET WENT THE WAY OF COMMERCIAL TELEVISION. Cheap nasty thrills for a jaded and spoiled audience.
GB
Guest
For some, cash and ego is just a euphemism for "professional sport".
sheek
Guest
Fortunately John, They can't take your memories away. The great days, deeds & heroes of test cricket will live on in my memory even after test cricket dies in the next 5-10 years.....!!! NY, Test cricket will die simply because the priorities of current & future players are changing, & authorities are more interested in following the cash trail. Their commitment to preserving test cricket is becoming weaker with each passing day, month, year.....
NY
Guest
I don't believe it is dying. It is just turning into something you and I don't like. I often wonder how young kids listen to the music of today, but they do.. I can't listen to one song on the radio anymore. But perhaps guys like you and me aren't the target market anymore. As long as grounds like Lords and The Oval are still around for tests to be played on, I will always keep an eye out on the cricket. But the reality is that 20/20 is the future. I'm sure 50 over cricket was a gimmick when it first started, so lets' just see what eventuates with this 20/20 phenomenen.
Grimmace
Roar Pro
Quite right, as an under 30 I can't wait until the first test in Brisbane starts but find it hard to get excited about T20. The success of the Big Bash last year may have gone too far in convincing CA to put to much emphais on T20.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
john, Gideon Haigh in 2008 on the ABC's Offsiders prophesised: "that the IPL would be rocked within 5 years by a corruption scandal" In his forthcoming book Spheres of Influence he states: " But thats not to claim great foresight. It simply stood to reason. Opaque finances,negligible regulation...asset valuations plucked from thin air...supine non-executive directors...politicians already with their hooks in--here were all the preconditions of Enron...to fail to grasp that,you needed to be either ignorant or implicated--alas,rather too many kiss-arse commentators and columnists were both." Administrators in CA are issing the point. The grassroots is alive and well. It does not need to be poisoned with a competition that will take the focus of the real cricket. The 500,000 that participate for no money. Only because they love the game. These are the real constituents..not some fairweather spectators out for a night of big hits and pregame fireworks.