Cricket Australia management is starting to understand the ramifications and logistics of employing 30 young men, plus their various coaches and managers, and shuttling them around the world.
American football teams have squads of over 50 players, pro baseball teams around 25. So the comparisons are quite relevant, even if those comps are intra-USA while cricket is international.
The NFL season lasts around five months, the NBA and NHL a little longer, while the MLB season is closer to nine months for players and coaches.
The ICC schedule is hard to calculate because of the lack of a logical annual/seasonal schedule and non national team duties, but suffice it to say that the 30-man squad picks up a bat and ball in anger for eight to nine months of the year.
It must be a massive job for the ICC to keep the member nations happy and competing at their own level, while having some exposure to higher level teams.
Obviously Bangladesh and Zimbabwe can’t play against themselves all year. The Poms, Aussies, Indians, South Africans, Sri Lankans, Kiwis, Windies and Pakistan all seem to have enough talent to compete in all three levels.
There are many difficulties facing national teams, including:
a) selecting and contracting a squad of about 30
b) rotating players through the three forms of the game in a way that resembles a proper schedule
c) having the best coaches and managers on each sector or tour
d) balancing work/life needs
e) facilitating all the people connected with the national squad.
I’m not sure if there is an answer when there are three forms of the game and teams which have no draft or player equalisation process.
Salary caps, for instance, would have little effect. Three or four teams will get beaten badly fairly often, while the remainder will win enough games to satisfy national interests and compete for world number one status.
The trials and potential fixturing of day/night Tests, and separate annual international series in T20, 50-over and Test matches, is an amazing development.
Who would have thought that the ICC would think laterally enough, and subsequently gain support from forward-thinking competing countries, to allow Test matches to go from no lights, to lights when the occasion warrants it, to (potentially) lights in every Test match? And all in the past five years.
Whether purists like it or not, the game is moving forward rapidly for such a traditionalist sport and taking young people on a wild ride.
Can you imagine what the Toffs at Lord’s would have once said about playing Test Cricket at night?
Nowadays they turn up in the chauffeur-driven Bentley at 8pm after the board meeting, have a few Pimm’s and lemonades, press the flesh and have dinner while watching the game, then tootle off home for a good kip.
Or that is what can happen!
Catering to people of all walks of life is something cricket is growing into in a very civilised way.
But then, what would one expect from a game invented in the Mother Country?
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