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Give the ICC Super Series another chance

Roar Pro
27th April, 2014
16

It was the spring of 2005 and all of Australia were in a excited mood. The summer of cricket was just around the corner and after a shock Ashes series loss to the old enemy, the world champion Australians would be looking to redeem them selves.

What better way to do it, than in front of an adoring home crowd in a terrific series against the World XI. The idea of one of the greatest cricketing sides the world had ever seen, taking on a star studded line-up down under would have cricket fans queuing for miles.

However this was far from reality.

The ICC Super Series of 2005 would be the only series in what could be best described as a failure. Australia played three One Day Internationals and a single Test at the beautiful Sydney Cricket Ground.

They won the One Day series 3-0 and won the Super Test. After the dust had settled over a one-sided contest, the media where already calling it a “Super Farce”. This was not only disappointing for the World XI, but also for the cricketing world. It was a brilliant idea, but one that sadly failed to catch on.

It was similar to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket, where some of the first matches struggled to pull a crowd of more than 100-odd people. The difference between the two is that the World Series Cricket continued, while the ICC stopped the Super Series straight after an immediate failure.

This is an example of how to act when you fail at something. You don’t give it up, you get back out there and try again.

Imagine where cricket would be today if Kerry Packer just gave up. Cricket would be struggling to keep itself afloat and crowds would be about the size of your average first class match. So what if, the ICC reintroduced the Super Series?

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The top ranked Test team would play against the rest of the world’s finest cricketers. It could include one Test match, three or five one day matches and some exciting T20 matches to end a great tour and series.

Or, let’s say a country like cricket mad India hosts a Super Series. The best Test team (South Africa) could play the World XI for a single Test match. The best ODI side (Australia) could play five matches against the World XI and, to cap it off, the best T20 side in the world (Sri Lanka) would contest a three match series.

But what about the minnows? Teams like Ireland and Afghanistan could get to play some warm up matches against the touring sides before they take on the best in the world. This would be a great experience for them and an awesome way to see where they are at in terms of cricket development.

I strongly believe that the ICC should reintroduce the Super Series. Give it time to grow. The Super Series can become one of the great tournaments on the cricketing calendar. And just remember, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

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