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?
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.”
Matthew Buxton
Roar Pro
If i look at nothing but a fans perspective, i definitely love the idea!
Deep Thinker
Guest
Well you have South Africans, Zimbabweans, Irish, Australian and Welsh cricketers proud to represent England. You also have teams from the Carribeans happy to play for the West Indies. So why not? My issue is that it is yet another game to fit into a packed calendar. You need to find a time where there is no international cricket or IPL.
ozbloke
Guest
that's indeed a nice idea Lachlan.sadly the ICC who is so after money these days rather than quality,i guess this idea would not even be on the agenda,atleast for a while.however if they schedule such a tournament after say 3 years,playing whosoever is at the top of the rankings,would make for good watching.as far as the venue is concerned,i guess the team that is on top can make a choice.even if the top team at that time makes the quite obvious choice of selecting home turf,it would give the World XI a chance to play in foreign conditions which is diminishing quite quickly if you ask me. If only ICC stop chasing bullies like the BCCI we would have such a series soon.
Shouts Chen
Guest
They won't bring back the World XI this year possibly due to BBL commitments. I think that the BBL will be held in Late October to Early December prior to the start of the Cricket World Cup.
twodogs
Guest
It could only work in Australia or England (at least the super test component) I would imagine. Of late the crowds for test cricket in India and south Africa have been quite poor. Alternatively, if the pink ball ideal can be further proven then a day night supertest would definitely be a hoot in any major cricket playing nation. The ideal is great- but for now, what's gonna put bums on seats..........
Lachlan Doyle
Roar Pro
Cheers Alan, Wow that would have been incredible! Agreed, it seems like the fixtures at the moment are completely packed and a series like this probably won't happen for another 10 years at a minimum. Sadly the World Cup (ODI) is losing steam and might not be around in a few years time, so how about if the T20 World cup was every 4 years and the Super Series was every 2 years.
Lachlan Doyle
Roar Pro
Thanks for reading Josh. I think the Super Series would workout better than the Test Championship for a number of reasons. 1) As much as I love test cricket, not everyone else does. With the T20's and ODI matches added it would create more interest to the casual cricket fans. 2) It would be a great supporter of minnow cricketing nations such as Ireland, Scotland, Afghanistan and The Dutch. 3) About all of the good players will play, if your team isn't playing the World XI, a few of your great players will be.
AlanKC
Guest
Nice read Lachlan, thank you. I was a kid when Australia played 5 tests against a World 11 in 71/72 and, as I recall, the cricket was brilliant. Lillee destroyed the World 11 in Perth but the World 11 still won the series (2-1) and no-one would say that anyone on the field gave less than 100%. Granted, there was less cricket played then and money was a secondary component after pride in performance. I think the idea has considerable merit and could be a handy vehicle for bridging the short form/test gap for casual viewers but I doubt the ICC will look at it, at least not while the international calendar is as crowded as it is.
Lachlan Doyle
Roar Pro
+1
Scott Pryde
Expert
No problems Lachlan. Yeah I can see where you are coming from there, the best players in one game... India would love that, but the host venue must be roatated it cant be there every year.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Ryan, what you are saying may be true but with players taking part in things like the IPL and putting themselves through more cricket they would have no excuse to sit out something like this
josh
Roar Rookie
I think this type of concept would work better now. With the advent of T20 leagues, team cohesiveness shouldn't be as much as a problem, they are playing more regularly with or against international players. That was something that was mentioned about the 2005 series was the FIFO aspect. I like the concept, but if will ever get off the ground again? I doubt it. The Test Championship has been postponed so often that any other type of test series would be wishful thinking.
Lachlan Doyle
Roar Pro
Thanks for the comment Ryan. It is a bit of "In my perfect world" article. I believe that the fans would love to see it played to its full potential. But like you said, players pulling out because they could get injured is a big problem.
Ryan Ranger
Guest
I disagree that the ICC should look at re-introducing the Super Series, and I doubt that they will. In fact, if they were fair dinkum they would erase the Super Series matches of 2005 as official Test/ODI's from the record books. There are several reasons why the Super Series flopped, including the time of year (in Australia) it was held. But the main reason it failed then - and would in future - is that you can't expect players to be proud and passionate about representing a "Rest of the World XI". You're not representing your own country, so apart from selfish reasons (ie chance to maybe improve your stats by a 10th of a per cent) why would you even care? This showed in the play of the World XI in the 2005 Super Series. If the Super Series was re-introduced, what you would also see Lachlan is the pulling out of players due to "injury". For example, if they played a test match between a World XI and South Africa, do you seriously think Cricket Australia would allow Michael Clarke or Mitchell Johnson to play? South Africa would probably want to rest a Dale Steyn, but would be under enormous pressure from the ICC (and the BCCI) to play him. The other thing you need to consider is where would you fit the Super Series in an already crowded calendar. When the original series was held there was no IPL, BBL or WT20 to consider. I don't think there was a Future Tours program properly in place either. It's nice to imagine all the world's best players playing in the one match (or series). But as has been shown before, you're not guaranteed of seeing the best cricket.
Lachlan Doyle
Roar Pro
Thanks for reading my article. Yes defiantly, the reason I would put India as the hosts for the first tournament is because of their love of the game. I reckon that the Indians would embrace the new competition and low crowd numbers wouldn't be a problem.
Scott Pryde
Expert
I like the idea alot. Itwould be great for cricket and also the idea of playing warm up games against the minnows is great! However the venue of the games would need to be rotated between countries every year.