It is difficult to embrace the idea that cricket could turn away from the ideals of ‘love of the game’ and all of that, but this is exactly what’s starting to happen with the continued rise of global Twenty20 competitions.
After Ben Stokes was sold in the IPL 2017 auction for a staggering $AUD2.8 million, I had a number of questions.
Is that an acceptable amount of money for a player yet to reach his peak on the international stage? Are players from more countries going to follow the West Indians’ lead and abandon Tests for the IPL? Are we entering a soccer-like scenario where inflated fees are paid for players as a matter of course?
It is the last two questions that trouble me the most. As has been well-publicised since the inception of the Indian Premier League as the first big-name international T20 competition, the money available has seen a flood of West Indian players abandoning Test and other international duties in favour of a yearly pay day in India.
The shame of no longer seeing the likes of Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell in the whites is felt most dearly within the West Indian setup, where they have been enduring a lean period in terms of results and a politically-charged standoff over the money available to Test players.
The idea that this could occur in more Test-playing nations is scary, but very real. I look to the newer Test nations like Afghanistan, who had several players sell well in the auction – if their players realise they can extract large fees from the IPL and grow their own name rather than commit to Test cricket, then we could well see the loss of what Afghan cricket has so wonderfully gained in the last few years.
We are also seeing the rise of T20 specialists, the best example being English fast bowler Tymal Mills, who himself exceeded the original biggest fee paid for an overseas player before this year in the auction. A talented player who deserves exposure, no doubt, but a shame that the out-and-out fast bowler England has been searching for for years is limited to T20 cricket.
Call me a purist, but I have always considered Test cricket to be the ultimate honour, and why most players would get into the game as kids. However, I now suspect that the better coverage and financial opportunities available with T20 competitions will leave us in a scenario of players hunting money over pride.
Speaking of money, I come now to my second concern – the inexorable rise of player fees. Stokes has bags of potential, and has started to show his skills to their best over the last six months or so. But he is not the finished article, and he hasn’t proven himself in T20 at international level to be worth that kind of money compared to other players around.
The logical conclusion must be that are we reaching a scenario where, like the worrying trend in soccer, teams are prepared to overpay for players.
I liked the IPL auction concept originally, but I fear it may be part of the problem. Desirable T20 players like Stokes are in fierce demand for their batting and bowling versatility, but surely the auction concept encourages overpayment and possibly then overburdening on the guy?
These inflated player fees will bring with them an added sense of expectation, and maybe that is not needed to help the best possible development of young cricketers.
These two problems are not separated by any means – the excessive fees available to above-average cricketers as a result of the money-spinning in the IPL or the Big Bash League in Australia will do nothing to ease the perceived decline of Test cricket, a scenario which is detrimental to the game worldwide.
Here’s a damning thought to leave this on – in the first IPL player auction, the spending cap for each franchise was $US5 million. In 2017, Stokes’ figure approached half of that figure, and Rising Pune Supergiants can still afford to put a whole team together under the new cap.
Money talks, and if something is not done to reinvigorate Test cricket or improve the central contracts available to Test players in all nations, we may see a lot more Chris Gayles slip through the net.
Ian
Guest
Have to agree. I am not a T20 fan at all. I know it brings the money and crowds in, but in my view, it's a dumbed down form of cricket. The skill levels of the players in this form of cricket are far inferior to those who play Test cricket, though even Test cricket is suffering from declining skills in some parts of the world. I rarely watch T20 (only if there's nothing else on) and am losing interest in cricked with the sad knowledge that Test cricket may not be around in the future. Test cricket, when decent pitches are prepared, remains a true test of players skills and abilities.
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
It's a sad truth that the game is being exploited like this in favour of money and television rights. The fact that the avenue for this is T20 is making it harder and harder to maintain the appeal of the purist form of the game to a younger audience. A frightening reality
ES
Guest
Starc probably got paid less as he elected not to play this season to focus on test cricket. Amazing to see Johnson go for less than 1/7th of Stokes price and 1/6th of Mills.
Brendon the 1st
Guest
I have to say, my interest in cricket has declined massively, I watched about an hour of it this whole summer. I feel now that there's just to much cricket being played and none of it really means anything. Combine that with dead pitches tailored for home teams making it nearly impossible for visiting teams to compete and cricket now seems cynical and corporate, these are the things I watch sport to escape from. T20 will be the primary form of the game within 5 years, it will kill off tests and ODI's much to my disappointment, 100 odd years of history gone and players who play solely for financial gain will be the norm, not sure how to get passionate about that. Having said that, I don't mind T20, it seems to be what the punters want and its a massive cash cow for CA, who certainly wont miss a few people like me tuning out. It's just a shame.
Bakkies
Guest
Starc and Johnson went for way less than they received last year. Whoever signed Johnson got a quality bargain
Bakkies
Guest
He hasn't hit his straps yet in 50 over Cricket either.
Scuba
Guest
I hadn't seen that Ronan - that is a brilliant reaction. Maybe Fleming was thinking that, as a - to be a bit uncharitable - player who may not have fulfilled his potential (albeit a great captain), he would have loved to have been around 15 years later?
BrainsTrust
Guest
Two overseaes players got big money, on the other hand you have others getting lower amounts than expected and other good players that didn't get a team. Its not like the money went up across the board. IPL salaries have stayed about the same for about 5 years.
Tapeshwer Singh
Roar Rookie
that was my reaction too. i think bidding isn't the right way to go about,bidders get sucked in and bid way too much for mediocre players.
Paul Potter
Roar Guru
I saw that yesterday. Priceless. How long are egos going to demand overpayment?
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Stokes' new IPL coach Stephen Fleming looked absolutely flabbergasted when the massively-inflated deal went through - he, like all cricket fans, knew Stokes wasn't worth a fraction of that price: https://gfycat.com/AlertLividGoldenretriever
Justin Ahrns
Roar Guru
Unfortunately the days of playing for your country in test cricket with pride are becoming less and less due to T-20 leagues around the world. It is a great spectacle though, and as fans we should be wary against dismissing it
TheTruthHurts
Guest
You can still enjoy cricket as it always has been. There's still a couple more Shield matches this summer. Entry is free or practically free to the best domestic competition in the world. Yet only a couple dozen people show up to watch the day's play. I think you're in the minority if you prefer red ball cricket. T20 makes you think on your feet and forces you to be 'clutch'. Everything happens in slow motion in Test cricket, you are given many chances if you bowl poorly, you are rewarded for protecting your wicket and playing negatively. T20 is the real test. Why the Ed Cowan's of the world were always better at Test cricket and the Chris Gayle's of the world are better at T20.
Scuba
Guest
Stokes made 46 runs in 3 recent T20 games in India at a strike rate of 117, took 2 wickets at an average of 45 and an economy rate of 8.2 and didn't bowl at the death (probably because the last time he did that in India, he disappeared over the fence 4 times in a row to cost England the trophy). $2.8m sounds like great value to me.
Rossy
Guest
"but a shame that the out-and-out fast bowler England has been searching for for years is limited to T20 cricket. " Tymal Mills has a congenital back injury which means he can only bowl in short bursts - effectively limiting him to T20. It's great that he can now continue to make a living from cricket despite this!
Brian
Guest
Eventually cricket will become franchise based. That is after all why CA invested so much in creating the BBL. I can definately see a day where the IPL is the NBA of the sport, a 6 month season with its finals the biggest show in the sport. Like football, basketball and rugby there will remain an international window for international series.