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Lose the Champions Trophy for another World T20? I hope not

Sarfraz Ahmed celebrates Pakistan's Champions Trophy win. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Expert
23rd June, 2017
10

No sooner had the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy provided a fine denouement of the underdogs giving the overwhelming favourites a very bloody nose, than the very existence of the event was called into question.

Step forward David Richardson, chief executive officer of the sport’s international governing body.

“It’s always been quite difficult to distinguish or differentiate between the two 50-over global events.

“With the World Cup becoming a ten-team event, it’s almost like the World Cup is becoming more like the Champions Trophy, which I think is a good thing.

“I think it (World Cup) will still be a longer event. The World Cup format will allow the best chance for the best four teams to get into the semi-finals. So it takes away the risk of maybe a rain-affected game or one poor game having a huge impact on the tournament like it can be in this tournament (Champions Trophy). But still, highly competitive matches hopefully.

“And then, whether the Champions Trophy in 2021 stays a Champions Trophy, or we move to two World T20s – that still needs to be discussed and settled.

“It’s a possibility, yes. I wouldn’t say it is categorically going to happen because, as we’ve seen, the Champions Trophy on its own is a very good event and very well-supported, particularly in the UK, where you get support for all teams.

“So let’s not be too hasty in writing it off, but to be honest and frank, there is consideration for moving towards two World T20s in a four-year cycle.”

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Ignore the blatantly contradictory elements – it’s a good tournament but we think we might can it – and concentrate instead on the sense of a custodian soiling his own belongings.

Virat Kohli runs after hitting a drive

(AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

To take issue with Richardson’s criticisms one at a time: teams playing nine group games in a round-robin format is a fair way removed from two small group so four; ever thought about reserve days?; more riding on each fixture is a good thing, no?; thoughtful scheduling can ensure decent levels of support, especially in fixtures that have very obvious meaning; there is already too much Twenty20 cricket without shoehorning even more into the fit-to-burst schedule.

Yes, hyping something up for the sake of it – England’s current three-match T20 series with South Africa with numerous first choice names not present for example – serves little in the way of purpose but running it down while the victors’ celebrations still have life isn’t really called for.

There was a touch of pragmatism contained within Richardson’s comments, which is how it should be, but the tournament just gone offered more ticks than crosses on the report card and showed the 50-over game isn’t the walking dead zombie it is all too often made out to be.

The only game I can think of which had nothing really riding on it for one of the protagonists was when the already-qualified England faced Australia.

Every other contest carried weight and the group containing India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa boiling down to a pair of knockout matches was an ideal advertisement for tournament sport.

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Add to the equation the eventual victors having to win four games on the trot after a defeat in their opener and you have a good story to tell.

What makes the Champions Trophy unique is its brevity, the sense of one mistake equalling elimination, and of context – which I’ve argued for before – for a format that for 95 per cent of the time has next to nothing.

Three global events in a four-year cycle, each differing from the others, is about right but three with two being exactly the same would lean heavily towards overkill. Relevance becomes diluted somewhat when there is barely a break between episodes.

But it feels as though the one-day international has taken too many knocks for too long a time from the naysayers, is the easiest and most convenient of targets, and the criticism will only increase in intensity when the next World T20 rolls around and the 50-over game is on the outside looking in.

If the Champions Trophy has to go, and given the fact it was supposed to be sacrificed for the dead in the water (before it even reached the water actually) World Test Championship it’s every chance of doing, then a 50-over World Cup and a 20-over version every four years respectively would do just fine.

I’m not holding out much in the way of hope.

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