“The horse is here to stay,” the president of the Michigan Savings Bank told Henry Ford’s lawyer in 1903, “but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.”
The banker must have been convinced that most innovation schemes fail. However, Horace Rackham, the lawyer, took his chances and bought 50 Ford shares anyway. In hindsight, all successful innovations appear inevitable, and we all would like to believe, had we been in that situation, we would be Rackham and not the banker.
Of course, it is hard to predict the future and when T20 cricket appeared on the global stage as an innovation scheme, it was hard to know whether it would be a success or not.
When Adam Hollioake of Surrey won the toss of the inaugural T20 game he chose to bowl. When asked about his decision, he said: “I haven’t got a clue what’s going to happen so we may as well send them into the cauldron first.”
Two decades on, T20 cricket has revolutionised the world of modern-day cricket. Its impact has vaulted past what even the most ardent optimists thought possible. The International Cricket Council noted T20’s growing popularity and staged a 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa that saw India beat rivals Pakistan in a tense final encounter.
Just as India’s victory in the 1983 ODI World Cup had altered the attitude of crickets most populous nation towards the limited-overs game, their success in the inaugural T20 World Cup was equally transformative. They consolidated their position as the game’s economic powerhouse.
This success and growing popularity were pounced upon by the Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI), who launched the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. The new six-week tournament changed the global environment of cricket.
The city-based IPL teams were taken over by wealthy billionaires. Teams acquired players by bidding bucketloads of money for an individual in the auction. This meant leading cricketers could earn more money from a short stint in the IPL than playing a full year of cricket for their country.
A professional sport only draws revenue when it attracts more fans – whether that means selling more tickets, growing television audiences or from lucrative sponsorship deals. In the first season of the IPL the average attendance was 58,000 per match. Compare that to the average Test cricket attendance of 30,000.
It was becoming clear to cricket boards around the world that this new format was taking the world by storm and generating the most revenue.
The proliferation of professional T20 leagues around the world attests to the fact that this is a means of creating mass amounts of revenue. Every major cricketing country except New Zealand now have their own domestic T20 competition that is staged annually.
(Photo Getty Images)
The quest for wealth and power overcame the global cricket boards who started to cut out Test and ODI cricket from the international calendar for T20 competitions. Power, at its roots, is the ability to effect change on the environment and the BCCI had achieved exactly that by starting the IPL and changing the world of cricket in the process.
International boards began to stop scheduling cricket during the time of the IPL. The boards were afraid of players choosing the lucrative salaries of the IPL over the honour of playing for their country. However, instead of all global cricket boards agreeing to stage their respective T20 leagues concurrently to enable other formats to be played at other times, boards resorted to staging their T20 leagues at contrasting times.
This has now disrupted the system that was in place and means less and less ‘traditional cricket’ being played. Greg Barclay, the chair of the ICC, stated: “There could be a massive reduction in the amount of Test cricket being played in the next 10 years because of the growing popularity of T20 cricket and the revenue that form of the game is creating.”
Test cricket is and always should be the greatest and most respected form of cricket for it symbolises the purity of cricket in and of itself. It encapsulates tradition. It puts players through a toiling battle, testing their mental strength, talent and fighting spirit to the very extreme.
It is a test of character. A test of camaraderie and of mateship. Virat Kohli said: “Test cricket is real cricket. I want it to stay alive, without it the infrastructure of cricket will collapse.”
Test cricket is vital to the game, and we need to schedule enough games in a calendar year that will inspire the next generation.
(Photo by Darrian Traynor – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Barclay believes that T20 cricket is the future. Many believe it is inevitable that it is going to consume much of the cricketing calendar. T20 competitions are popping up all over the place, drawing cricketers away from ODI and Test cricket.
To balance cricket’s schedule and create a more meaningful 20-over competition whilst still maintaining big-name Test and one-day players, cricket needs to start T20 league cricket – similar to that of the football system in Europe. This would enable T20s to be played, allowing cricket boards to receive revenue and the time and space in the calendar for Test cricket and ODI cricket to be staged.
Take the European football system, for example. Each country has their own domestic league, which consists of teams from different cities around the country. They all play each other twice in a league system that incorporates a ladder. There are different divisions and the teams who place inside the bottom three of the league are relegated to the lower division.
In the lower divisions, if teams place in the top three, they are promoted to a higher division. Furthermore, if you are in the highest division in the domestic structure and place inside the top four you qualify for the Champions League where other teams from other countries compete, and the winner is the champion of Europe.
This structure could be implemented in the cricketing world. An Australian domestic T20 league (like the BBL) although in a pyramid structure where there are several divisions and teams can be relegated and promoted. Each team is made up of local players, and international players must play for a team in their country.
In addition, all global T20 leagues need to be concurrent. Coordination is required. This ensures players are not drawn away from their country because of monetary incentives. The top four teams in Australia can then enter a new global competition in which they play against the top teams from India, Pakistan, West Indies, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
These T20 leagues can operate for 4-5 months of the year and then the other months of the year can be dedicated to Test cricket and limited-overs cricket.
For more than 50 years, international cricket has been trying to supplement the finances of ‘traditional’ cricket. The one-day game had some success in attracting crowds, but the new short format represents the greatest opportunity to create a domestic league competition, modelled on the European football system. It may also be the means to finding greater acceptance in other countries where other sports dominate.
The domestic league structure will provide more revenue and leave time for other formats in the game which continue to be overlooked.
To many, this may look like radical innovation. Yet that is the essence of innovation itself which, by its nature, must contend with resistance, doubt and pessimism – all native to the territory. Henry Ford and countless others have done so.
Radical or not, this will be an innovation that strengthens and animates the very roots of the great game we call cricket.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
There are 9 car companies older than Ford. The bank manager was a bit of a dill.
Ummi
Guest
I love test over one day but one day over T20 any given day i still don't get it why they introduced this format if they already have one day internationals for fun and entertainment.
josh
Roar Rookie
Private ownership will become more common. IPL owners already own teams in the CPL and the new South African league. Each league won't compete against each other (except for Pakistan). Instead they will be local versions of the IPL, with players locked to central contracts and the ability to play for the same team (owners) in a few different leagues. Like the City Group in soccer. Oh you need some practice, go play in the West Indies before the IPL to get form up. etc. I think Cricket Australia will hold out as long as they can. Not for any other reason's but stubbornness.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Me? No Test cricket every day. But I'm only one.
ummi
Guest
Do you prefer t20 over test any day ?
Reddy
Roar Rookie
New Zealand does have a domestic t20 competition it is called the super smash and features Auckland, Northern Districts, Central districts,Wellington,Canterbury and Otago.
Footy fan in SG
Guest
No one enjoys playing cricket indoors though. You weren't wrong about the atmosphere. It was terrible. Additionally - and critically - aside from India, no one actually follows cricket much in the winter. No one in England is following cricket when the football is on. In Australia, no one is watching it when the NRL/AFL is on (and the AFL sure won't free up docklands for any cricket game during AFL season) and in South Africa no one is watching it while the rugby and football seasons are in full swing. No one is going to invest in indoor stadia to host competitions that will be hosted out of season in front of no crowds. I think the author just plain forgot how climate on earth works.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
...or the beer holder.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Unless one plays indoors? Now, I went to the Aus-Pak ODIs at Melbourne Docklands early 2000s and hated the atmosphere. But maybe that's just me. But, if there is enough money floating around the format, then investment in indoor stadiums could easily follow and take out the weather factor. Would take some time to eventuatue, but not out of the question. India's gotten itself into the position of being able to build a modern-amenities 132,000 seat "outdoor" stadium in Gujarat, so the possibility of building 40k-50k indoor stadiums in IPL cities isn't out of the question. UAE is any easy one re construction. Other cities/countries may struggle more financially re doing the same...unless they are supported by IPL/BCCI money to do so..
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Though the "preferred" forms of cricket are in the eye of the beholder.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Agree that the current "experimentation" of the other other Leagues may not completely work out and some will fall by the way side. But that isn't a reflection on T20 becoming an irrelevant force, it's just a reflection of a new space being tested and exploited; some will rise to the surface and prosper whilst many will fall by the wayside. But ultimately it's all part of the trial and error that will eventually see an equilibrium arrived at as where T20 sits within the global cricket framework.
Gary David
Roar Rookie
I agree in principle but not in the details you've laid out. No one will ever compete directly with the IPL, whether it's right or not doesn't matter, we've all got to get out of the way of the IPL. The other leagues could run concurrently perhaps in the future as I think as time goes on these other T20 leagues won't be so profitable, as they are basically copies of each other. A radical step that's a bit simpler but might achieve the same result is make a rule limiting a player to only be able to sign for 2 (or maybe 3) T20 leagues.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Terminology is an issue here. When you consider the "future of cricket" and then discuss T20, the subject is unclear. T20 is fun to watch but it is a different product to the preferred forms of cricket.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
Thanks Daniel, and for me also raises some important financial issues. Boards and governments massively subsidise the costs of loss-leaders such as junior clubs, senior clubs, facilities from grassroots up, pathway structures, free coaching, first-class contracts and first-class competitions. Their ROI only happens when the future elite players finally generate revenue for them via Australian and BBL matches. If players developed at no personal cost through ages 5-25 overwhelmingly then go straight to being global T20 mercenaries (including in UAE, South Africa instead of here), without contributing to BBL and Aus earnings, why would those boards and governments continue investing ? Perhaps it's time to consider a financial model like HECS. If it's good enough for a teacher, nurse or scientist (who actually benefit society) to repay their education costs once their earnings reach a certain level, perhaps the same should apply to a career cricketer who has also been developed by others. Alternatively, it's worth noting that the BCCI already pays CA a commission or transfer fee for every Australian that goes to the IPL. So at that level, it's already freely admitted that someone owes CA (and by extension its grassroots clubs) a ROI.
Brett Allen
Guest
Your idea has two great impediments. Cricket is strictly seasonal, you simply cannot play in February in England or in August in NZ. The second problem is the BCCI. They have virtual control of world cricket and they are simply not going to give up even one iota of that control, even if it’s to their ultimate benefit.
CPM
Roar Rookie
It is a proven fact that the world is round and not flat to the disappointment of the thousands of flat-earthers out there. It is also a fact that cricket is a sport that can only be played in certain weather conditions. Now there are places on the planet where it is impossible to play cricket in what we call winter months, so that generally leaves only six months for some countries to play all formats of their cricket. So how does one get to “all global T20 leagues need to be concurrent”.