The Changing Face Of Cricket (Part 2)

The Effects (continued)

The other factor that can’t be ignored is the effect that Twenty20 has had on the other two forms of the game. The first and the most easily evident one is that the interest in one-day cricket is declining. The 2007 world cup was no success, the concept of tournaments involving three or more teams has virtually died out and there seem to be far fewer series of significant length. Well, no one is complaining. In any case, most people thought that one-day internationals were presenting a ‘tired’ and predictable format.

Impact On Test Matches

The other and less obvious effect has been on test cricket, and surprisingly it is a positive one. For now, at least. Jog back your memory over the last couple of seasons of test cricket – India toured Australia, South Africa toured India, then South Africa toured England. Following this Australia toured India, South Africa played back-to-back series’ against Australia and now the Ashes is about to happen. After this, again England will tour South Africa! While other test cricket has also happened, this pattern reveals a clear trend. It is no co-incidence (or is it?) that India, South Africa, Australia and England are the top four teams right now and also the four most marketable ones (considering world-wide figures). With fresh competition from T20 cricket, these top boards have probably decided that only high quality test series’ can still generate interest for viewers. So, they have mostly chosen to play with each other. Again, no one is complaining! Who anyway wants to see a test series between two mediocre teams or a good one and a mediocre one?

The Players

While T20 has had some effect on every aspect of cricket and its fans, at the center of it all are the players. And this format hasn’t just been about the big international stars. Lesser known players who may not have represented their respective countries have been at the center of the action too. In fact, the entire landscape has changed. If we consider the international stars, they have suddenly experienced an aspect of professional sport they had never faced before: the world of bidding, player trading and huge pay checks from franchises (not endorsement money). It is new to cricket, even though reasonably big money has been around for a while. And it hasn’t had the same effect on everyone.

There are players who have put everything in perspective and decided that country commitments come first. > Ponting, for instance. Strauss’ recent comments about the T20 rush (when he condemned West Indies captain Gayle for joining his team two days before a test match) seem to suggest a similar approach. Whether it is a strategy to protect long-term career prospects and marketability or a genuine love for the pride of the country is something that might vary across individuals. On the other end of the spectrum there is a guy like Chris Gayle, who has blatantly declared in words and actions that he intends to be at the center of this money fest and test cricket doesn’t mean a lot to him. There might be many other cricketers like him out there who figure that if they use their name and skill productively for a couple of seasons of Twenty20, they may well earn as much as they would in a decade of test cricket. It is also no surprise that a lot of top international stars have retired prematurely since the T20 rush. Most of them have families who they missed out on while they dedicated several years to their national teams, so now if they can earn for a month of effort what they previously did in a year, it is a blessing. Hayden, Gilchrist, Stephen Fleming and Shaun Pollock have all gone that route. They are free of the burdens and stresses of international cricket, but still very much in the center of action.

Finally, the most heartening effect of the T20 revolution has been the world of opportunity it has thrown up for fringe international players and first class cricketers. > Previously first-class cricket was merely a sieve to separate the cream of the talent from the others. Those who couldn’t make it to international cricket, either because they didn’t have as much skill or couldn’t find favor with selectors, were doomed to anonymity forever. Now, however, suddenly there is a big stage where these players can rub shoulders with their illustrious counterparts. They can mint money and become names being debated in drawing rooms too. And for some of them this just might be the platform that can catapult them into the next level. Shaun Marsh and David Warner are two who fall into this category.

Test Cricket vs Cricketers

Intellectuals of cricket might condemn this ‘hooligan’ format, saying that it will corrupt the pristine world of test cricket still further, and not many will probably argue with this reasoning, but one can’t forget that test cricket can only go on flourishing as long as there is a strong first class structure of four day cricket supplying the right kind of talent. And what’s more, for every one player who rises from the first class level to break into the test world, there are about 30 to 40 who never step beyond the grind. So, must all those players continue slogging in anonymity for test cricket, a format that adds nothing to their lives and careers? Can the interests of test cricket be protected at the expense of depriving the fans from the game they want to watch and multitudes of first class players from earning a better living? The player who plays a season of first class cricket in the Australian summer and sits mostly idle for the rest of the year certainly won’t be complaining about the proliferation of T20, which for him is a wonderful opportunity to play and earn. And ask any Ranji player if he would rather hone his skills on a slim pay before empty stands than play a several times more lucrative and popular T20 tournament in an electric atmosphere. The fact is that T20 has thrown a spotlight on a glaring problem with test cricket and the first class structure that supports it: its lack of economic viability. The sad result of that is that the interests of test cricket stand in direct conflict with the interests of most cricketers around the world. Or, so it appears.

The interest in T20 will have to plateau rather quickly, and that in test cricket make a strong comeback, if things are to change for the better as far as the original game is concerned. Whether test cricket will flourish or not, though, is still a question for the future. For the moment, everyone in the cricketing world is trying to find their own answer to this wave of twenty20.