Indian Premier/Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Seems like there are a lot of angry cricket players in South Africa these days. First it was Jaques Kallis who felt he not being treated with proper respect. Now it's Andrew Hall who is pissed off and told South African cricket that he's done with them, and most likely going to ICL.

In other news, Australian Damien Martyn who is already retired (and of the shoving BCCI's Sharad Pawar during ICC Champion's Trophy celebration fame) is also joining ICL. Wonder if Pawar will be there at the airport in India (where ever he arrives first) to welcome him back?

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

It was in the wings and the BCCI have bit back their own and more importantly official tournament.

The tournament wil be called the Champions Twenty20 League and will include domestic sides from Australia, India, South Africa and England.

All the big names were there. The CEO's of each participating country were there as well as some big name players including Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Glenn McGrath and a couple of other star players.

Prize money would be 5 million dollars overall with first place receiving 2 million.

BCCI launches new Twenty20 League

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ICL is in big trouble now. No grounds to play on plus it is largely being ignored by the cricket boards from each country.

Some massive problems to overcome there. Personally, I really don't see them recovering from this. They'll be lucky to get thie thing going at all.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Well, Mohammad Yousuf has quit the Indian Cricket League. The Pakistan Cricket Board managed to have talks with him over his position and they've successfully lured him back.

There is still the problem of Yousuf signing a contract with the ICL and it seems the ICL are going to try and hold him to it.

Yousuf quits ICL

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Interesting times ahead with the first big name player that signed a contract pulling out of the competition.

ICL now facing more problems, will they ever be able to get underway?

 

[aussieman]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

it's turning into a 'Legends Series' as such.

And It'll run like that, plain and simple.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

There is still the problem of Yousuf signing a contract with the ICL and it seems the ICL are going to try and hold him to it.

He will just tell them, "don't pay me anything", it's as simple as that. It's not like the reverse, where they haven't paid him and he's claiming money from them.

Of course there might be some silly fine print written into the contract saying "a player would risk forfeiting $..... amount of money if they break the contract early". But I doubt any court would heed ICL given that they have done absolutely nothing so far.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

He will just tell them, "don't pay me anything", it's as simple as that. It's not like the reverse, where they haven't paid him and he's claiming money from them.

Of course there might be some silly fine print written into the contract saying "a player would risk forfeiting $..... amount of money if they break the contract early". But I doubt any court would heed ICL given that they have done absolutely nothing so far.

I don't think Yousuf can afford to play for the ICL. Playing for the ICL regardless of whether there's money involved or not would jeopardise his position in the Pakistan cricket team. The same thing happened in India with the BCCI pretty much saying that Indian players competing in the ICL would not play in the national side.

Yousuf playing for the ICL would be a conflict of interest and I would say that the contract will be nullified so that he stays on with the Pakistan team. I really don't see the PCB letting him do both.

Then of course, there'll be the legal implications of the contract being broken even if Yousuf is paid nothing in return for participating.

 

[timmyj51]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

See more and more big name players signing on. Before long
only gonna be "B" teams for tomato soap cricket.
Prize Plum still awaits: Yankland. Once 20/20 cricket
arrives there gonna be such an explosion of cricket
interest it'll make Krakatoa look like a beach party
beer fart.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

...it'll make Krakatoa look like a beach party
beer fart.

What do farts look like?

 

[timmyj51]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

What do farts look like?

...pretty bad if you let one out during your in-laws dinner party.

 

[Cottell]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Speaking of the USA, when will they get their s?%t together and become the force in cricket that they could be? When does Mugabe get sacked, or does he? Have they got their constitutional issues straightened out?

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Speaking of the USA, when will they get their s?%t together and become the force in cricket that they could be? When does Mugabe get sacked, or does he? Have they got their constitutional issues straightened out?

Robert Mugabe is the president of Zimbabwe.

Who knows what will happen with American cricket? Nothing will be doing in the near future that is for sure.

 

[timmyj51]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Robert Mugabe is the president of Zimbabwe.

Who knows what will happen with American cricket? Nothing will be doing in the near future that is for sure.

Not as long as the [Maryland] Mugabe is president of USACA. And
he'll be pres as long as the ex-pats run cricket in Yankland. And
the ex-pats will run cricket unless Speedo & Co. mandates born-and-breds
in the national administration like they do national teams.

 

[Cottell]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

I hear a rumour that there is a group in San Jose that is looking to build an international facility with 3 fields. Can't believe that they would go ahead if USACA is still personna non grata with the ICC? Lot of money to spend on just domestic cricket with no hope for international exposure.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

I hear a rumour that there is a group in San Jose that is looking to build an international facility with 3 fields. Can't believe that they would go ahead if USACA is still personna non grata with the ICC? Lot of money to spend on just domestic cricket with no hope for international exposure.

I could imagine the executives of willow.tv as well as Zee Sports wanting to embark on such a venture. Willow.tv are based in Sunnyvale very close to the San Jose location you state. Also knowing that Zee Sports have now established a footprint in USA, I could imagine them wanting to make the brandname even bigger. There are way too many people from India in this region and they have got more cash to burn than maybe mainstream American population in 20-25 other states.

We all know Twenty20 is a very attractive format for the sport for TV executives. It is very predictable in terms of TV scheduling, more attractive for advertisers and sells very well. Also the new Zee Sports America channel will have filler downtime during USA/Canada timezone when not much live cricket maybe going on in the subcontinent / Australia / South Africa etc. Given that they will have downtime to fill for their channel during North American prime-time, what better way than to fill it with Twenty20 contests in North America?

Of course, the million dollar question (literally) is, do these companies have budget to spare right now for embarking on such ventures? I have no idea. I'm only making these guesses based on how things are unfolding. Let's wait and see.

Meanwhile back in India, with the Indian Cricket League.....ahem....what's up with those guys?

 

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Meanwhile back in India, with the Indian Cricket League.....ahem....what's up with those guys?

I think Shoaib Akhtar thinks that his Pakistan career is over, so he has gone and signed with ICL. I wonder if he's going to go around hitting the other ICL members on their legs with a cricket bat?!?!

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

Despite so many setbacks, the ICL is set to go ahead. It will be starting on November 30 and will run right through until December 16. All games look set to be held at the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium which is in Chandigarh.

The tournament will consist of 20 Twenty20 matches with star players including Brian Lara, Damien Martyn and Abdur Razzaq playing.

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/316636.html

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So, what does everyone think of this? Personally, I'm against the whole concept. I'm not really a fan of "rogue" competitions starting up, I feel this is not the right path for cricket to take in India. Australians all saw what happened with the "rogue" rugby league series back in the mid 90's, even if you didn't follow the sport, you saw what impact it had, the NRL is still trying recover from what the split did back then.

If the ICL comp becomes relatively successful, the tournament may become a regular event which could spawn maybe a 50-over competition or perhaps even a four-day comp. That could see a power struggle develop for cricket in India and is something that India does not need at the moment, it is the ICC's best cricket resource and seeing a conflict over the rights to the sport in the country would not be an ideal situation to occur.

On the other hand, if the ICL series doesn't reach its anticpated heights, it could spell the end or at least a very long recession for this new league. The BCCI has also planned it's own Twenty20 league, the "Champions" league which looks to be a solid concept and one I am looking forward to seeing. No doubt it is in retaliation to the ICL starting up. However, if the "Champions" format goes well, then the ICL could be in even bigger trouble.

I am interested as to how the ICL will be recieved though. I am still unsure as to how the Indian public will react to an unsanctioned tournament. I guess we will find out next next month.

I still think the BCCI holds the upper hand in all of this though. Like I said before, if the ICL fails and BCCI league is successful then the ICL may be forced to fold.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

So, what does everyone think of this? Personally, I'm against the whole concept. I'm not really a fan of "rogue" competitions starting up, I feel this is not the right path for cricket to take in India. Australians all saw what happened with the "rogue" rugby league series back in the mid 90's, even if you didn't follow the sport, you saw what impact it had, the NRL is still trying recover from what the split did back then.

I know you may not like my response, but as is evident from my previous posts I'm liking this concept. (Rugby League is still a smaller sport than cricket BTW, with the number of countries interested and player pool not being so large. It's much smaller than Rugby Union.) The reason I'm liking this concept is because it is lighting fire under the arses of ICC, BCCI and bunch of other national councils. All of these bodies had gotten pretty complacent, and really arrogant in many ways, thinking they could do no wrong. The capitalistic free market system like ICL and other pro leagues may force BCCI, ICC to become honest. Even if ICL may end up folding in the end, they would've forced BCCI and ICC to make changes to their status quo and face reality of capitalism.

As far as Indian public, they will support it well in the beginning since star names such as Brian Lara will be marketed well. Whether or not such interest could be sustained, when they figure out that entire player pool is not of the quality of star names, I can't predict.

 

[Tassietigersrule]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

This sounds very similar to why WSC was established. Apparently a tv-channel in India called Zee Sports has bidded several times to the BCCI to have the television rights and have also several times bidded the highest amount of money, but have been refused them still. It was similar 30 years ago when Channel 9 gave the then ACB (Australian Cricket Board) the highest bid for the rights but stuck with ABC instead. Kerry Packer wanted cricket on his station so he created a revolutionary cricket series calles World Series Cricket, which involved 3 teams, Australia, England and the West Indies. This was the first tournament I believe to have regular one-day cricket. Like this Indian Cricket League, it was a rebel tournament and the ACB did not recognise it. They also weren't allowed to call their 5-day cricket Tests, so they instead called them Supertests. WSC revolutionised cricket becuase they introduced helmets, day/night cricket, coloured clothing and white balls to name a few. For several years, cricket was on its knees becuase of the ongoing war with Packer and the ACB and world cricket. Apparently the ICL can't find grounds because the BCCI won't allow them on their Test playing venues. This also occured down here in Australia, but they found very suitable grounds in Gloucester Park (Perth), Football Park (Adelaide), Waverley Park (Melbourne), and the Showgrounds (Sydney). Let's hope there's not a simiarly ugly scenario as what happened back then. I hope I've given the Indian people especially a history lesson here.

 

[Caesar]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

The reason I'm liking this concept is because it is lighting fire under the arses of ICC, BCCI and bunch of other national councils. All of these bodies had gotten pretty complacent, and really arrogant in many ways, thinking they could do no wrong. The capitalistic free market system like ICL and other pro leagues may force BCCI, ICC to become honest. Even if ICL may end up folding in the end, they would've forced BCCI and ICC to make changes to their status quo and face reality of capitalism.

I think it's a mistake to conflate "more profitable" and "better for the game" when it comes to sport. c.f. the English Premiership in football, the Australian Super League in Rugby League.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Indian Cricket League - death of traditional cricket as we know it?

I think it's a mistake to conflate "more profitable" and "better for the game" when it comes to sport. c.f. the English Premiership in football, the Australian Super League in Rugby League.

Let me flip the question and ask it in a slightly different way:

Do you or do you not agree that in terms of broadening international footprint, cricket has reached its ceiling? What other solutions can you propose for making cricket relevant in places like USA, China, Japan, Latin America, Canada, bulk of Western Europe other than UK/Ireland etc., other than turning it into a marketable product off of which businesspeople could make profits? In my opinion, what is happening in India is just a beginning on a smaller scale. It will eventually be extrapolated to these various places elsewhere on the planet. Only Twenty20 cricket has got the ability to be able to do that, not test cricket or 50 over version. I personally feel being able to increase its geographical footprint would be "better for the game".