ArthurTurner

Minnows killing cricket

2008-11-25 08:37
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Sport24 columnist Arthur Turner (File)

Arthur Turner

The integrity of international cricket is being undermined by the continued participation of countries that do not have the capacity to play international cricket and the unlawful ban of the Indian Cricket League players. International cricket is being over exposed and suffers from a severe dose of mediocrity because of these factors.

The performances by Kenya and Bangladesh in South Africa once again proved that they do not belong in the main stream of international cricket. The ease with which South Africa beat these two teams has once again shown that they are not competitive or improving. The trend of the matches has been the same for both tours.

The first Test against Bangladesh was an extremely poor advert for Test cricket with Bangladesh only facing 88 overs in both their innings.

The ICC has sent a delegation to Zimbabwe to see how they can assist them in regaining their Test status. Only the ICC can be so naive as to believe that Zimbabwe can continue to play Test cricket. In a country where inflation is running at who knows what and economic meltdown is devastating, survival is the key, not Test cricket.

Zimbabwe have played three ODIs against Sri Lanka and have failed to offer any resistance, never mind being competitive. What chance have they of competing in the Test arena against the likes of Australia, India and South Africa?

The ICC needs to acknowledge that their policy of developing Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Kenya in the main stream of international cricket is not working. These countries do not have the capacity to play at this level and it is debatable if they ever will have. They are no more than a millstone around the neck of international cricket in an era of professionalism, commercialism and a congested international cricket schedule.

Promotion-relegation playoff system

International cricket needs to be re-structured with only the traditional eight nations playing Test cricket. The ICC does not need to grow Test cricket but merely sustain it because of its tradition and status. The future growth of the game lies in the shortened version and not Test cricket.

With regards ODIs, the ICC needs to develop a two-tier system with the current eight Test nations playing in the top division and the second division consisting of teams like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland etc. They can develop a promotion-relegation playoff system to encourage the second division teams. This system would be more equitable and sustainable for international cricket.

The unlawful banning of the ICL players has also had a negative effect on the quality of international teams especially Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa. We saw first hand the effect this ban has had on South Africa’s ODI team in England and it will once again be visible against Australia in the ODI series in 2009. This ridiculous decision is also contributing to the mediocrity of international cricket.

It is refreshing to see that cricketing people like Clive Lloyd and the new director general of the Pakistan Cricket Board Javed Miandad are starting to question this unlawful and dictatorial decision. Also, Sri Lanka has allowed six of their ICL players to play domestic cricket again.

The time has arrived to resolve this impasse between the ICL and the Indian Premier League in the interests of cricket and the players. The dictatorship of Lalit Modi and the IPL needs to be ended, they do not own the game of cricket, and they never invented 20-over cricket.

Arthur is a former cricket administrator and current player agent.

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Your Comments

Anonymous User12/2/2008 7:25 AM
@just cricket - Test cricket should stay as ity is. No gimmicks like free hits off no balls and such. The ODI and 20/20 is so heavily biased towards batsmen, bowlers are only there because someone needs to put the ball ther for them! Test cricket is the only format where it is a true test between bat and ball!! In test cricket, you have to have good bowlers, because you need twenty wickets to win a test, not just runs as is in the other formats. Test cricket is also where the real skill of a batsman is either shown, or lack of skill exposed!! That is just what happended with the Bagladesh tour. While Bangladesh didn't win any ODI or the t20 international, they have beat the Proteas before, so they are a capable ODI side. Howebver, the tests have shown that they are woefully underskilled. Neither game went into a fourth day (the 1st test would have been concluded in the third day if not for the rain that washed out the majority of the thrid day!!) That is why test circket is such an important format, and should be retained. I for one however think that ODI need to be relooked at. 20/20 is just right in terms of length to make it viable for most people (only lasts about 4 hours), while ODI's have that boring period between overs 25 and 40 which lasts about the time a 20/20 could take place in. I thik ODI's is the format that is in trouble!!
Lloyd11/27/2008 3:58 PM
The Next Step for Cricket" at Cricket2012Games.com is a must read.One thing is certain,we need more people around the world playing cricket,not less.Neither the stubborn insistance that "Tests are the pinnacle of the game" nor unmarketable terms like "Pro20" will help the game. The London Assembly just passed a resolutiuon calling for Cricket at the 2012 Olympics,let's get behind that movement, and correct the travesty of cricket being the only major sport excluded from the world's biggest arena,the Olympics.
Dale11/26/2008 11:16 PM
@ 'just cricket. I personally prefer the cricket aspect of Test Cricket to Pro20, but I've given up trying to explain it friends & people who didnt grow up watching & playing the game, but its them that the ICC needs to win over it it wants to revive interest in the game. Having the news full of stories of players suspended, captains banned for slow over rates, etc isnt doing the game any favours - so throw out the draconian elitist 'laws' & allow the players to show real emotion. U say its up to them to revive test cricket, but instead of them being supported, their hands are tied & theyre troubled with ICC obstacles. "The Pinnacle" of cricket is a subjective thing, so to you it may be test cricket, but to others it may be winning the World Cup. & todays minnows can be tomorrows World Cup champions - just look at the history of Sri Lankan cricket! It's "cricket's" elitist 'Im better than you' old English attitude that has hamstrung the development of the game for years, yet you are supporting a structure that will divide it into an 'upper class' & a 'lower class' - how counter productive! Cricket (& sport in general) has no place for 'sophisticated' (as you put it) pompous attitudes that see some teams as more deserving than others, or even the sport as 'a better class' than football. We are in the era of professional sports, not top hats & tails with tea & cucumber sandwiches, looking down on the spectator, other players, fans, etc. As mentioned, do away with the forced participation of no1 & no10 on the rankings, & there's the solution to non competitive match-ups, then give the fans the entertainment they looking for - not try force them to like what you're serving up!
Just Cricket11/26/2008 4:50 PM
@Dale. I can see you just don't like test cricket, so I suggest you just stop watching it. Test cricket is not a barbaric sport like soccer where, like you, say "players rush the umpires" and deliberately try to break opponents ankles by late tackles. Instead test cricket is the pinnacle of a sophisticated and non-personal contact sport where the opposition and umpires are respected. I agree test cricket should be made more spectacular and enjoyable for spectators but certainly not at the cost of loosing such a tradition. The highest pinnacle of cricket will always be a test match. That is why they call it a test. It is a test of concentration, guts and pure talent. It is at test cricket level that mediocre talent gets caught out and that is why we should not allow minnows like Bangaldesh, Kenya and Zimbabwe to dilute the strength of test cricket. Why not introduce the free hit from a front foot no-ball into test cricket? What about introducing fielding restrictions from the 70th to 80th over when the ball is old. Or maybe forcing teams to bowl 15 overs of spin in a day to up the run rate? But I disagree turning the game into a name calling battle on and off the field and taking away the simple and time-honoured traditions like white clothing and looking at the umpire when appealing. All in all you cannot blame administrators for everything. Simply put it is up to the players to revive test cricket.
Dale11/26/2008 1:37 PM
@'Just Cricket' My solutions are simple. Firstly, get the ICC decision makers replaced with proactive forward thinking individuals. The 1st thing they can do is stop forcing the teams to play the 4 year ICC test championship & let them decide who they want to play ... so India, SA, Aus can play each other more often, & Bangladesh, Zimbabwe & West Indies can play each other more often. As for improving test cricket, there are lots of ways, primarily taking control of the quality of pitches provided so that A) a result can be obtained, & B) the cricket is exciting. It might also include 'kaboom shakers', coloured clothing, loud music, etc - things that are relevant in this day & age of extra sensory stimulation & HDTV, surround sound, force feedback controls, etc. Next would be doing away with all the fringe rules that do nothing except provide poor publicity for the game - players fined for not looking at the umpire when appealing, penalties for saying "you bad person" to an opponent, & various time / light / etc issues. Simplify the rules, allow the players to call each other names if that creates personalities, & allow them to tell the umpire he's a tosser if he's acting like a tosser. Footballers regularly rush the ref with waving arms while shouting at the top of their lungs - & it hasnt lost any popularity for it! If the game can be better with no on-field umpires at all & only technology for decisions, then kick the umpires out of the game - its not about them after all. The only reason there are 2 on the field & they stand where they do, is purely down to when the rules where created - at that time it was the most efficient way to get the best & most accurate decisions. That is no longer the case - but cricket's decision makers are so stuck in tradition that they refuse to acknowledge the world has progressed & there are now better more efficient ways to get the right decisions! Cricket is competing in a new era & unless it looks at the kind of satisfaction levels & needs being provided by anything sponsored by Red Bull or until they can compete with a PlayStation for TV time, they will be on the back foot. The way Pro20 is delivered is proof that the public with respond if you give them what they're looking for, but trying to force them to watch Test or even ODI cricket by limiting Pro20 cricket is just arrogant. B&H Night Cricket (ODI & provincial level) used to offer much of what the Pro20 does now, & those games were just as popular as Pro20. Once that marketing changed, interest waned ... & now they think theyre onto something new with Pro20 events, but many of the attractions are just revived from the old B&H days. & instead of calling me wrong - prove it!
Just Cricket11/26/2008 10:06 AM
@Dale. You are the stupid & short sighted on here. Your comment is full of allegations and accusations but bear little solutions to test cricket. Grow up and chase your hidden agendas on another level and not here. Be part of the solution and not the problem Dale. Listen mate every single team in the world will come close to or beat a far superior opposition over time Statistics 101 will tell you that. I agree with Arthur but would like to see a test second division who also plays the first division A sides. That will grow test cricket and promote skills far better.
tattu11/26/2008 8:01 AM
I agree with all the comments except this. "The ICC does not need to grow Test cricket but merely sustain it because of its tradition and status. The future growth of the game lies in the shortened version and not Test cricket." rest of the comments are absolutely fine. recent news of bangladeshi fans fighting with their players because of poor performance is surprising.I dont understand how these supporters except high performances from their team when their quality is visibly below par.they have lost their team to the ICL. as far as zimbabwe is concerned there was not even a single spectator in the recent series.and in my country[india] or even in top 6 cricketing nations clubs or local teams play better cricket.
Anonymous User11/25/2008 12:59 PM
To start with it is a better idea to have the top 8 teams in competitionwith the other teams competing in a second division. It must be very discouraging to teams to be wiped off the board. All we want is to pick up the other teams to a higher level.
Dale11/25/2008 12:43 PM
What a stupid & short sighted solution ... & a misinformed piece - for the record, Zim nearly beat Sri Lanka in the most recent ODI. Soccer & rugby have a single ranking system & it works fine. The problem is not the teams or ranking structure, but rather the ICC in all respects. The biggest problem is the ICC rule that all the countries have to play each other home & away during a 4yr rotation. If the Boks were forced to play Zimbabwe in rugby tests, we would also see one sided results. West Indies fared little better than Kenya or Bangladesh vs the Proteas ... but if they were relegated to 2nd tier cricket it would kill the already struggling sport in the Caribbean. Does that seem like any kind of solution? The ICC can also be blamed for the whole ICL / IPL fiasco. I fail to see how the ICC can impose bans & sanctions on the ICL & its players, when the IPL is having a much more visible negative effect & impact on world cricket. Sri Lanka players are opting for IPL vs national duty, our domestic season / teams need to cater for players in IPL cricket, & even our national team has to make sacrifices for the IPL demands. The ICC's handling of the World Cup in West Indies was arrogant & devoid of any consideration for the local brand of cricket & fans. While Pro20 finally provides cricket with a means to challenge emerging sports for popularity & win back fans lost due to previous wrong decisions, the ICC chooses to limit the amount of Pro20 internationals that can be played, lest it 'devalue' test & ODI cricket. The smart decision would be to look at what the public wants & responds to, & bring Test & ODI cricket more inline with that ... but instead the ICC refuse to change the game because of 'long traditions' & prefer to try hold a gun to our heads to force us to watch 'other' cricket because Pro20's are limited. Wake up old timers ... if there's limited Pro20, people will watch the Red Bull Air Race, or Formula 1, or even just play Playstation games instead! As for Arthur ... your views smack of the very same 'stuck in the past' & 'elitist' attitude the ICC suffers from. The problem is compounded by the fact you are a previous administrator / current players agent ... because it shows that there is no solution to the problem in sight ... at least not until the old guard is completely replaced by some new forward thinking.
Naren11/25/2008 11:49 AM
I agree with your views, Bangladesh cannot compete at all at test level. South african players will actually get a better test of their skills in the domestic Supersport series. Zimbabwe can barely compete against Sri Lanka in ODI's as well. The minnow teams are definitely killing cricket, resulting in diminishing viewership interest. A 2-tier system would be a better idea, as you've suggested, whereby improving teams can be promoted to play against the top 8 teams. It's also ridiculous that top players such as Shane Bond, Mohammed Yousuf have been banned from playing for their countries for choosing to play in the Rebel League.
David11/25/2008 10:52 AM
Arthur, with all due respect, I really see this article as negative! Yes, teams like Zim, Bang and kenya are struggling to keep up with the main 8 but i dont want to see the same teams competing for ever! The more exposure these teams get the more better they will become and the more cricket there is, even if it takes a couple of decades!! Another point is that when introducing young guys in the South African team or any highly rate team, you need to introduce them at a level not as high as Australia or India...So it's vital that the smaller teams are involved to gain experience and to assist new guys in the bigger teams! Positive cricket enthusiast
Louis11/25/2008 10:28 AM
The questions is, how should the ICC develop the game? If top sportspeople are lured away by money, it is not necessarily bad, the problem comes in when it does not contribute to the game we love. Carribean cricket has suffered from bleeding athletes to higher paying sports, like athletics (certain specific disciplines) and basketball. We need more people to participate in cricket for the sake of participation. T20 and ODIs might have roles to play in that. Have a look at Cricket Australia website (http://www.cricket.com.au/). How do we compete with that? If we can answer that question and copy this to more countries we will enjoy test cricket for a long time to come.
jacojvr11/25/2008 10:21 AM
Sir, there are no spectators anymore - did you see that - the game is dead already in this country. There is more spectators at my daughter's dance classes and she is only in grade 4.
Sandelk11/25/2008 9:47 AM
Don't agree with your views on restricting tests to only 8 countries, that's not fair on the other countries, but I do agree with a relegation system for it... As for the ICL, banning players is just plain wrong and shows that cricket is run by a bunch of wimps who can't stand up against a bigger cricketing board...
Steadfast11/25/2008 9:11 AM
You are 100% correct. How dare the local administrators ban top players who played in the rebel tournament. It does smack of dictatorship to me. I watched the local games and was shocked at how low the level of play is. We have to remember that sport is for sportsmen and women and not for the administrators, one would think that the game revolved around them. Actually they could all be fired and cricket would still be played next week end anyway. Too many of our top youngsters play in UK where they are treated well and professionally. So why on earth would any talented youngster ply his trade in SA. The added benefit is that one could play for England - Rory is the next SA player to play for England. I have seen too many not sportspeople in positions of power in many sports codes in SA and these same individuals enjoy a good salary even though they have nothing of value to add. Look at swimming, rubgy, baseball, cricket, soccer and so the list goes on.
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