Striking a balance for a Modern International Cricketer

Striking a balance between Test Cricket, the IPL, and the Considerations of a Modern International Cricketer -

Alastair Cook made the point in an interview recently that too much international cricket is being played these days and that eventually something would have to give. He mentioned that cricketers had at their disposal the right to industrial action, and suddenly he was being portrayed as a revolutionary calling for his comrades to join him on the picket lines.

A couple of days later he added that striking would never happen, how it was a privilege to play the game and that his words had been taken out of context, which of course they had, but it did give an insight, if it were needed, that international cricketers are struggling to cope with the amount of cricket they are expected to play.

As has been outlined previously in this blog and many others, the England players involved in the whole of the 2010/11 Australia tour and the World Cup that followed were away for over 3 months, with only a 3 day break back home in between to recuperate.

The problem – and the beauty – of a game of test cricket is that it takes so long to complete. Personally, I love the test cricket format above all others, but you need 25 days to complete a 5 test series. Most 5 test series are now crammed into 6/7 week periods, which is a lot of cricket in a short period leaving little time for the body to recover.

But we’ve been over all of this right? Well yes, but Cook’s comments are the first to come out of the England camp that show the true feelings of the players towards the amount of games they are being asked to play – perhaps a warning from the newly appointed England ODI captain that no change in policy may result in more early retirements and more injuries.

Recent years have seen some great players retire prematurely from test cricket. Persistent injuries and a continual strain on the body have seen Flintoff, Lee and more recently Malinga retire from the longest form of the game. If schedules continue at the level they are at currently – and with the lure of more money for less work on offer in the IPL – it won’t be long before more players turn their back on 2-3 months away on tour with their national team in favour of a few weeks in India that will pay double the money for a fraction of the workload.

Imran Khan, in an interview published in the Telegraph last year said that “In six weeks of playing in the IPL, some players made more money than I made in my whole 21 years of international cricket. If you have that sort of money available, a player can first make his name in Test cricket and then retire and save himself for Twenty20″.

“In these circumstances, I would do exactly that. I can imagine fast bowlers saving themselves. Shoaib Akhtar doesn’t want to play Test cricket, he wants to play Twenty20. Shahid Afridi only really wanted to play one-day and Twenty20. And now Andrew Flintoff too”.

Some people might say that International players are selfish and should feel honoured to play for their country, but cricketers aren’t paid the money that, say footballers are, unless they get involved in the IPL, hence the lure. It also means a player can play with less strain on his body. As a result you see players like Shane Warne – long since retired from the international scene – still plying his trade on the IPL circuit, and performing very well actually too.

So is that the way cricket is destined to go? Will more countries set up their own national T20 franchises that will then start to compete in a global, club-like T20 World Cup? Well maybe, but that is a long way off, and certainly there is enough love for test cricket in England, Australia and South Africa especially to keep the game alive for some time yet.

For test cricket to survive, a drastic overhaul is almost certainly required. A “Test Championship” is an idea that has been mooted, whereby test series would be conducted between all the test playing nations and the top 4 teams would qualify for a play-off to decide the winner. The ICC has actually implemented this idea and the first play off is scheduled to be played at Lords in 2013.

This would give test cricket a context, a prize at the end of it, and therefore more prestige, success, and ultimately more money for the winners. Let’s face it, the only way test cricket can survive alongside T20 long term is if the money within it is at least comparable to the shortest form of the game. A clear pecking order would then be established, replacing the convoluted points system currently employed by the ICC.

But what about the Ashes? Series like the Ashes continue to be well attended (apart from the last days in Adelaide and Sydney in the last tour, when the Aussies just couldn’t take it anymore!). A league system may compromise the ability to stage Ashes series every 2 years as it is now – are English and Australian fans really prepared to accept that? After all, these are two countries in which support for test cricket is still as strong as ever.

For countries such as India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, where test cricket is the least desirable of the three formats, a Test Championship may be too little too late. One only has to look at the state of the West Indies national team to see the effects that the lure of the IPL can have. The current side playing Pakistan in a One Day series in the Caribbean are shorn of the senior players who are more interested in the financial benefits that the IPL has to offer, and is instead comprised of an abundance of younger players. One can only hope that the youthful exuberance of these players brings a renewed interest to the West Indian national team.

India too will need to be convinced. Without their support, test cricket will always struggle to exist alongside One Day cricket and T20. Perhaps a Test Championship, and the prestige that winning will bring, as well as adequate financial renumeration of course, will be enough to rekindle India’s interest? India’s commercial grip on T20 cricket through the IPL and their strength in, and love for, One Day cricket are too great to be inconsequential. Somehow all three formats need to be acknowledged as separate and equally valid forms of the game of cricket for them to exist successfully alongside each other.

England’s target is to become the best test-playing team in the world. I just hope the rest of the world still cares when that finally happens.