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‘World Cup’ : The Dilemma of Premier Status
25 May, 2010 |
Finally England
One headline in an English newspaper screamed that England have after all won the World Cup but added the line, “So what if it’s only Twenty20.” This is not to do with England’s traditionalist attitude alone but points out that the Twenty20 game is still new for many teams. Only time will tell if it will upstage the 50-over contest that for 35 years countries have fought for over nine World Cup championships.
Twenty-20 upstaging 50-50
Twenty20 may be three World Cups old, a third of the number of its traditional limited-overs rival, but being held at twice the frequency will soon catch up, say, in 20 years. So, will 2027 or 2030 roughly be the time the world decides which the premier World Cup is?
Which World Cup?
Many hold on to this thinking that “there can be only one World Cup” and people have to make up their mind which. The other ‘World Cup’ can, in popular opinion or officially, be relegated to championship status, much like the Champions Trophy which is a 50-over prelude to the real World Cup. The day may even arrive when the gruelling schedules and tours make it necessary to hastily scrap competitions considered outdated. Many scoff at the extreme suggestion, but didn’t the world get its biggest surprise when India concocted the Indian Premier League where the world’s best players got attracted like maggots? Therefore, never dismiss any revolutionary ideas.
Professional League
The world may see the dichotomy of cricket as firstly, the professional leagues and then, the premier international tournaments. A professional league, unlike the popular belief that it is pure entertainment value for the fans, is actually the lifeline of the players. Being a cricketer by ‘profession’ is what the league enables for you, that is, you feel financially secure to play without worrying about your household expenses. In India’s cash-rich (cricket) economy, it can also be organised so your ‘professional’ career earnings take care of you after 40, with or without pensions.
Test cricketers anyway earn plenty through their central contracts so the league can be a boon for fringe players who have not been able to get that security through the Board. It may even make sense to have even two or three leagues on different tiers. After all, it will help sustain the up-and-coming artistes we crowd the stadiums to watch.
The Other Attraction
The next priority is to hold the premier international tournaments such as the World Cups. The cricket world will then take the decision of whether the better ‘moolah’ would come in from traditional bilateral series of cricket, that is, India playing Sri Lanka first at home then away, or instead from staging more mini World Cups or multi-team championships. If the latter happens, of which there is a very good chance knowing today’s economy, then there can be only one true ‘World Cup’ which the public will nominate.
Savouring the Moment?
After winning the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi remarked that it had a certain shallowness because only ten months later, there was to be another one. He emoted that the team simply wouldn’t have the time to enjoy the hard earned victory and he was right, because, although the Twenty20 World cup is slated at two-year intervals, it will be conducted earlier or later if a tournament of significance, for instance the 50-over World Cup is held in the same year.
Certainly, the big brother once-in-four-year 50-over competition will not make way for 20-20 but who knows if it would be the other way around in the near future?
Twenty-20 Competitions Galore
| Should we have a 10-overs-a-side competition and let it face flak for not testing the cricketers like a 20-20 just to prove a point? |
One of the factors that may accelerate the fledgling Twenty20’s acceptance is the enormous publicity around the Indian Premier League whose success immediately made other countries want to start their own premier leagues. We have only 365 days in the year, right? With so many Twenty20 competitions, the world would gradually accept this as the default format and who’s to say, vote for it over the 50-over competitions.
One simply must not be shy of this change; after all there were so many critics when 50-over matches were first played, many viewing them as not ‘testing’ the skills of a cricketer like Test cricket did. Now, are they saying 50-over cricket does whereas 20-over does not? What should we do then – have a 10-overs-a-side competition and let it face flak for not testing the cricketers like in a 20-20 just to prove a point?
TV Time
| If the Americans invented baseball because of cricket’s slow pace, the latter may have struck back to market the game globally. Call Twenty20 ‘cricball’ or ‘crackball,’ the world may yet be its oyster. |
Maybe the perspective can be that Twenty20 was waiting to happen; it just needed 35 years of 50-50 so that traditionalists would accept it gradually.
After all, three hours of a 20-overs-a-side match is practical TV time, during which you wouldn’t step outside to buy groceries, which you would if it was a 50-over game over 6 hours. Surely, advertisers know they are getting their money’s worth because viewers are watching. So why wouldn’t we have more of these matches?
In a direct effect, pay packets to the cricketers will be bigger so wouldn’t you get the world’s best? Don’t think avarice, dilution, petty corruption. Think practicals. If the Americans invented baseball because of cricket’s slow pace, the latter may have struck back to market the game globally. Call Twenty20 ‘cricball’ or ‘crackball,’ the world may yet be its oyster.
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