ICC board set to discuss radical changes in Test and ODI structure in April

[Donal Cozzie]

Cricket in Ireland will only improve with people in Ireland taking an interest in the sport, you cant buy that and if you do then the interest will fade when the money runs out. If the cricket is going to thrive then it will because people in Ireland want the sport to grow. The reason cricket is big in Eng, Aus and Ind is because every weekend there are thousands of volunteers in domestic cricket giving their time to coach, umpire, fund raise and manage the sport, not because they get big bucks from the ICC.

But to grow the game further you need to get noteworthy teams to play against which garners crowd attention, and most certainly from the Irish POV WC participation is of unbelievable importance. The latter has realistically been taken from us since we'll be competing with decent sides (Afghanistan,Zimbabwe,Scotland et al) for the last spot and we don't have the finances to grow the domestic game to the extent that it can be a viable career choice.

To grow cricket in a nation which already has several sports it excels at you simply need to invest. Take Zimbabwe's funding which is being wasted and abused and split it 50/50 with Ireland and Afghanistan (teams who unlike Zim atm have a domestic system) and you solve a fair amount of problems!

 

[Gilly]

But nobody is suggesting HOME rights. The issue is pooling AWAY rights.

BT Sport paid Cricket Australia 80 million pounds to for 5 years of rights from Australia.

How much does Fox Sports pay the ECB? Mind you, I'm probably undermining my own argument there, so perhaps I should shut up!

I'm not to concerned about it, I just think that you made a mess of how the funds should be split up. It must be done on merit, I can only speak for Aus and I think they are under valued here and not recognised for their contribution to world cricket. You of all people, living in Australia know the strength of cricket in Australia. India play Australia so often because its profitable for them, if it wasnt then there would be no Aus v Ind matches.

 

[Markhor]

So can someone help me understand this?

How will this ODI league and Test league work?

So will the number of test matches for all the series be the same?

The ODI league is simple -13 teams will play each other home and away over a three year cycle. Bottom five sides will have to qualify for the WC. Top side will be rewarded in some way - but no details on that.

As for the Test league - see #5. It'll work on a 9-3 split so it won't be the conference system previously proposed.

 

[Gilly]

But to grow the game further you need to get noteworthy teams to play against which garners crowd attention, and most certainly from the Irish POV WC participation is of unbelievable importance. The latter has realistically been taken from us since we'll be competing with decent sides (Afghanistan,Zimbabwe,Scotland et al) for the last spot and we don't have the finances to grow the domestic game to the extent that it can be a viable career choice.

To grow cricket in a nation which already has several sports it excels at you simply need to invest. Take Zimbabwe's funding which is being wasted and abused and split it 50/50 with Ireland and Afghanistan (teams who unlike Zim atm have a domestic system) and you solve a fair amount of problems!

If you dont have the funds to grow domestic cricket then you are not ready for test status. To be a test nation you need to have a healthy robust domestic competition. To have a healthy robust domestic competition you need to have strong local interest and management. Irish cricket will just become a burden to world cricket if it cant set up and support itself. There is no easy path to becoming a test nation.

 

[Madplayer]

and they are off!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ICC Board meeting starts in Dubai <a href="https://t.co/SrBK2F6Jjf">pic.twitter.com/SrBK2F6Jjf</a></p>— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICCMediaComms/status/827758401321066498">February 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hope something positive comes out of this which is actually good for the game. History says otherwise though.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

If you dont have the funds to grow domestic cricket then you are not ready for test status. To be a test nation you need to have a healthy robust domestic competition. To have a healthy robust domestic competition you need to have strong local interest and management. Irish cricket will just become a burden to world cricket if it cant set up and support itself. There is no easy path to becoming a test nation.

Well the management I think we can all agree is there.

But the support, how can you grow support for cricket in Ireland with domestic cricket when down the road you have the two hugely popular gaelic sports, rugby which we're 3rd best in the world at, and football where we regularly qualify for competitions? You can't expect people to get excited about once-off ODI's when we're at the top of other sports and our population is so small. If NZ didn't get the chance to play big teams regularly do you reckon their domestic scene would remain strong? Hell I'd wonder if NZ's domestic cricket is at all profitable, since whenever I watched their t20 competition highlights the semi finals were absolutely empty.

We're not asking for 20 million euro, literally half of whats being wasted in Zimbabwe, I don't think thats an unfair ask when on and off the pitch we've done about what you can ever expect us to do.

And your argument doesn't hold up when cricket boards the world over are wasting millions of dollars through corruption and mismanagement, this is a professional board seeking some extra help to try and boost the game here. Why do we have to jump through hoops to get every small gain while other boards spend and waste in abundance with no accountability.

 

[Junaids]

I'm not to concerned about it, I just think that you made a mess of how the funds should be split up. It must be done on merit, I can only speak for Aus and I think they are under valued here and not recognised for their contribution to world cricket. You of all people, living in Australia know the strength of cricket in Australia. India play Australia so often because its profitable for them, if it wasnt then there would be no Aus v Ind matches.

Actually, for once I agree completely.

Mind you, I'd say the same for South Africa and England too - both of whom have won series in Australia recently and England did in India too the time before last.

 

[Thivagar]

Just to show how wrong you are:

Didn't know thanks for sharing this. Peshawar Zalmi of PSL is also setting up their development camps in and out of Pakistan. They even came to Canada to scout and took few players with them to play in a tournament in Dubai consisting of scouted players from elsewhere. Couple of CPL teams have presence here as well, looking out for talented players. T20 franchise are doing more to help associate crickets than ICC.

 

[Drreddymd]

If there is no use of international cricket then why play leagues like IPL where their main focus is to find new and exciting talents that can perform for them in the international matches? You see you can't have both sides of the coin.

Pyjama leagues won't survive 2 seasons if ICC decides to scrap Intl cricket just because burger fans think these intl. matches are meaningless.

For u they are Meaningful but for Most fans they r not that's.s why nobody watches them and infact most test series are a big burden for slc, wicb, pcb.

How will game survive if there is no Spectator intrest? If u want a losing business to continue ot leads to bankruptcy and thats what is happening right now and every board is trying to shore up test cricket by launching tamasha leagues so that free loaders like u can watch a lose making sport

 

[Drreddymd]

Your comments really do seem to be those of a person from the Indian subcontinent living in a Third World country or working in the USA. They certainly don't apply to any of the "white" cricket countries.

The taste for Test cricket
Day/Night Tests in Australia - and Tests during the holiday period - rate more highly than ODIs and attract larger crowds to the ground.

People clearly prefer the format - and the ability to draw a Test your team is far behind in - to the shorter forms of the game. If my team is 200 all out and then by the end of Day 3 the opposition is 580-6, I like the fact that my team can save the Test by batting defensively for 2 days. I wouldn't watch if the only possible results were win/lose/tie.

The timing of the game
Your only semi-valid point is about "the needs of the modern era".

But you don't seem to understand what those needs are.

The working week shrinks smaller and smaller - currently 38 hours per week here in Australia (while in France 35 looks like turning into 32 after the Presidential election.)

The vast majority of cricket lovers are home by 6pm every night, and half of them - the children - are home by 4pm.

This means that Day/Night Test cricket is a surefire winner.

Pakistan has just toured Australia, and at all 3 grounds had the largest ever attendance there for a Test between the two countries. They also had the largest ever attendance for the two sides in the preceding Tests at Hamilton and Christchurch - even though the ground in Christchurch has 20% of the capacity of its predecessor.

Test cricket is alive and well in its traditional heartlands. And Day/Night Test cricket is just making it even stronger.

Because test cricket is for freeloaders like u who have time to enjoy a day out and not in counyries like wi, sa, pak, sl, ban where test is dead and lose making enterprise

 

[Cricfan4eva]

The ODI league is simple -13 teams will play each other home and away over a three year cycle. Bottom five sides will have to qualify for the WC. Top side will be rewarded in some way - but no details on that.

As for the Test league - see #5. It'll work on a 9-3 split so it won't be the conference system previously proposed.

But a league wont make sense if we continue to play 5/7 match ODI series with top teams and 3 match ODI series with sides like SL/WI.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

But a league wont make sense if we continue to play 5/7 match ODI series with top teams and 3 match ODI series with sides like SL/WI.

It'll come close to sense if a series win earns 3 points regardless of number of games.

Not perfect, but the Big 3 vigorously oppose standardised numbers of matches for all teams, so this is the next best thing.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

But to grow the game further you need to get noteworthy teams to play against which garners crowd attention, and most certainly from the Irish POV WC participation is of unbelievable importance. The latter has realistically been taken from us since we'll be competing with decent sides (Afghanistan,Zimbabwe,Scotland et al) for the last spot and we don't have the finances to grow the domestic game to the extent that it can be a viable career choice.

To grow cricket in a nation which already has several sports it excels at you simply need to invest. Take Zimbabwe's funding which is being wasted and abused and split it 50/50 with Ireland and Afghanistan (teams who unlike Zim atm have a domestic system) and you solve a fair amount of problems!

I get what you're trying to say but ICC can't invest in Ireland like they do with sides like WI/SL for example or Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe though minnows for the last decade or so, were a decent side in 90s who gave top teams a tough time but Ireland apart from an odd performance here and there in World events haven't done enough.

Its been like that for all the sides, how did BCCI grow into the monster it is now? Not because ICC back then ruled by ECB and CA giving us free money, we won the damn world cup in which we had no shot btw, and then the interest that generated in India has got us to where we are today.

Frankly even if cricket kicks off in Ireland its going to be the 2nd or 3rd followed sport like in NZ, which will still be great but Ireland needs to show ICC that they are worth the investment.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

It'll come close to sense if a series win earns 3 points regardless of number of games.

Not perfect, but the Big 3 vigorously oppose standardised numbers of matches for all teams, so this is the next best thing.

That still doesn't sound right to me since a team gets ample opportunities to come back in a 7 match series or 5 where as in a 3 match series its almost like K/O.

One way to standardise it would be first 3 games would count, irrespective of the no. of matches in the series. That might also discourage teams to hold longer meaningless ODI series as well.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

I get what you're trying to say but ICC can't invest in Ireland like they do with sides like WI/SL for example or Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe though minnows for the last decade or so, were a decent side in 90s who gave top teams a tough time but Ireland apart from an odd performance here and there in World events haven't done enough.

Its been like that for all the sides, how did BCCI grow into the monster it is now? Not because ICC back then ruled by ECB and CA giving us free money, we won the damn world cup in which we had no shot btw, and then the interest that generated in India has got us to where we are today.

Frankly even if cricket kicks off in Ireland its going to be the 2nd or 3rd followed sport like in NZ, which will still be great but Ireland needs to show ICC that they are worth the investment.

Man I'm gonna tear me hair out here )

The reason we've only done bits here or there, is because BETWEEN 2007 AND 2015 WE ONLY GOT ONE OFF GAMES ***!!! HOW CAN WE PERFORM CONSISTENTLY WHEN NOT GIVEN CONSISTENT GAMES! WE ONLY GOT TO PLAY HERE AND THERE.

Dammnit man ) I have to laugh else I'd cry, but you can't cut a teams WC opportunities, give them zero matches or money for years, and then say "Oh well you didn't do much". *** we didn't get a chance to do much )

Ah man I'm done, can't keep this up. You win cricket world, I can't keep with these constantly changing goalposts of reasons against expanding the damn game.

At least you're actually using your own independent thought though, unlike some others who bark BCCI rhetoric endlessly.

 

[Markhor]

But a league wont make sense if we continue to play 5/7 match ODI series with top teams and 3 match ODI series with sides like SL/WI.

That is a problem if certain teams have "more bites of the cherry" but here's one solution.

Standardise the series that count for the ODI league - say every team will play 3-match series.

Now if some teams want to make more money by having longer ODI series - allow them to arrange separate series that are outside of the ODI league.

Or you could still have variable length ODI series but only the first three matches count towards the league.

 

[MMHS]

I am happy as long as they don't make Test cricket a 4 day joke. Rest doesn't matter much - as long as few major teams are playing Test series, I am fine. BCB, WICB, PCB, SLCB will be more than happy if Test cricket is wiped out & they are allowed to play 50 T20 every year.

 

[R0H1T]

That is a problem if certain teams have "more bites of the cherry" but here's one solution.

Standardise the series that count for the ODI league - say every team will play 3-match series.

Now if some teams want to make more money by having longer ODI series - allow them to arrange separate series that are outside of the ODI league.

Or you could still have variable length ODI series but only the first three matches count towards the league.

There's always the tri/multi lateral tournaments we can work towards, with home/away points being added to the final tally. The thing with bilaterals these days, even test series, is that when you start poorly you don't get a chance to come back. In ODI I'd argue it's even harder when the series is short, add to that the scheduling. You think Aus would've sent a second string attack to SA if they were to lose points for that, or rest their main batters for NZ? If they did send full strength squads away would their (main) players also last a full season at home, then away to India?

This league concept is good in theory but could get really messy if scheduling isn't sorted out, also away wins should count for more even in LO games.

I am happy as long as they don't make Test cricket a 4 day joke. Rest doesn't matter much - as long as few major teams are playing Test series, I am fine. BCB, WICB, PCB, SLCB will be more than happy if Test cricket is wiped out & they are allowed to play 50 T20 every year.

Yeah 4 day tests is ajoke, anyone still advocating for that should just stop watching cricket. Looking at you Mr. Warne!

 

[MMHS]

There's always the tri/multi lateral tournaments we can work towards, with home/away points being added to the final tally. The thing with bilaterals these days, even test series, is that when you start poorly you don't get a chance to come back. In ODI I'd argue it's even harder when the series is short, add to that the scheduling. You think Aus would've sent a second string attack to SA if they were to lose points for that, or rest their main batters for NZ? If they did send full strength squads away would their (main) players also last a full season at home, then away to India?

This league concept is good in theory but could get really messy if scheduling isn't sorted out, also away wins should count for more even in LO games.Yeah 4 day tests is ajoke, anyone still advocating for that should just stop watching cricket. Looking at you Mr. Warne!

That's categorically a strategy to kill spinners out of the game, which'll make those elites dominate the game for another 100 years.

 

[R0H1T]

That's categorically a strategy to kill spinners out of the game, which'll make those elites dominate the game for another 100 years.

Well unless the ICC somehow makes tests a 4 day affair, I doubt it'll come to that but then again they did make the 2 new ball rule change in ODI as well. To my surprise though many on PP favored this, I guess reminiscing about the 92 WC, but as we've seen pace heavy attacks & pacers (mostly with new ball) are the only ones who've benefited. The SC teams have been at a distinct disadvantage with the 2 bouncer & 2 new ball rules, seeing how bad non Asian teams are against spin.

If push comes to shove, with ICC mandating 4 day tests, I can certainly see India dishing out more of Mohali, Nagpur, Mumbai type of surfaces to most visitors. I'm sure many, on this board, will enjoy the ensuing bloodbath

 

[HitWicket]

That's categorically a strategy to kill spinners out of the game, which'll make those elites dominate the game for another 100 years.

The whole point of the 4 days tests though was that the amount of overs per day would be increased so a barely notable amount of overs would be lost...

 

[R0H1T]

The whole point of the 4 days tests though was that the amount of overs per day would be increased so a barely notable amount of overs would be lost...

To 105 overs a day IIRC? But Aus or Eng don't even bowl 90 overs in a day, not to mention Smith/Cook have never been banned for their serial & repeat offenses!

The 4 day concept works when we can ensure 400+ overs during the course of a test, if not then most tests could be draws or rain affected draws. Also the pitches, under lights pacers can get help, lot of help at times? What can the ICC do to bring spinners to the fore, seeing how you're also taking away the fifth day pitch from them?

 

[MMHS]

The whole point of the 4 days tests though was that the amount of overs per day would be increased so a barely notable amount of overs would be lost...

It doesn't work that way - you don't know how a spin track works. A wicket, unless it's rank turner, gradually brings spinners in the game with every day - the impact of a 5th day wicket can never happen if we play 3 Day Test with 10 hours/day.

Also, they can't increase overs more than 90 in a day, unless it's a D/N Test in Asia - there is not enough day light. D/N Test has dew effect, which again takes spinners out - also, to keep the ball visible, you have to keep grass in D/N Test wickets.


4 day Test will kill the game, because any team finding them in a tight corner 'll try to avoid defeat, because there won't be enough time for them to recover & force a result. Also, 3/4 hours rain - that Test is basically a farce for remaining days.

Test cricket is fantastic as it's being played - if anything, I'll make that the matches are played for 500 overs - 100/day, so that negative strategy is taken out - teams can't play out time for a draw.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Man I'm gonna tear me hair out here )

The reason we've only done bits here or there, is because BETWEEN 2007 AND 2015 WE ONLY GOT ONE OFF GAMES ***!!! HOW CAN WE PERFORM CONSISTENTLY WHEN NOT GIVEN CONSISTENT GAMES! WE ONLY GOT TO PLAY HERE AND THERE.

Dammnit man ) I have to laugh else I'd cry, but you can't cut a teams WC opportunities, give them zero matches or money for years, and then say "Oh well you didn't do much". *** we didn't get a chance to do much )

Ah man I'm done, can't keep this up. You win cricket world, I can't keep with these constantly changing goalposts of reasons against expanding the damn game.

At least you're actually using your own independent thought though, unlike some others who bark BCCI rhetoric endlessly.

If you're talking about World cup exclusion, then imo that is definitely a short sighted approach, World cups will remain a money spinner even if you add associates to it, it has always been. Sure without it, it would be even better but there comes ICC's role as a world cricket body and sadly they have chosen a few extra bucks over exposure to associate sides.

However investing money into Ireland's development by pouring money into their domestic infrastructure makes little sense because world is not run that way. Ireland not only have to show development in the way they play cricket but also set up a domestic structure and get something started, to take it to a level where it churns out world class cricketers is something that can be worked upon later with help from ICC.

As for more games, imo its as much Ireland's responsibility as it is other boards to organise such fixtures. England play cricket throughout the year, why not strike up a deal with England to include a few fixtures of yours in all their tours away and at home?

ICC at its current stage is anyway an organization that furthers the interest of big players, but still whatever little they do for development of smaller nations needs a good convincing. That is how it is.

 

[Markhor]

With regards to matches against Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, Dan Brettig reports:

Such matches would most likely take the place of warm-up games for Tests against other opponents in the same region. Were a country to be touring England, for instance, they could play a Test against Ireland rather than a warm-up against a second division County side. Similarly, a match against Afghanistan could presage a series against Pakistan in the UAE, or a meeting with Zimbabwe serve as the entree to a series against South Africa.

Its like they've been reading PP, been banging on about this for ages. Instead of warm-ups against substandard domestic teams, this would be far more preferable and the lower ranked sides get exposure of playing Test cricket against the top sides.

 

[R0H1T]

With regards to matches against Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, Dan Brettig reports:


Its like they've been reading PP, been banging on about this for ages. Instead of warm-ups against substandard domestic teams, this would be far more preferable and the lower ranked sides get exposure of playing Test cricket against the top sides.

It works both ways to be honest. The NZ tour of Zim last year didn't prepare them for a tour against SA, the pitches were different (quicker) in SA & had lots of movement, same goes for SL in SA. Likewise for Eng vs Bangladesh, except our eastern neighbors were much better than Zim & we laid out roads for England & England still got thumped. Also where do Afghanistan play their tests, in UAE? If so who's gonna pay for that every time?

In fact an India A team is much better than any of these (test) teams, especially in India. I think the ICC needs a dedicated fund to sponsor tests in lesser nations, they can reduce the (increased) funding of these boards under the latest rejig. Seeing how most of that money will simply go for ODI & T20, ICC should be looking to handle the funds on their own if they are to make test cricket more popular.