Chappell fears Aussie power

[Beny]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...E11088,00.html

Very interesting article... Well I dont agree but what do you guys think?

[Occasional Fan]

Well, yes and no. The sponsors are not going to desert a winning team, that's for sure. Neither will the TV companies. So Australia's funding from those sources is secure. This bit's a bit controversial though:

Originally Posted by Herald Sun

With no end in sight to Australia's winning surge, Chappell suggested Cricket Australia could play a key role in helping struggling rival countries narrow the gap by organising more second-tier or A-level matches.

The suggestion is honourable and I would agree with it. All the top-tier teams talk about wanting to spread the game to non-playing nations and to raise standards where that is needed. On this board we regularly see comments about the need to help out Bangladesh, Kenya and Zimbabwe. In my view, having them play occasional tests against the high-fliers and a World Cup and ICCCT once every four years just isn't going to help. Something has to fill in the gaps, and second-tier tours might help. As might tours in which mixed teams play For example, what's to stop Australia A going to Bangladesh for a couple of months, playing, say, two traditional games Aus A v Bangladesh and a short series of Reds v Whites where each team contains a mix of Aussies and Bangladeshis? I confess I haven't thought this one through in any detail, but it seems to me that the development of the game is crying out for some creative ideas - certainly the present system isn't working well or fast enough. Australia has more talent within its shores than most other test nations, and it would be great if they would lead the way.

The controversial bit of the quotation, of course, comes in the first nine words. The next Ashes series is only eight months away - hardly out of sight.

[Zainub]

I'll agree in principle with Occasional Fan here. More matches between an Aus A side and so called minnow countries would be benefitial for everyone. We've talked about so many times about a possible second tier, and we will continue to do so, my only question is if we, the fans, and ex players like Chappel etc are the only ones with these ideas or is the ICC contemplating on these too? They must have something in mind, after all I think it's one of their principle aims as the world governing body of cricket to ensure the intergrity of the game, promote and globalize it. Surely, they must be thinking on these lines. But I haven't heard any official statements as such.

I am though not entirely convinced about Chapel and May's concerns of other teams going backwards. England have made some noticible progress. Pakistan are moving forward as well. Sri Lanka have not disgraced them selves either in recent times, even away from home, they managed to secure 2 draws in Australia, and I thought that was a comendable effort. India despite their poor showing recently have managed to beat SA just moment ago, and all is not bad for them either. NZ are still a force on home soil, so are SA and to lesser extent WI. The later half of the teams are generally struggling away from home, but still doing rather favorably on home soil . WI are in my opinion in the worst situation now because of the dispute between the players and the board there. But its rather negative thing to say that some countries are "going backwards".

Lastly sponsors might get "bored" but I doubt the fans will, especially when some thing like 50% of them are based in the sub continent. People here are very passionate about this sport, and will follow their teams no matter how badly they are playing, take the exmple of Bangladash here who can still produce full houses for games when their team has won only 1 one-day in 4 years and no tests at all. Don't know what the fan feeling is amongst the other countries, popular beliefe is that interest in cricket is declining in the WI, with more people now interested in football, but I doubt any sport can take over from cricket as the largest most followed one in Asia.