Wasn't the television supposed to spell the end of the movie theatre? Didn't happen. Aren't DVDs? Not that I've noticed. And iPods and MP-3s are supposed to spell the end of the CD industry, right? But I still see a lot CDs on shelves. So I can't see that the ICL, or the IPL or whatever is going to destroy Test cricket. In fact, look at what the Stanford T20's done for cricket in the Carribean.

In fact, I believe that if anything, it's the ODIs that is in greater danger of being replaced by the T20 format. That's why they introduced the PowerPlays and the SuperSub, after all- I notice that no one ever proposed similar alterations to Test cricket. Besides, I think the luke-warm reaction to the Carribean WC bears testimony to the "tiredness" of the ODI format.

And if a few regular internationals cancel their CA contracts and play for the IPL, what's the harm? Australian cricket survived the absence of our star cricketers during the Packer years, and will survive again now. And we get brought back to the field again, then from an international viewpoint that can only be a good thing. But I truly don't believe that this will happen, because if they are forced to choose one or the other, then the vast majority of regular internationals would choose to play for their country, rather than some franchise for 40 days a year.

As I said:

Cricinfo - Players will obey board - Gilchrist

Obviously everyone takes playing cricket for their country very seriously. I can't see anyone jeopardising their international careers for 14 games in India and $150,000.

Here come the rock star's

They have stared eyeball to eyeball with the Australian Cricket Board and the Australian Cricket Board has backed down.

Obviously the memory of World Series Cricket still burns brightly in James Sutherland & the ACB's thoughts.

Quote:

Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey are among the stars believed to have signed MOUs. Sutherland said Cricket Australia had no problem with the players signing binding agreements provided the terms were satisfactory.

Well Aurelius, i am not so sure how relevant this particular analogy is, but i will say that good luck trying to buy a VHS tape or LP these days.

ODI games, like 20/20's, still sell out in most countries around the world. Financial modeling has concluded that 20/20 will result in less net revenue, for a number of reasons.
Cricinfo - Twenty20 won't bring in the money - FICA
ODI's are not going anywhere

That happened for a number of reasons totally unconnected to the popularity of the game. Had that WC been held down here, or in England, the subcontinent, or even South africa, it would have been a success. This subject has been debated at length here
http://world-a-team.com/icc-world-cu...world-cup.html
if you have a spare week or two to read through it. Gives me a headache just thinking about that thread
But to summarise, the tickets were too expensive for the local fans, getting to the games was too difficult, food and drink was too expensive, the banning of horns and trumpets went down like a lead balloon, and India and Pakistan (who's coach died under mysterious circumstances) were knocked out in the group stages. It was not the popularity of ODI's (or the ICC) that was to blame.

The consequences go far deeper than that, and this i have already addressed in this thread. But i will add to it.

Firstly, i think guys like Ponting, Hussey, Lee, Clarke and Gilchrist will command far more money than $150,000. Try maybe $500,000 plus - about the equivalent of their current contracts or more. And that's just Australians.

Now when the cruch comes, how will these players feel if they are told they must forgo all that money, because the international schedule is already to hectic because they have to play against weak sides like the West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Well the players will probably want to scrap those tours so they can play IPL won't they? And also remember, C.A only make money playing against England, India and S.A (just) with the rest incurring huge losses in revenue..

Will the happy compromise be that C.A can save money by scrapping those loss-making tours, and the players make money on the IPL by the sudden freeing up of the international schedule? What do you think?

That was different. The game then needed reform. Now, it has nothing to do with the game, and everything to do with greed. Just look what greed did to rugby league in Australia with the advent of Super League. The fans left and never came back

Funny that internet is littered with articles about the first four of those players quoted complaining about the heavy international schedule, player burnout, need for rest, wanting to skip certain tours ect. Amazing how they have suddenly discovered apparently dormant reserves of energy.........

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Simply because it shows that some things survive new trends, especially when they offer something that the new trends don't. I don't think Test cricket is at risk simply because of T20s. As to the VHS, that's inferior technology compared to the DVD. Tests are not inferior to T20s- in fact, they complement each other if anything.

I didn't say that they were- I only said that I thought they were more likely to be replaced by T20s than Tests were.

Seamer, those are all excellent points. However, the fact remains that the ODI format is being revamped with innovations like the Super Sub and the PowerPlay. No such proposals have been seriosly contemplated for Tests. Obviously the organisers feel that something in the ODI format needs fixing.

I just got that figure from a ninemsn report. However the money isn't the only concern- if they're forced to play one or the other (which won't happen), the IPL only lasts for 40 days. I don't think that was quite the rest period Gilchrist had in mind.

Everything I've seen suggests that they take national duties very seriously, regardless of whether they're playing England or Bangladesh. Gilchrist has already said that national duties will come first, and I'm sure that almost all of the other players feel the same way. In fact, Lalit Modi has said that there is no expectation that the IPL will infringe on national duties.

I don't think CA has much choice about who tours. Remember that tours are laid out in the FTP, and are not decided by individual boards. Plus, as with any large international organisation, there's an element of Quid Pro Quo involved. So I doubt that CA will risk alienating other national boards by banning their tours, as they'll still need those nations when it comes to hosting rights, etc.

"Dormant" understatement

These guy's have become more active off the field lately than John Holmes overdosing on "viagra"

Steve Waugh mentioned a few years ago that there was a modern day "gold-rush" occurring with cricketer's seeking fame and fortune through sponsorship and advertising in India. He also thought that it had peaked.

Brett Lee had news for him. And he sung it in a song. And he also has another one in preparation as the "official" theme of the next "world cup"

Adam Gilchrist is no shrinking violet, he has basically turned the name "Gilly" into an iconic trademarked brand name, along the lines of Vegemite, Coca Cola, IBM, etc......Like Lee could sing anything in India, I reckon the "Gilly" brand-name could probably sell anything in India.

Andrew Symonds also has the potential to develop a niche in the Indian market. As a "bad-boy"
The type of rebel who no Indian father wants his daughter to marry, but still fascinates and charms the bad-girls like Brett Lee charms the good-girls. Symonds would be an excellent choice to sell "Harley Davidson's" into the Indian market or some kind of bad-girl lingerie/perfume.

Ponting, Clarke, Hayden and Hussey are actively trying to catch up to the other three. I suspect Hayden after his cricket career will reinvent himself as some kind of reincarnation of Gordon Ramsay perhaps with a lot of Thai/Indian/Australian fusion recipe's "curried pineapple bar-b-qued snag's" maybe. The others possibly sniffing out a big Bollywood film contract.

Time to give this thread a little update

Bond is now lost to International cricket, so we have our first casualty
Bond axed from New Zealand team after joining ICL - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Now Andrew Symonds. He has stated that he will not tour Pakistan (but will be available for IPL) this his huge pricetag. Now he is being threatened with breach of contract
Cricinfo - Symonds will be breaching contract - Ponting

Hmmmmm............

Adam Gilchrist is another. He no longer wishes to represent his country. But he does wish to represent his IPL franchise.

Now players are being denied big money to play IPL. But their is no such restrictions on playing ICL.

Two things will now happen.

The whole structure of the international setup will have to be changed to accommodate the IPL to the detriment of developing nations and the game as a whole.

Quality players will walk away from their countries and jump ship for the ICL.

Stay tuned......................

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Adam Gilchrist is 36. He would have undoubtedly retired within the next year anyhow. As it happened, he decided to go out with a bang in the IPL and make a little money to finish off with. If he was a young, up-and-coming player like Johnson or Tait or Pomersbach who retired from Australian cricket to pursue the big bucks in the IPL, then I'd be concerned. But an experienced player only a few months away from retirement in the first place? That doesn't concern me.

As for Symonds, to paraphrase Ponting he has expressed concern over the situation in Pakistan for a while now. I doubt that he would walk away from an Australian tour if they were going anywhere else (although obviously there's no way to be 100% certain).

By the way, the latest news is that Justin Langer has rejected an offer to play for Jaipur in order to play for Somerset. Clarke, Haddin and Johnson had previously withdrawn from the bidding, and not one English player signed up for it.

So far, Bond's the only one. Md. Yousuf looked like he might, but then he withdrew from the tournament. The rest of the players are either recent retirees themselves (eg. Martyn, Harris, Inzy) or fringe players who can't get a game for their countries (eg. Tino Best). I doubt that more than a very small minority of current, established players will abandon their national duties and "jump ship for the ICL." Time will tell, I guess.

The ICL will get their international players (shane bond etc) and bring crouds in the way countries have reacted to this is unreasonable and disgusting in my opininion. These players have been stopped from playing domestic cricket and the ICL has said it would release the players for international duty, yet their cricket boards will not allow it. How is this fair, when players can sign with the IPL with rival sponsors and not have any problems?
i guess soon the ICL will sue the BCCI over the right for players to represent India.

Time for another update logging the demise of cricket as we know (knew?) it.

BBC SPORT | Cricket | Indian rivals alarm English cricket

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