Conflict that the players don’t like to face: Club Cricket Vs International Cricket

The world T20 has ended and it’s time to play some Club Cricket, its IPL time. As the time passes by and as the English summer approaches, the much-talked about debate: Club Cricket Vs International Cricket will once again rise to the surface and there would be comments and recommendations from all parts of the Cricketing world about what the players should do and what they should not. It’s been six to seven years, at least by now everyone should have known that it’s extremely difficult for Club Cricket and International Cricket to co-exist together and it’s time for administrators to set this conundrum fair and square. If the players have an upcoming international duty in the middle of the league, either they terminate their participation in the league and catch up the international duty or like WI players skip the international duty altogether and continue their participation in the league. Majority of people have an opinion that national pride is at stake and players should give priority to International duty, which is right thing to do from my perspective as well, but at the same time, you have got to understand Player’s side as well and a player might say: why should I leave the league half-way if I am being paid so heavily to play,   is he wrong if he says so? Certainly not, at least if you look at the things from a player’s perspective. To settle this issue, the best thing to do is to separate Club and International Cricket and play each of them at different times of the year, but not together.

Club Cricket: Factor responsible for the evolution of T20 Cricket and its time we create a window for it in  Cricket Calender

T20 Cricket is evolving and undoubtedly Club Cricket that is being played in different parts of the World is responsible for it. T20 Cricket and Club Cricket have given a new lease of life to Cricket and presented the emerging as well as senior players a platform to showcase their talent and achieve either a breakthrough or comeback into their national sides. With T20 World cup also scheduled to be played after every four years, Cricket’s governing body should privatize the T20 format by letting Club Cricket handle it while focusing on Tests and ODI’s. By privatizing, I mean that ICC as a game’s global body should create a window for various leagues like IPL, BBL, CPL and so on. At the same time, for the well-being of Cricket and players, even the league organizers should try to make their leagues short and sweet so that they can fit into the schedule without hampering International Cricket as well. For example, IPL that is currently a 50-day long affair should be compressed to a 30-35 day event. I know that this statement is going to raise the eyebrows of many franchise owners but that is the only way going forward if we wish to balance franchise as well as International Cricket. For example, consider the case of IPL, it can be scheduled from 10 April to 10 or 15 May and with English summer mostly starting by 25 May and with predominantly no international Cricket being played elsewhere as well, such kind of window can be created which will ensure player’s full participation in IPL without affecting his international commitments as well. Also taking BBL into consideration, Cricket Australia can create a one-month window in their summer say from February 15 to March 15 in which BBL can be played and with international Cricket in South Africa and New Zealand also getting over by that time, this kind of window is certainly feasible. It’s true that Cricket is a sport which is majorly being played between two International sides and it should remain to be that way, but Club Cricket can’t be neglected or taken lightly. Over the past eight years, time and again it has brought rich dividends not only to players and administrators but also to game of Cricket as a whole. Along with monitory gains, Club Cricket provides an international stage for players all around the world to showcase their talent, get a taste of different conditions, get to know about different players. It’s a stage where you as a newcomer get a chance to play along with your idols, pick up their brains, learn from their experiences and grow yourself as a player. And for this reason, Club Cricket is wonderful for the game and its time that we give it the due respect and most importantly isolate Club and International Cricket so that players don’t have to face the conflict of choosing one over another. 

5 of the Biggest Gains of ICC world T20, 2016

The ICC World T20 2016, a tournament that started off under heavy criticism over being unfair to associates was already a huge success by the time we came to its business end. Right from hosting the tournament brilliantly, having nerve-wrecking finishes, the rise of Afghans and giving a new lease of life to World T20 event itself, the tournament and the game would not have asked for anything better. Here’s a list of 5 of the biggest gains of the tournament that the game desperately needed.

#1: The Voice for and of the Associate Nations

To have a World T20 event to be a 10-nation tournament with only 2 out of 8 associate member nations qualifying for the main event was undoubtedly unfair and cruel to these associate nations. With 2019 50-over world cup also being just an 8 nation tournament, discontent was rising among the associate nations as they stepped into this event. Washout of games and the need for the associates to play each game like a do or die match in qualifying stage led to bitter comments and raising of voices from their captains and players against the ICC regarding how difficult it is for these teams to play under these unfair conditions. Scotland captain Mommsen’s question “how could I improve my skills if I play just one international game in 1 year” was a simple but an eye-opening question that aptly described how ICC treated the associates and certainly deserved an answer. Along with their own voices, they were also ably supported by the voices of fellow cricketers and the cricket fans. Moreover, associate nations backed their voices with some brilliant, mature and exuberant performances in the qualifying stage and also in the main draw, especially by Afghanistan. Let’s hope that ICC does better in future for associate member nations and help cricket expand across its conventional boundaries.

#2: Rise of Afghanistan

To put the disappointment behind of not being qualified for Asia cup T20 that preceded the world T20 and then qualifying for the main event under such grueling conditions in qualifying stage, is itself an achievement for country like Afghanistan that has gone through lot of hardships for many years now. But, playing in a World event is not for a weakened heart and Afghanistan showed once again that they are strong and ready to take on the world. They qualified for the main draw convincingly by winning all of their three games against Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. Afghanistan, playing in their first three matches of the main draw, gave the scares to Sri Lanka, South Africa and England. Against South Africa chasing 210, Afghanistan looked on course at 105/3 in 10 overs, but unfortunately they stumbled. Again against England, Afghans had the English on the mat at 57/6, but England escaped, defeating Afghanistan just by 15 runs. And the victory that was evading Afghanistan finally came against the Windies, the team that had won all of its three previous matches. The conditions under which they won made the Afghan victory even sweeter. They showed tremendous self-belief in getting to 123 from a precarious position of 56/5 batting first and then they executed a lion-hearted effort in restricting strong West Indies batting line up to 117. They managed to hold their nerves and showed maturity as they defended just 10 runs in the last over especially with hard-hitting Carlos Braithwaite at the crease. The most important thing about Afghanistan that was even more highlighted in this World T20 is that along with hard-hitting batsmen and strong bowlers, they have also got a fearless attitude and an unprecedented passion for the game which will help them go the long way at a much faster than all other associates. Players like Mohammed Shahzad, Mohammed Nabi and skipper Asghar Stanikzai brought a breath of fresh air that the tournament desperately needed.

Afghanistan: An Emerging nation in cricket

#3: Fair Contest between bat & ball

Cricket is a contest between bat and a ball, right? Or it is expected to be that way. But, what we saw in 2015 Cricket world cup down under was hilarious for the game. Batting paradises, 5 fielders inside the 30-yard circle led to many instances where batting totals swelled out of proportions quite frequently than they used to be and bowlers looked clueless about what to do, especially in death overs back then. So, to see bowlers being given a fair chance was a refreshing change that we came across this World T20. The pitches in Nagpur, Delhi and Dharamshala were quite conducive for bowling that helped the bowlers and batsmen weren’t given any unfair advantage. Moreover, bowlers from almost all the teams did their homework quite well, tried new variations and restricted the batting teams to modest totals. The Yorkers that seemed to be forgotten off-late got a new lease of life as bowlers used it quite effectively to choke the batsmen in death overs. Overall, it was quite exciting to see bowlers dictating their terms and as a cricket fan, it was enjoyable to see a fair contest between bat and a ball rather than seeing a contest between two batting units. The bowlers deserve the credit and the credit also goes to pitch curators who produced sporting wickets, except the one in Mumbai which was a belter of a wicket.

#4: Revival of World T20

The tournament’s history dates back to Sep 11, 2007, when the inaugural match of the inaugural World T20 was played between West Indies and South Africa at Johannesburg and the cricketing world was taken aback by the whirlwind Gayle storm. T20 was relative new then and no one knew nothing about it, an experiment worth gambling. But, that tournament was unexpectedly a huge success, a format that caught the imagination of youth and people then started to take T20 seriously. But as the time passed by, the tournament started to lose its charm, the aura that surrounded it when it was first played and the world T20’s hosted by England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh failed to promote the fate of T20 internationals. By the time the event was played in Bangladesh in 2014, it seemed that the tournament is missing its x-factor, but this world T20, the way it has been played, has changed it all. A fair contest between bat and ball, some fabulous individual performances, nail-biting finishes, tough competition between teams to qualify for semis, good quality cricket and a huge crowd support has certainly revived the fortunes of World T20. Almost each and every match went down to the wire and the edge of the seat thrilling contests have been an exhibition not only to T20 format but to the game of cricket as a whole.

#5: Calypso Kings The West Indies, can this victory lead to their revival?

West Indies need 19 off the last over in the final, Carlos Braithwaite is on strike and at the other end is Samuels, Stokes has a ball in his hand, 6,6,6,6 and its West Indies, the champions of World T20, 2016. The West Indies victory was the perfect icing on the cake for what was a fabulous World T20. But the question remains, can this victory revive the fortunes of WI cricket? Or will it be forgotten as the time passes by? Same thing happened four years earlier when they won in Sri Lanka in 2012, but it didn’t change the fortune of cricket in West Indies. When will the dispute between the board and its players end? Can the board and their players be on the same page? Well these questions are difficult to answer at the moment, but nonetheless due to this World T20, at least all their team got together and played with full potential. Gayle was back, so were Badree, Benn, Bravo. Darren Sammy is not a Clive Lloyd and this victory is not going to revive the things in fortnight, but yes, this victory gives the people back in the Caribbean the hope, the hope that WI cricket will be revived and the feeling that WI can play back to its full potential even in Tests and ODI’s. This victory will also push the WI cricket board to think about resolving the issues with the players and the policies about them. This victory will certainly inspire the budding cricketers in WI to take the game seriously and who knows, keep your fingers crossed, if everything works out well, we can get a good West Indies team playing at its full potential across all the three formats in near future. 

We're the Champions: West Indies win ICC World T20, 2016