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.