The mushrooming of leagues, together with the most recent providing of SAT20 and ILT20, is placing plenty of stress on the ICC‘s Future Tours Programme (FTP), resulting in an “alarming disparity” within the variety of matches performed by a minority of member nations which is neither “equitable nor sustainable”, it added.
While the Big Three — India, Australia and England — get the lion’s share of worldwide assignments, smaller Test-playing nations corresponding to Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, amongst others, get a uncooked deal due to the extraordinarily tight FTP.
MCC mentioned the aim of the assembly held in Dubai, “was to examine how international cricket can be protected, amidst a global cricketing schedule that is increasingly filled with short-form franchise tournaments”, and “what global cricket might look like in 10 years’ time should it be left to evolve organically”.
“The men’s cricket schedule in 2023 is saturated with franchise competitions, which overlay and compete with the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) of bilateral international cricket, recently released until 2027. The only gap in the combined schedules this year is in October and November, when the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup takes place in India,” MCC mentioned in a press release on Friday.
(AI picture)
“This trend is repeated annually, with constant overlap between international and franchise cricket, and the only clear air created for ICC Global tournaments. Of the domestic tournaments, only the Indian Premier League commands anything like a window to avoid international clashes.
“Also notable within the new males’s FTP is an alarming and rising disparity within the quantity of worldwide cricket performed by a minority of member nations in comparison with others; a state of affairs which is clearly neither equitable nor sustainable.”
The MCC said that while the global game had never been in a “more healthy place”, it added that the financial windfall should percolated to every single ICC member nation.
“The committee felt strongly that the chance to raised steadiness the worldwide economics of the sport should be seized now in order that this present place of energy can assist safe the sustainability of the worldwide sport for all ICC Member nations and future generations.”
ICC Women’s FTP is very clean: MCC
The MCC lauded the ICC Women’s FTP but also urged boards to take learnings from men’s game to make international cricket more sustainable for players amid rise of T20 leagues.
“Unlike the boys’s model, the not too long ago launched first model of the ICC Women’s FTP till 2025 seems very clear and presents no overlapping of worldwide and home leagues,” it said.
“However, the (MCC’s) WCC (World Cricket Committee) urges boards to work collectively to search out the optimum steadiness between the 2, taking learnings from the boys’s congested schedule, to make sure that the general workload for the sport’s greatest worldwide feminine cricketers is sustainable.
“With women already seeing a heightened disparity of income in some countries between the franchise leagues and international cricket (versus men), and the consequential choices some are beginning to make to step away from international cricket, there are worrying signs of potential trends to come.”
(AI picture)
Imperative to discover a steadiness: Ganguly
Former India captain and WCC member Sourav Ganguly mentioned it’s crucial to discover a steadiness between franchise cricket and the head of the sport — Tests.
“I still believe that Test cricket is the biggest platform for cricket. That is where you find the great players, and that is why it is called a Test. It is a test of skill.
“That ought to all the time proceed to be the head and I’m certain that international locations will give significance to it and discover the appropriate steadiness between franchise cricket and Test cricket,” said Ganguly.
Former Australia men’s head coach Justin Langer said the pride of playing for the country and landmarks achieved in international cricket are immeasurable, and that’s the reason Test cricket should be protected.
“The distinction between worldwide cricket and home T20 cricket is that the entire nation cares when their nation is concerned. The greatest gamers’ statistics are measured at worldwide stage: everybody is aware of that (Sachin) Tendulkar scored 100 worldwide centuries and that Muralitharan took 800 Test wickets.
“We need to protect the integrity of Test cricket, and international cricket in general. It is how great careers are judged and it is where true passion and lasting memories are generated.”
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com