Time for cricket to split?

[Smudge]

With the thinning of county cricket, you might even get an NZ Wisden cricketer of the Year!!!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here - particularly with Bond buggering off to ICL...

 

[Langeveldt]

If Husband and wife cant live together, they are better off getting divorced, Children do suffer but it is in the best interest of everyone.

IMO Same should happen to Cricket as well. Obviously there are two school of crickets and one is the Aussie/England way which is followed in Non-Asian countries and the other is subcontinent way. I guess time has come that the cricket world spilt into two groups, one block would have England, Australia, SA, NZ, WI and Zimbabwe the other will have India, Pakistan, SL and Bangladesh. I couldn't care less if it made cricket any poor, Although I dont think it will make following cricket any more painful that it has been in last few weeks.

That said, it will never happen. For all the talk about Indians/Ausssies being racist/abusive and all that, the prime factor that drives cricketing world today is MONEY and a split would drastically reduce the earning potentials of almost everyone involved at any level. And needless to say that no one is willing to part with that. Take for example IPL, Symonds has already signed up for it and Harbhajan is almost a certainty. Tomorrow if Symonds and Harbhajan/Sreesanth were made to play for the same team in IPL, they will just be too happy to play together and make us look like fools.

This whole thing has been a big farce and nothing more than the childish bickering from both sides. As usual Indian media/BCCI has over-reacted and tried its usual arm-twisting . Had India won the Melbourne test, India couldn't have cared less about umpiring or Bhajji's ban.

I dont understand why it is so difficult to understand for some people that Racism should have no place in any sport or for that matter any part of life. We are the first ones to play the victims of racism and also the first ones to defend our players for hurling racial taunts.

Bhajji is definately guilty here and he should have been thrown out of the tour. I have no sympathy for people who cant control their emotions even more so when they are representing their country. IMO they do not deserve to play for their country.

As the leader of the team Anil Kumble should have been punished too and Tendulkar should have been cautioned for his support to Harbhajan.

Top post

 

[Pratters]

Cricket has seen far worse in Bodyline and cricket didn't split back then. So I don't see why we would have a split in cricket now. The cricket administrators aren't stupid fools and they know that the audience which international cricket has is not easy to get or develop. It has been developed through years of rivarly and fans. Do the television companies or adminstrators really want to part with the money they get from the international tours? Not really.

What me might see is more international players playing in other domestic tournaments, whatever name(s) you give it. For instance, Shane Bond is playing in the IPL. So instead of looking at a splt along cultutal lines, you are looking at players playing more than ever before for domestic teams. It will be very interesting how IPL shapes up this year. Chances are, it will be very big. So we might have parallel systems of international and domestic structures running with some players playing both, others playing in one of the two. Tim May had said a month earlier how Cricket Australia should relax it's norms and players should be free to play from whomever they want without restriction.

Cricket wont split along the line of nations in a subcontinent v rest of the world way. We can see tensions and even short term threatenings, boycotts at times but long term, India will play England for instance for a long, long time.

 

[vic_orthdox]

IPL or ICL, Pratyush?

 

[Matt79]

I actually don't think Bodyline was worse, in terms of controversy and damage to the 'fabric' of the game, than what we've seen in the last few years. The suspicion from both teams and their supporters that their opponents has contempt for them, plus the fact that neither side has any faith in the ICC to administer things fairly, is a pretty damaging situation.

Plus back then everyone had the luxury of a bit more space. There were television replays of Oldfield getting clocked in the head being shown in everyone's house 50 times. The cables from the ACB to the MCC and back took a whole day to get there and back. Things didn't spiral out of control as fast.

Moreover, the two sides in that controversy basically had a huge deal of affection for each other and many other linkages between them that meant that an open falling out wasn't an option. I don't think that's really the case between the two factions now - obviously there is a lot of affection between Australia and India in lots of aspects, and there are important trade links etc, but its nothing like the connection between Australia and "Mother England" back pre-WWII.

 

[Pratters]

IPL or ICL, Pratyush?

IPL of BCCI. ICL was a rebel league.

 

[vic_orthdox]

IPL of BCCI. ICL was a rebel league.

Yeh, isn't Bond in the rebel league, hence he can't play for NZ again?

 

[Pratters]

I actually don't think Bodyline was worse, in terms of controversy and damage to the 'fabric' of the game, than what we've seen in the last few years. The suspicion from both teams and their supporters that their opponents has contempt for them, plus the fact that neither side has any faith in the ICC to administer things fairly, is a pretty damaging situation.

Plus back then everyone had the luxury of a bit more space. There were television replays of Oldfield getting clocked in the head being shown in everyone's house 50 times. The cables from the ACB to the MCC and back took a whole day to get there and back. Things didn't spiral out of control as fast.

Moreover, the two sides in that controversy basically had a huge deal of affection for each other and many other linkages between them that meant that an open falling out wasn't an option. I don't think that's really the case between the two factions now - obviously there is a lot of affection between Australia and India in lots of aspects, and there are important trade links etc, but its nothing like the connection between Australia and "Mother England" back pre-WWII.

Australia and India have cricketing links for so many years, England and India have cricket links from 1932. Cricket links have been forged between nations over generations and while one tour might be boycotted or abandoned, cricket links don't end long term so easily. There is an India-Australia rivalry and money to be milked out of it. Some reports said that Australia would lose 50 million US dollars if India decided/decides to come back. So long term, there is a LOT of money to be gained and lost depending on cricketing links.

Regarding Ashes not being much bigger, it was very much bigger in the sense that it threatened to end the cricket relations between the two countries on a much more permanent scale. There was more space and no factions like there are now. That doesn't mean that two nations may not stop playing each other - India and Pakistan, people not playing South Africa during apartheid. Australia and England not playing each other back then would have been a split right down the middle of the very fabric of cricket.

 

[Pratters]

Yeh, isn't Bond in the rebel league, hence he can't play for NZ again?

Oh right. Don't know why I thought he signed for the IPL. Didn't make sense for me to think that either as I clearly read he can't play for New Zealand cos of this decision.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Oh right. Don't know why I thought he signed for the IPL. Didn't make sense for me to think that either as I clearly read he can't play for New Zealand cos of this decision.

I think NZ were trying to set up something with the IPL so that they could afford to keep him after the offer from ICL came in. Obviously didn't come to the fore.

 

[Jono]

Fair enough. I take that back. Was thinking exclusively in Test cricket terms. If say Michael Vaughan, Chris Gayle or Brendan McCullum were given out in the same way as Dravid, I couldn't see there being anywhere near such an extreme reaction.

Umm football/soccer riots and the fact that EPL clubs have 'firms' which kick the **** out of each other?

Different sport, same ****.

 

[silentstriker]

Oh right. Don't know why I thought he signed for the IPL. Didn't make sense for me to think that either as I clearly read he can't play for New Zealand cos of this decision.

I think NZ were trying to set up something with the IPL so that they could afford to keep him after the offer from ICL came in. Obviously didn't come to the fore.

Yea, ICL was reportedly paying $800,000 and IPL $250,000. That's a big difference to make up for a cricket board that's not particularly wealthy.

 

[Richard]

A better comparison is soccer in England. How does that work over there? I've no idea, so just wondering. I can't imagine it being that bad (in terms of eggs on houses and such)?

Not eggs on houses, but seriously bad violence over football matches, while not common as such, is certainly far more common than it should be. At both international and club level.

And these people, too, are not even true fans of the game of football, merely people looking to make as much fuss about whatever they can find an excuse to make fuss over.

And it'd annoy the heck out of me if people started stereotyping all British football genuine-fans as this type. Which some people have done.

And even this, I highly doubt it's a true comparison. Every time I think of the difference between the populations of Britian and India\Pakistan it boggles my mind. I wouldn't think the number who "follow" (as louts or as fans) football in the UK is close to that which "follow" it in India and Pakistan.

Maybe Australia is a better comparision than England! In Australia cricket is the main summer sport and hugely followed. Per head of population Cricket support levels would match the subcontinent.

Not even remotely close.

 

[shortpitched713]

Because if you count total population, India would get like 95% of the money, even more than they make.

What rubbish. You guys are by no means that much of a juggernaut, not even close.