India, Australia, England attempt to take control of Cricket

[Furball]

Thanks - another good argument for day-night tests I guess

Kind of.

Ultimately the reason why Test cricket will remain a niche sport is because it's pretty unwatchable in terms of timescales.

Even a dramatically stripped down T20 game takes 3 hours to play.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Why ? So that Indians can follow test cricket on cricinfo and in-between chores at evening time as well ?

Yes, because human beings can only do one thing at once.

And the laws of Test cricket state that once you start watching, you have to watch the whole 6 hours without getting up from the couch.

 

[straw man]

Kind of.

Ultimately the reason why Test cricket will remain a niche sport is because it's pretty unwatchable in terms of timescales.

Even a dramatically stripped down T20 game takes 3 hours to play.

Yes I hear people bemoan how boring, slow and drawn-out even T20 is, especially compared to most football codes that are completed in half the time. It's just the nature of cricket.

Clearly what you say is true and yes, the test format will indeed always be niche. That's fine though - there's plenty of room in the world for niche pursuits - and the trend due to the internet and other elements of Globalisation is that niche things become more viable rather than less. To state the obvious, the internet has been massive in allowing people to passively keep track of what's happening in a match, and also places like this forum ensure we aren't all isolated in our niche interest. Hence I mention day-night tests too - it's a lot easier for new or existing fans to become engaged and stay engaged with a test match if you can keep appraised of a match situation through radio/internet during the afternoon while at work, and then go home and watch a bit. Or vice versa - if you follow cricket less closely then in the evening you find a match on tv that you didn't know was happening and as a result decide to keep track of what happens the next day.

 

[Muloghonto]

Canada is part of North America you cretin.

Naming some good players who aren't from that continent is irrelevant, the point is they have more good players than any other nation, couldn't be further from the case with India. Cricket in India sucks to watch too, you barely have any fast bowlers ffs. Pakistan has a better history than India in cricket.

The IPL would suck so much if it was just Indians playing.

Btw I totally agree on T20s being more convenient for a lot of people, its definitely the case for me. Its not a good enough reason to stop playing test cricket though, lol.

I certainly don't find cricket in India to suck for watching, given that cricket is pretty interesting to watch for me versus an all spin attack too. Certainly it is a far bigger test of skill in my opinion to watch the batsmen, close in fielders & keeper on spinner's paradises than seaming paradises.

Canada may be a part of North America but my point was, you are incorrect to say that most good hockey players are from north america. In terms of the 'meat and potatoes honest worker' players, yes, North America has more but in terms of skilled top end hocjey players, its actually probably 60-40 in favour of the Europeans.

And yes, T20 being more convinient to watch for the spectators is good enough reason to give it more precedence over test cricket. The objective of cricket is to gain spectator appeal. That which is more convinient to watch is by default, winning the race of greater spectator appeal.

 

[Muloghonto]

Yes I hear people bemoan how boring, slow and drawn-out even T20 is, especially compared to most football codes that are completed in half the time. It's just the nature of cricket.

Clearly what you say is true and yes, the test format will indeed always be niche. That's fine though - there's plenty of room in the world for niche pursuits - and the trend due to the internet and other elements of Globalisation is that niche things become more viable rather than less. To state the obvious, the internet has been massive in allowing people to passively keep track of what's happening in a match, and also places like this forum ensure we aren't all isolated in our niche interest. Hence I mention day-night tests too - it's a lot easier for new or existing fans to become engaged and stay engaged with a test match if you can keep appraised of a match situation through radio/internet during the afternoon while at work, and then go home and watch a bit. Or vice versa - if you follow cricket less closely then in the evening you find a match on tv that you didn't know was happening and as a result decide to keep track of what happens the next day.

If you concede that Test cricket is a nitche persuit compared to T20 cricket, especially in terms of the POV of spectators, then logic follows to, that Test cricket should be afforded a nitche part of the calendar. Not the lion's share of it, as is prevailing with the current setup.

 

[NasserFan207]

If you concede that Test cricket is a nitche persuit compared to T20 cricket, especially in terms of the POV of spectators, then logic follows to, that Test cricket should be afforded a nitche part of the calendar. Not the lion's share of it, as is prevailing with the current setup.

Its already a niche part of the calendar, depending on the nation. Cricket nations where tests aren't as popular play less tests than the ones where tests are popular, so what exactly is the problem. Bangladesh and the west indies don't have to play the ashes anytime soon.

 

[cricketrulez]

The Island - Home

BCCI is ruining World Cricket – Arjuna

So wouldn't International cricket benefit from not having india's input(both participation and financial) ?

 

[Shri]

The Island - Home

BCCI is ruining World Cricket – Arjuna

So wouldn't International cricket benefit from not having india's input(both participation and financial) ?

No. It needs as many nations as possible to survive.

 

[cricketrulez]

No. It needs as many nations as possible to survive.

Oh come on, whats is wrong with one trouble maker leaving, in particular if he/it is ruining it for everyone?

 

[Shri]

Uh. Cbf.

 

[cricketrulez]

Uh. Cbf.

Cbf?

 

[Adders]

So wouldn't International cricket benefit from not having india's input(both participation and financial) ?

No, absolutely not.......

We all (well most of us) accept that the BCCI's financial influence and control is not healthy for the game, but you will never convince me that cricket would be a better sport without the talent that India has provided and will do so in the future.

Kicking India out out of International cricket is an absurd suggestion........reign in the BCCI, yes absolutely, but we need India playing.

 

[Adders]

Cbf?

Google it.

 

[uvelocity]

cbf

 

[swede]

Yes I hear people bemoan how boring, slow and drawn-out even T20 is, especially compared to most football codes that are completed in half the time. It's just the nature of cricket.

Clearly what you say is true and yes, the test format will indeed always be niche. That's fine though - there's plenty of room in the world for niche pursuits - and the trend due to the internet and other elements of Globalisation is that niche things become more viable rather than less. To state the obvious, the internet has been massive in allowing people to passively keep track of what's happening in a match, and also places like this forum ensure we aren't all isolated in our niche interest. Hence I mention day-night tests too - it's a lot easier for new or existing fans to become engaged and stay engaged with a test match if you can keep appraised of a match situation through radio/internet during the afternoon while at work, and then go home and watch a bit. Or vice versa - if you follow cricket less closely then in the evening you find a match on tv that you didn't know was happening and as a result decide to keep track of what happens the next day.

Quite a lot of test cricket is not scheduled all that different to football. In the UK, mega-billion premier league football typically schedule 3 matches in a row on saturday/sunday afternoons covering almost exactly the same time frame used for half a test match. Thats plenty of cricket. How many actually watch every single ball of a test? Probably not many. Its followed more than its watched and thats increasingy likely for all sport but brings unique opportunities for cricket.as it goes on for long periods and can increasingly be followed by various new media. Other sports simply cant offer ,say 20 minute highlights of the days play on tablets for the train ride home etc.

I predict a great future for test cricket. Australia just doubled their rights deal, and England are also expecting a serious increase in their deal. It dwarfs the IPL and the money is made primarily by test cricket.

 

[harsh.ag]

Okay. Financial tyranny rears its head in every walk of life, especially where one organization has a large market share. The proper way to fight this is usually antitrust law, especially providing an industry environment for growth of small new players. BUT there is one major condition. The new players on the market must always have the ability to get the support and demand of the existing market base, and/or create a large new customer base. And the only way to do this in cricket is if foreign teams (especially new ones) can somehow appeal to the Indian audience. Every international team should be looking to woo the Indian fan base in some way or the other. Provide some free tickets, or give discounts in a holiday package, or wooing Indian domestic players to come and play in their leagues, even going to the extent of granting them citizenship. Could be interesting.

 

[uvelocity]

i watch every ball of non work/cricket day test match play during our summer as a general rule

 

[swede]

Three more articles:
Russell Degnan: Cashing out the future of cricket | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo - same author as the Idle Summers blog someone posted earlier.

ICC news : Ehsan Mani slams 'Big Three' proposal | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo


It's amazing just how naked the cynicism is, whether we're talking this new proposal or the burying of the Woolf report.

Sharda Ugra on the big three cricket boards | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo



This thread is mostly going round in circles now. Last couple of thoughts:
- I'm not completely opposed to the IPL becoming the global domestic+ T20 tournament and having a window in the international calendar. However the BCCI must pay a very significant sum for that privilege - not just the 10% fee paid to each national board for each of that board's players contracted - should be a large flat fee and preferably a % of the gross, not that you could trust the BCCI to report that accurately. And secondly the window must be very firmly fixed at no more than 7 or 8 weeks. Really I have no confidence that the ICC would hold the line on that; it would soon be 10 weeks... then three months etc.
- Posters that live in India; if the main demographic trend in India in the last decade or two and into the future is the emergence of a large middle class, are there signs that test cricket is more popular amongst this group than the general populace?
- It's a shame afaics there are no controls on the BCCI within India - now would be a great time for Srinivasan to be implicated in another scandal or possibly even charged with something that could be made to stick.

An IPL-window would be great. And I dont really see a need for them to pay much for it. Its not that the IPL has all that much money and a window would be good for cricket.in all kinds of ways.


-Top players from smaller nations would get a good extra income, which is important for the standing of the sport in those countries.
-A window would create a global season which creates context for test cricket. Teams would likely begin to be compared over the period between IPL´s.
-With test increasingly played back-to-back, even an extended IPL would effectively not take much time away from other form. If a 3-week 3-test series is scheduled right beforet the IPL begins, well the players would have needed a break anyway., and the IPL isnt exactly hard work.
- in a power game, its good to give something you have the power to take away.

A two month IPL would probably be best. Anything up to three months acceptable.. It should not stray into february or june.

 

[wrongun]

Its irrelevant, the NHL rules not because North America has the best hockey players, it rules because it has the biggest fan-base and hockey market. Regardless, North America does NOT have the best hockey players. Canada has the best hockey team but then again, demographic and Canadian involvement in hockey is far greater than any nation except Russia. Russians have just as good hockey players, except they fail to function as a team.

FYI, the person to've won the league MVP the most number of times in the last 20 years, is Ovechkin. A russian. He is also the guy to've won most scoring titles in the league in the last 20 years.
The person with the most points in the NHL active today is Jaromir Jagr- a Checz.
The person voted the most valuable defencemen in league history is Niklas Lidstrom, a Swede.
The person to've won the most Vezina trophy- the top goaltenders award in NHL for the last 30 years is one Dominik Hasek, also a Checz.
So much for your theory of 'NA has the best hockey players'.

Maybe I am reading this incorrectly....but the NHL certainly does not rule North America....it is the most popular sport in the Canada but a distant 4th or 5th in terms of popularity, viewership and overall consumption in the United States. So the NHL would be a very bad example to cite....Also the NHL has had the worst labour peace amongst any of the major leagues, with 3-4 labour stoppages and lockouts in the last 10 years. Garry Bettman (the NHL commissioner) is one of the worst in all of sports. He is a puppet for all the owners...almost like the ICC.

Your comparison of Cricket to North American sports is a failure of sorts due to the different nature/structure of the sports in question. North American sports are mostly geared to be quick and conclusive unlike Cricket, where the sport really needs to be played out over 4-5 days in order to find a real winner or to declare a draw. I get that T20 is gaining in popularity and I am not entirely averse to it....but just because the world makes it seem that everything needs to be rushed; does not necessarily mean we apply the same rules to cricket. The problem is not that there is no market for Test Cricket...the larger problem is that the ICC is usless in terms of coming up with good structure and that there is hardly any competition between the major teams....Test Cricket in India would thrive if we had an Indo- Pak series once in atleast 3 years. West Indies too have had a pathetic board along with Pakistan and this lack of quality has translated into poor quality of cricket....that is truly what has turned off a lot of fans.

T20 is a fun version and should be promoted further especially in markets like North America....but at no point should its completely replace Test Cricket or dominate the calendar. Cricket by design is a sport of skill, stamina (mental and physical) and patience and needs time to tell its story.

 

[Shri]

I predict a great future for test cricket. Australia just doubled their rights deal, and England are also expecting a serious increase in their deal. It dwarfs the IPL and the money is made primarily by test cricket.

Doubt that. Would like to look at those numbers.