IPL Verus Test Cricket
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Twisted
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consettsafc
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Sidharth Monga is the fella that wrote the piece, wonder if he is a part time bookmaker as well. What a load of owld shite.
He says protect it or kill it, can't argue with that.
The ICC needs to step in to protect test cricket by creating window(s) for test cricket and window(s) for domestic t20. But to do that there needs to be support for test crickets fro fans, players and administrators. Certainly outside England, and maybe Australia, that doesn't seem to be the case. It might be time to knock test cricket on the head for the sake of the future of the game (I hope not, no time for recoveries/fightbacks in 20 overs, no ebb and flow to the game)
mikemanc said:
No way that will happen, too many people care about test cricket even in the countries where attendences are shocking.
But if people aren't watching it at grounds or on tv the money will go elsewhere, test cricket will be unsustainable. You need to get all of the people who care to show they do. That's not happening.
Twisted
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couldnt give less of a fuck about the future of the game if step 1 is killing off test cricket.
This. Without test cricket, there is no game. The 2 can co-exist so that fans with the attention span of a flea have something to watch, but T20 needs to stop trying to encroach on test matches. Maybe the 50 over format needs ditching so that limited overs cricket is T20 and everything else is 4/5 day stuff.
The problem the 50 over game has is it's neither one thing nor the other, it's not a quick smack around the park, nor is it a game of tactics that takes time to pan out, one thing it always is though, is dull.
The main thing that stands out from that article is that the IPL does seem to have a very high opinion of itself. I'm not sure of the viewing figures in this country, but I can't imagine they were particularly high, I don't remember a single match thread on here at any stage of the tournament and I'd say this forum is fairly representative of a cross section of cricket watchers; tests being the be all and end all and limited overs either being something to fill up the time between tests or being of no consequence.
It's hard to say what will happen to the game, but while the Ashes urn remains a prize to be won, test cricket will live on, regardless of what the other nations choose to do with the game.
Twisted
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dont agree with that like, 50 overs stuff is far and away more intersting than t20 stuff, though for the sake of argument it does not represent one of the extremes so it is most likely to die out and most people would find that an acceptible comprise.
fans of test cricket would sooner give up 50 overs cricket than 4/5 day games and t20 fans would sooner drop 50 over cricket than t20, but im not sure there are many/any people who if they could save one format would pick 40/50 over stuff
Each to their own I guess when it comes to what you enjoy out of the shorter forms of the game.
Something has got to give before long with the way so much cricket is crammed into the year and like you say, there aren't going to be very many people fighting the corner for the 40/50 over games. The other alternative, which doesn't seem to be being discussed is the removal of all international T20 cricket, what does it offer the game that the IPL doesn't other than the need to cram more fixtures in to an already crowded schedule?
Marko
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As a Durham member I much prefer the pro40/50 overs stuff over the Twenty20. Travelling from Stockton to CLS just doesn't seem to be worthwhile for the sake of 3 hours entertainment. (Maybe if Durham were dominant in it I might have a different view.)
What I like about the Pro40's is that it last all day and you still get the excitement of power play batting and the whole economy calculations.
What I like about the Pro40's is that it last all day and you still get the excitement of power play batting and the whole economy calculations.
I agree with what you're saying (apart from 50 overs being dull), I think all 3 formats can co-exist and I enjoy watching all of them for what they are. However, if people aren't watching test cricket outside of England and Australia it will die out and we'd probably end up playing each other more often and you'd lose a lot of what it means.
And it doesn't really matter what the UK's viewing figures are for the IPL, if that's where players want to play then that's where they'll play. They are bothered about the money not who sees their face.
Thing is, if people aren't watching it, the money will dry up as the people pumping the cash in do so for the exposure it brings them. I agree that the players don't care if people are watching them or not. If viewing figures in England are low, then there's no reason why they should be particularly high anywhere else other than India. I don't have any figures to back that up, but it certainly didn't seem to be that well watched this year.
There is also only one country where there is a real desire to promote T20's importance above tests, that's India. England and Australia will never stop playing tests, South Africa aren't in any hurry to stop playing the form of the game they're best at. New Zealand maybe, but probably only because they're not very good at test cricket at the moment. Pakistan and the West Indies don't look like they're keen to and Bangladesh may soon find the decision on whether or not to continue playing tests made for them.
Good.
The problem is that the size of the market for cricket in India is massive compared to the rest of the world so it doesn't matter what the figures outside of India are (and it's certainly broadcast in every test playing country although I've no idea of viewing figures)
India used to fill grounds for MOST ODI cricket.
They reckon if Sachin calls it a day, grounds wont be anywhere near.
We'll find out soon enough
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