Hi Adam, Geoff Thanks for these excellent podcasts. A few thoughts of mine on conserving the red ball game, on which I'd like to get your views. I've always seen myself as a traditionalist - to me, cricket is a game where you bowl a side out twice for fewer runs, to win the match. Conserving the red-ball game is paramount. But that needn't necessarily be the same as conserving international cricket. We need to separate out these two things. Red ball game can be conserved even with the franchise model. Imagine a "test" match between Mumbai Indians and Sydney Sixers at the MCG with 6 overseas players in each side! A more appetizing prospect than a West Indies - Sri Lanka test match at Galle! International cricket is messy. For reasons that are hard to deny. The key issue with the international game is the lop-sided character of it, where one nation has a billion people and all other nations are barely a few tens of millions. This makes for unequal contests, talent crunches in smaller nations like the Caribbean, and a near-impossibility to satiate ambitions for Indian cricketers who find it impossible to make it to the test / ODI / T20I team. (ask Sanju Samson) Franchise cricket makes for better contests, more opportunities for cricketers of all lands (think Rashid Khan) , more competitiveness in the sport. But it would be a shame if Franchise cricket is all about T20. We should work towards a model where you have a red ball league. Maybe 4-day "tests". Play it under lights. Don;t get bogged down by the problems of the pink ball or dew. Of course the valuations won't be as great as the IPL. But not everything needs to be about money. Franchises hopefully will come around to the idea of red ball matches, which will enrich our game. International cricket can continue at the margins involving India, Aus, Eng (w.r.t. test matches) and maybe a couple more w.r.t. ODI/T20I cricket. But the red ball game should and can thrive even in a world of franchises.
Thanks for a very thoughtful interview.
33:30 - BCCI or Indian Cricket questions begin
You guys are doing a great job. The best cricket podcast!!
Hi Adam, Geoff
Thanks for these excellent podcasts.
A few thoughts of mine on conserving the red ball game, on which I'd like to get your views. I've always seen myself as a traditionalist - to me, cricket is a game where you bowl a side out twice for fewer runs, to win the match. Conserving the red-ball game is paramount. But that needn't necessarily be the same as conserving international cricket. We need to separate out these two things.
Red ball game can be conserved even with the franchise model. Imagine a "test" match between Mumbai Indians and Sydney Sixers at the MCG with 6 overseas players in each side! A more appetizing prospect than a West Indies - Sri Lanka test match at Galle!
International cricket is messy. For reasons that are hard to deny. The key issue with the international game is the lop-sided character of it, where one nation has a billion people and all other nations are barely a few tens of millions. This makes for unequal contests, talent crunches in smaller nations like the Caribbean, and a near-impossibility to satiate ambitions for Indian cricketers who find it impossible to make it to the test / ODI / T20I team. (ask Sanju Samson)
Franchise cricket makes for better contests, more opportunities for cricketers of all lands (think Rashid Khan) , more competitiveness in the sport. But it would be a shame if Franchise cricket is all about T20.
We should work towards a model where you have a red ball league. Maybe 4-day "tests". Play it under lights. Don;t get bogged down by the problems of the pink ball or dew.
Of course the valuations won't be as great as the IPL. But not everything needs to be about money. Franchises hopefully will come around to the idea of red ball matches, which will enrich our game.
International cricket can continue at the margins involving India, Aus, Eng (w.r.t. test matches) and maybe a couple more w.r.t. ODI/T20I cricket. But the red ball game should and can thrive even in a world of franchises.
excellent suggestions mate! I would love to see Geoff and Adam discuss these points in one of their pods.