West Indies tour: Test cricket's 2nd 20/20 casualty

[Rik E Boy]

OK, maybe Gilly and a few other blokes were getting a bit long in the tooth and that the IPL/ICL is merely a cricketer's superannuation fund but what about the West Indies board allowing Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Gayle to miss the first two TESTS to play ******* twenty twenty cricket.

The West Indies board can't be blamed...what choice to they have? They simply do not have the resources available to prevent their top players from chasing the Rupees on offer on the subcontinent.

Already the West Indies series is but a shadow of what we could have expected over a decade a go. What was once the heavyweight championship of test cricket is now a mere sideshow. The West Indies test program has been shortened and now their three top players won't be playing in the first two tests. It will be a massacre that will ensure that crowds remain low and that will cost the West Indies board the very funds they need to fight the 20/20 menace.

In twenty years I predict that New Zealand and West Indies will no longer play Test Cricket as they simply will not be able to afford to do so. Twenty twenty will destroy the game of cricket, mark my words.

**** INDIA. **** 20/20. BOYCOTT THE 5HIT NEXT YEAR.

regards,

REB

[mal]

Simple solution
Play for your country
If your unavailable becoz your $$$ hungry playing 20/20 then ban those players.


This 20/20 $$$ hungry bonanza is a kick the guts for people like REB /BOONEY/MAL
who played for the love of the game and not for a brass razoo in our careers.

When players defected to Kerry Packers league, cricketers were virtual paupers
The $$$ was peanuts to riches for those players, hence the revolution.
This Indian comp has some very very rich cricketers trying to catch up to Bill Gates for $$$.
Tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo greedy
________________________________________________________________________________

How many of these cricketers would go over if they were getting paid Pura Cup cricketers wages ?
_________________________________________________________________________________

Im with REB
20/20 is has the potential to ruin traditional cricket

I enjoy watching the actual on field spectacle
But Im not enjoying the potential ramifications

PS : REB...I think BOYCOTT is too old and does not score quickly enough to play 20/20 cricket.

[saintal]

Agree 100% REB.

20/20 is BS.

[evans01]

20/20 is well and truelly a nail in the coffin of test cricket, like it or loath it punters like results and they like em fast, 20/20 does represent everything test cricket isnt...

personally i hate it, nicknames on shirts, talking to the players blah blah blah
its just americanised crap...............and it will also be the death of alot of quality players, never again will the game produce greats it will only produce the explosive style of player that tend to be very hot and cold...............

20/20 = sad day for cricket but it has to be said the world is a changing place and to keep up cricket must introduce major changes to maintain its place in the world of sport.

[mal]

I cant believe the INDIAN officials have allowed Cameron White to play in a Pura Cup final.....

[locky801]

Said in another thread somewhere that 20/20 would wreck test cricket, looks like it is about to start

[spell_check]

Yes, well I have heard comments from India along the lines of "If Packers cricket was good for the game, then this will be good for the game too", while people like REB and others on here knew what was coming and what will eventuate. The players get good pay as it is (at least ours do) All this as you can see, what the players want, is that they don't want to work or do anything of the sort after retiring and probably so their children can have a huge inheritance.

[Hondo]

The ICC are having a Board meeting today & yesterday. Surprise, surprise one of the topics for discussion:

India Premier League

A discussion will take place relating to issues surrounding the India Premier League Twenty20 tournament as well as the India Cricket League and the proposed Champions Twenty20 event.

My tip is that the ICC will, in future, schedule around the IPL to avoid clashes. This shouldn't be too hard its only a 7 week tournament - ICC sanctioned.

NZ and the WI are very vulnerable to IPL or ICL as REB says because their players aren't paid the same as the Australians. So if the IPL can supplement their earnings but still leave them free to play for the Country then it should be OK and, in fact, might prolong some careers. For Test cricket to die, all countries have to let it and I don't see the Aussies or Poms or Proteas letting that happen anytime soon. Or India for that matter they are on the verge of becoming the no 1 test cricket nation.

It's my positive spin anyway No denying there's some troubling signs I admit but hopefully common sense will prevail as it did 30 years ago.

[Aerie]

I felt the West Indies were lost to cricket after the last one day World Cup. That was the chance to boost cricket in the region and it was a complete ****up thanks to the ICC. Not to mention the retirement of their greatest player.

It is a disgrace that the best Windies players will be plying their trade in India for a Twenty20 competition instead of representing their country against the best in the world. However, who is to blame?

The players? I don't think they're to blame. The money they would be getting for playing 20/20 is significant and too much to ignore. Remembering West Indian cricketers I doubt would be on anything near what our cricketers get for playing for their country + endorsements. This amount of money is life changing.

West Indies Cricket Council? I don't blame them neither. They couldn't afford to lose their best players to the game all together. They don't have the depth nor are they in the position to compete with the Twenty20 IPL. They are only being fair in letting their players play in an ICC sanctioned tournament.

The ICC? Yes. Once again this organisation is a complete shambles. Is the IPL not an ICC sanctioned event? Then why the hell have they programmed a Test series during it? Especially a series which is so important with regards to cricket in the West Indies. The Test series may have been planned well before the IPL was, but that doesn't mean some commonsense could be made with regards to the fixturing of all cricket in the short term. The IPL starting 1 week earlier and the Windies tour starting 1 week later would fix the problem.

If the IPL generates enough money for the game then it can be a good thing. I'm excited by the concept of having the best players from all over the world mixed through the teams. The money this form of cricket generates is enough to make kids in Australia and other countries choose cricket over a number of other sports including soccer in terms of the money that can be made out of it. However, it needs to be worked out in a way that Test cricket and to a lesser extent first class cricket is not comprimised and at the moment it doesn't seem to have been thought through properly.

[sasquatch]

I cant believe the INDIAN officials have allowed Cameron White to play in a Pura Cup final.....

Well, how else is he gonna play in a final?

[tigersupporter]

20/20 is well and truelly a nail in the coffin of test cricket, like it or loath it punters like results and they like em fast, 20/20 does represent everything test cricket isnt...

personally i hate it, nicknames on shirts, talking to the players blah blah blah
its just americanised crap...............and it will also be the death of alot of quality players, never again will the game produce greats it will only produce the explosive style of player that tend to be very hot and cold...............

20/20 = sad day for cricket but it has to be said the world is a changing place and to keep up cricket must introduce major changes to maintain its place in the world of sport.

How is this American crap? what sports in America do they do this?

[smithy]

Maybe to help the "poorer" cricket boards like NZ and WI, maybe a % of what was bid on their players can go to the association they are employed by.
Sort of like an appearance fee but basically paying the board a % for hiring their employee for 7 weeks.

[Rik E Boy]

I felt the West Indies were lost to cricket after the last one day World Cup. That was the chance to boost cricket in the region and it was a complete ****up thanks to the ICC. Not to mention the retirement of their greatest player.

It is a disgrace that the best Windies players will be plying their trade in India for a Twenty20 competition instead of representing their country against the best in the world. However, who is to blame?

The players? I don't think they're to blame. The money they would be getting for playing 20/20 is significant and too much to ignore. Remembering West Indian cricketers I doubt would be on anything near what our cricketers get for playing for their country + endorsements. This amount of money is life changing.

West Indies Cricket Council? I don't blame them neither. They couldn't afford to lose their best players to the game all together. They don't have the depth nor are they in the position to compete with the Twenty20 IPL. They are only being fair in letting their players play in an ICC sanctioned tournament.

The ICC? Yes. Once again this organisation is a complete shambles. Is the IPL not an ICC sanctioned event? Then why the hell have they programmed a Test series during it? Especially a series which is so important with regards to cricket in the West Indies. The Test series may have been planned well before the IPL was, but that doesn't mean some commonsense could be made with regards to the fixturing of all cricket in the short term. The IPL starting 1 week earlier and the Windies tour starting 1 week later would fix the problem.

If the IPL generates enough money for the game then it can be a good thing. I'm excited by the concept of having the best players from all over the world mixed through the teams. The money this form of cricket generates is enough to make kids in Australia and other countries choose cricket over a number of other sports including soccer in terms of the money that can be made out of it. However, it needs to be worked out in a way that Test cricket and to a lesser extent first class cricket is not comprimised and at the moment it doesn't seem to have been thought through properly.

Good post.

regards,

REB