Rescheduling the India Tests – An Idea

As a former financial journalist, I spent a large amount of time drinking and smoking cigarettes with the characters of the Lloyds Market, for two reasons: The first was because I thoroughly enjoyed their company. The second? Because they would ever so often given me off-the-record commentary on the comings-and-goings of people within the market, as well as the probably impacts of mergers and acquisitions.

So it was of no surprise to me last week when it emerged that ‘sources close to the ECB’ wanted to give the BCCI the two fingers after the Indian cricketing board cheekily tried to move September’s Oval test to accommodate the reopening of the IPL. It turns out that starting and continuing an international competition (for the good of humanity, mind, not STAR Sports) during a pandemic was as much of a good idea as standing in front of a tornado and yelling at it, instead of getting out of the way.

The BCCI’s view was in layman’s terms: “Listen, I know you’ve sold out a mass of tickets for our and your fans alike, but we need you to reschedule our all-powerful T20 series – which really should have been cancelled before it started because it’s killing 4,000 people per day (and 296,000 so far) – for the good of the Indian people. I mean, I know we kept it going when everything was becoming a shitshow around us, but that was for the good of ‘humanity’. Now this is real. We need to get it done, because the humanity of India is, well, far more important than England cricket fans, and our squillionaires are bitching about it not getting done. So do your bit, get your knees and bow to us, because money rules, and your best players like Jos might not see the cash for their 2021 season [checks note] ever again”.

Unsurprisingly, this rankled with ‘sources close to the ECB’, not to mention the cricket public, and got a nasty reaction, which ranged from an excellent piece of satire to full-blooded screams about the Indians acting like Darth Vader, albeit without the cool headwear and cape.

But – as Mike Atherton pointed out in The Times – you can understand why India did it. Their best players are going to play New Zealand for the World Test Championship on June 22nd and then have to wait around to the play the Test Series at the start of August. While in England, some of their players will be playing all three forms (Test, One-Day and T20).

But India must have heard of The Hundred. The Hundred – whether you like the format or you don’t (it’s another argument that doesn’t need to be continued here) is going to be one of the focal points of the English summer, and plans for moving a series would seriously screw with the competition.

The BCCI now have two options: get the players back, risk some of their key cricketers getting COVID (thanks to Mr Modi’s stupid decision-making and the sheer weight of people, this disaster won’t end quickly), and then get them back to the UK for a series. Or they can sit around twiddling their fingers.

© Simon Taylor

The Proposal

Now here’s a thought. Couldn’t the ECB and BCCI speak to the governing authorities of England’s upcoming one-day opponents, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, about adding fixtures against India to their tours?

India would then play three 50-over games against Sri Lanka and England apiece, and then two 20-over games against England and Pakistan. There would be no ‘final’ or anything that would take the light off the Test Matches. But it will still see some fascinating match-ups.

This idea would also put more money into their cricketers’ pockets, stop the Indians being bored s**tless or going home at the height of their pandemic, and – especially in the case of a Pakistan match – would be amazing for the world game.

The ECB could easily install these games, which would pack the grounds at some tick. And if some mercenaries from the India one-day squad should want some more shekels in their wallet while they’re waiting around, then I’m sure that some counties would love to sign them on a short term basis. These players also get some practice either for the IPL or the World T20, which should both start later this year.

This idea would also be an easy sell to the counties: every ground in the country would be beating each other over the head with a Gray Nicolls bat to get India to play on their turf.

It would also be an easy sell to the broadcasters: Star Sports would love to buy India vs Pakistan and/or England vs India – as would Sky Sports, as well as other world TV rights distributors. Advertisers too.

Yes, we understand the worries: the PCB and BCCI haven’t always seen eye-to-eye (they don’t want each other’s players in their lucrative T20 tournaments, for a start). Meanwhile, Sri Lanka may protest about the light being taken away from their tour by the ****ing Indians. India might also want more money than everyone else because they’re the biggest draw. Also, would Indian players like to stay on foreign turf while parents, family and friends are suffering from this awful, evil disease at home? Or would Indian players see it as a way to get on with normalcy after the postponement of the IPL?

Whatever the decision the ECB and BCCI comes to, one thing can be taken for granted: it will be for the good of humanity, not the poor bastards who have already bought their trains and hotel tickets for the 5 Test Matches in the ‘Indian summer’.

Alex Ferguson

15 comments

    • Yeah to be honest I’ve got no idea what’s going on this summer. There are too many tours, too many opponents, and too many competitions to think about.

      Thanks to Alex for trying to make sense of it all in the above article. The IPL thing is just the final straw tbh.

  • Cricket is in danger of being screwed by money. Football was in the same danger this year but was seen off by a remarkable revolt of fans, players and managers alike. It took just a few days to scupper the Super League. Just a reminder that money is not the most important thing in sport. Loyalty to clubs and tradition has been dismissed by the ECB and their businessmen who run the game. Could prove costly over The Hundred? I hope it is. Pity we let it get this far. The Hundred is a debased Super League without the status. A cheap circus which dishonours cricket created for all the wrong reasons. For once cricket has chosen the low ground. 1-0 to football.

    • . A cheap circus which dishonours cricket created for all the wrong reasons.

      I think that’s the most fitting description of it that I’ve heard. The big difference between cricket and the Superleague is that this initiative actually came from the sport’s governing body – purely so that they could have their own ‘product’ to monetise – rather than it being a breakaway driven by those who would benefit most financially.

    • Yes, but as written the article isn’t about the Hundred.
      It is still going to go on. And COVID isn’t The Hundred’s fault. If anything, the whole thing is Mr Modi’s for not trying to shut India down earlier. Had this happened earlier, there might not be be this headache.

  • It’s like a time and motion man came up with schedules. The top players are not allowed time to breathe and are put on a production line of high profile games which will inevitably shorten their careers and lead to increasing problems with stress, as every success and failure is hyped to the eyeballs. Cricket has been hit worse than any other team sport by formatting in order to appeal to as wide a variety of people as possible. What we have to ask is who’s benefitting from this and how much longer can this expansion be sustained. Players have become collateral damage Cannon fodder to the organisers and because there is the cash carrot to dangle in front of them it’s like lambs to the slaughter for financial security over career prospects.

  • And at the end of the day the County Championship gets pushed into the bookends of the season because it is no longer the medium from which Test players are selected. Cricket is a ****ing mess because it’s run by imbecilic “businessmen” who have no interest in the game. Stuff finishing the IPL betting shop here, send the circus to the UAE where it should have been in the first place. We’ve had the most unsavoury site of cricketers earning obscene amounts of money while people were gasping in the street through lack of oxygen. And the icing on the cake to this shit show is the ****ing 100 dragging cricket into a cesspit from where it may not recover.
    The schedule? I haven’t much of a clue who is playing who or when Internationally, and frankly don’t really give a toss.

  • England playing India again? Worrying about the details of the schedule is missing the main point. Another season watching very little cricket it is then.

    Oh, and there’s no “pandemic”and never has been, however many times articles here try to say that there is. The understanding of the situation in India comes from corporate media and the BBC. Did you know that in Pakistan their media are currently telling them to be afraid of the UK variant?

    • So what’s killing 1000’s of people a day in India then? I really tire of conspiracy theorists. Look up the word “pandemic” in the dictionary and then tell me it doesn’t exist.

  • I realise that aspects of this article and some of the comments are ‘ironic’ but the crude language (even with the use of asterisks) is beginning to put me off this forum. This is a pity as it generally focuses on important matters in relation to first class cricket and its future.

    • Nope, definitely not STAR Sports. In the same way as the men used to collect in the Irish pubs ‘for the children’.

  • Yeah to be honest I’ve got no idea what’s going on this summer. There are too many tours, too many opponents, and too many competitions to think about.

    Thanks to Alex for trying to make sense of it all in the above article. The IPL thing is just the final straw tbh.

    .https://www.leadingcricket.com/

    #leadingcricket #Cricketcoachinginbangalore

  • The best way to get started with your New Year 2022 Celebrations is by sending your loved ones, such as family, friends, wife, girlfriend, colleagues, teachers, and boss New Year Wishes 2022. While this is a whole new year that we will be getting the troublesome 2021 with coronavirus pandemic and all other troubles, it is time to wish everyone well with New Year Wishes in the hope of a bright and better Happy New Year 2022.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

copywriter copywriting