How T20 Leagues are doing ICC’s work
As an Economics student, I was taught that to optimize a business, the private sector needs to be involved due to the difference in aims of both the public and private sectors. The private sector wants to make a business profitable and earn for themselves which leads to the business’s well-being.
Even though ICC is not necessarily a public sector company, its role in international cricket has been similar. Meanwhile, the rise of T20 leagues is somewhat identical to the theory of the private sector.
There are two background stories regarding T20 cricket. One outlines the commercial aspect and the famous story about the counties wanting to make the county cricket exciting and appealing for the young population. While formats like T20 were quite popular in the sub-continent due to the different settings in which cricket was being played, from Lahore’s baghs to Mumbai’s maidaans. Different players from Pakistan’s early T20 teams in the 2007–2009 period have also credited their success in the format to tape-ball and Ramadan Cricket.
In 2008 started what was a revolution and changed the landscape of the sport we all love, League cricket. IPL was the first T20 league to actually make it. There were a few leagues that started here and there but could not really materialize like the Indian Cricket League.
With the business model of mixing Bollywood and Cricket, making a complete entertainment package for the Indian public, it did wonders for the Indian cricketers. Many cricketers credit IPL for their journey towards international cricket and not just Indians. BCCI and other stakeholders spread the league cricket in different after seeing the success of IPL, now India holds region-based T20 leagues in different states e.g. Tamil Nadu Premier League, Karnataka Premier League and 2023 saw an addition in the shape of Maharastra Premier League as well.
Australia and Bangladesh have also set up quite successful T20 leagues along with West Indian states as well. With dozens of leagues around the world now, it is said that league cricket might shadow international cricket.
Fostering Cricket’s Future:
Until a couple of years ago, most of the “freelance” cricketers, or T20 league specialist cricketers were either from the West Indies or Kolpak cricketers. Lately, we have seen many international careers being shortened or sidelined due to T20 Cricket.
Trent Boult recently turned down NZC’s offer for a central contract, which allowed him to play in any league he wanted. It is rumoured that NOCs for T20 leagues are one of the main points in the central contract negotiations between PCB and the Pakistani players, especially after Shaheen Shah Afridi’s record-breaking deal in ILT20 for three years.
The number of T20 leagues is just increasing every year — in 2023, SA20 and ILT20 started and this year MLC started as well as ZimAfro T10. The demand for players from all the countries is just increasing and because of international cricket and overlapping between leagues as well, uncapped players and players from associate nations also get the chance to play in an overseas T20 league.
What a few years ago was the typical English summer with Tests at Lord’s or Oval, now it's the T20 summer with 6 different T20 leagues in the months of July and August. Half of 2023 has passed and players like Rashid Khan, Nicholas Pooran and Faf Du Plessis have played in about 5 T20 competitions all over the world this year and this doesn’t include T20Is! The T20 league calendar so far looks like this:
This calendar does not include T20 domestic competitions except Blast like the National T20 Cup or Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy or CSA T20 Challenge as well as regional T20 tournaments like TNPL and KPL, still, there are only two months without any T20 tournament.
What are Leagues doing for Cricket:
In Pakistan, most of the stakeholders in cricket, are 50+, be it the PCB chairmen, or the Patrons. Mostly, people of that age group do not like the concept of T20 Leagues, even that is changing nowadays. However, what T20 leagues are doing in terms of spreading the sport is notable. There are T20 leagues in regions like Canada and the USA, where they don’t have quite settled domestic systems or enough opportunities at the international level.
One of the examples of this can be Harsh Thaker’s podcast with the Backward Point Podcast, where he said how Fakhar Zaman asking him for feedback made him starstruck. When players like Harsh Thaker share the dressing room with players like Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan, it is a huge opportunity for them to learn from well-known international players.
Even in PSL, when Rashid Khan came to Lahore Qalandars, or when sir Viv Richards was part of the Quetta Gladiators dressing room, it provided a big opportunity for the youngsters in those teams, you can see it from their interviews as well.
Recently, Ashwin tweeted how UAE defeating New Zealand showed what franchise cricket is doing. Even though the topic is not really relevant to the series mentioned, the tweet is somewhat correct. Rashid Khan and other Afghanistan players came through the ranks of franchise cricket as well.
Ever since Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan got picked up in the IPL, Afghanistan’s cricket has had a boom, with their players also featuring in leagues such as the BBL, PSL, BPL, T20 Blast, and The Hundred, amongst others. Even the T10 League has had a massive effect, with their lead pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi becoming a mainstay of the Afghanistan side after his exploits for Delhi Bulls.
It is not rare to see Afghan youngsters having played a lot of franchise cricket before debuting for the national team. The likes of Noor Ahmad and Izharulhaq Naveed (yet to debut) are prominent examples. Franchise cricket has not only helped players meet their financial needs but also provided them with regular game time, with Afghanistan not having the luxury of regular domestic or international cricket. It can be said that Afghanistan’s growing depth wouldn’t have been possible without franchise cricket.
T20 Cricket’s Impact across borders:
As mentioned earlier, the US and Canada have now started their T20 leagues which has already started results for them, especially in Canada’s case. Nepal also started a couple of T20 leagues, however, if it is something that continues, only time can tell. ILT20’s season 2 is also starting in early 2024 as well, with great signs for UAE cricket.
Not just their own leagues, cricketers from the smaller cricketing nations are also getting overseas gigs now, Josh Little has featured in LPL, SA20 and most recently, he was part of Manchester Originals in The Hundred.
Differentiation in T20 Leagues:
Mostly, when people look at T20 stats, especially career stats, they can be misleading. That is sometimes a player has mostly played in one T20 league because he was a local pick in that league, or sometimes because of the difference in quality of cricket being played in T20 Leagues.
The quality of cricket in leagues like BPL or BBL is not exactly similar to the quality of cricket being played in the PSL or IPL. Not all T20 cricket is quite the same. A bowler averaging below 19 in Big Bash might not be a suitable signing for a PSL or an IPL team, considering the difference in quality and conditions.
Statistics in T20 leagues should be calculated separately. However, the standard of cricket being played is a subjective metric. Maybe a much-awaited comeback of the now-defunct Champions League T20 can solve the problem here.
Possibility of Champions League T20:
There are certain concepts or businesses that were started before their time, the Champions League T20 was that. At the time it was being played, most countries didn’t have T20 leagues, instead, they sent domestic t20 teams like Otago Volts or Lahore Lions or counties like Somerset and Hampshire. Only IPL, CPL and BBL teams participated in the league.
Except for the first season where New South Wales won the tournament, other seasons were won by the teams from T20 Leagues. Nowadays, even if you consider the major leagues, you can get teams from at least 5 T20 Leagues. The only problem there would be in this league is the players overlapping between teams, for example, Rashid Khan has been part of both the last IPL and PSL winning teams.
Let’s create an ideal scenario, how can a Champions League T20 be held?
Champions League T20 has been held in India and South Africa as well. The problem there would, however, be the overlapping of overseas players, to solve this it can be decided that the player’s priority would be their local team if it qualifies, if not then a mini-auction can be done, with specific teams allowed to bid for a player where he played in the last edition, for example, Rashid Khan goes into auction and Lahore Qalandars, Gujarat Titans and MI New York bid for his services in CLT20, or Gulf Giants, MI New York and Lahore Qalandars bid for David Wiese’s services.
It can be something like European football has clubs from the top leagues all over Europe playing each other in the UEFA Champions League.
T20 Cricket’s challenges for International Cricket:
In recent times, there have been various events that showed how the worth of international cricket has been decreasing, quite a lot of international series are not being played by a country’s best team because some players are busy with T20 Leagues.
Even though it makes sense financially as the career of a cricketer at max is around 20 years? So if you think like that they should earn in 20 years what others earn over a lifetime, even though there are coaching gigs and commentary gigs available for retired players, they aren’t very widely available and not for consistent periods especially in places like Pakistan.
Recently Trent Boult turned down a central contract, Alex Hales retired from international career, Quinton De Kock retired from Test cricket at the age of 28 which is supposed to be a batter’s peak and now he has decided to retire from ODIs later this year. The world of cricket is shifting towards T20 Cricket, whether we like it or not.
The window for peak International cricket where top players from two countries play for their countries is getting smaller and smaller. As in economics according to one of the biggest economists, Keynes, you cannot let a market free and there has to be some government intervention for stability. In cricket, that governing authority is ICC, however, their role has somewhat reduced to, in Gideon Haigh’s words, an event-management company, which is also debatable but that is something for another time.
Originally published at https://cricwick.net.