John Buchanan, the former coach of the Australian cricket team has suggested new ways of promoting cricket. “Franchise based system”, he calls it with which the players are given the option of choosing the countries which they want to represent. He should’ve probably made this statement with only Australia in his mind, as he has stated that most of the talented youngsters fail to make it to the highest level as the competition is too stiff to get a place in the national side. Australia’s domestic cricket is the strongest of all other existing structures around the globe. With 18 counties in England and a unbelievably huge pool of players, England still are not impressive. They have produced great players, but not yet found a team which could win at least one major tournament.
Allowing the players to migrate from one country to another may probably allow a greater flow of players in World Cricket, but I don’t think this would work out in the sub-continent. Especially, in our country where cricket is not just a game, people would never digest a foreign player representing India and also a Indian player representing some other country. However, this is not new in the world of cricket, as we all know that Kevin Pietersen, the England batsman was a citizen of South Africa. There are other cases like this as well.
Recruiting players from countries like Australia, India and allowing them to play at different countries is a good idea, but they cannot be allowed to represent the country as such. Like football, promotional leagues may be sketched by the ICC involving young players from all the countries, form teams and make them play in test and one day tournaments. The “club culture” which prevails in football can be tried out in cricket in order to encourage greater flow of players.
Cricket, especially the one day format has become like a horse race, where the favorites win all the time. However, this “franchise based system” cannot be a solution to stop Australia’s dominance in world cricket. Strength against strength – This is probably the way to stop them . At present, a few teams which look good on paper, succumb to Australia when they take on them on the field. Thankfully, Twenty20 format has not been that way.
It is pathetic that the ICC has also shown interest on Buchanan’s ideas, and thinking about relaxing the rules of players' migration. Though it has not been discussed seriously, this would surely be a flop if implemented. The need of the hour is not a world cricket revamp, but the domestic structure revamp. Upcoming leagues like IPL and ICL would sure be good enough to nurture the talent pool especially in a big country like India, provided they offer a chance to young talents and make them play along with the seniors.
