Johannesburg, May 17 (Inditop) The reality of the new cricket world order is that international cricket’s scheduling has to be charted around the Indian Premier League (IPL), although the IPL organisers have maintained that international cricket will remain the priority.
That is the view of veteran cricket writer Colin Bryden, who added that India has become the new financial superpowers in terms of cricket, forming a new bloc with Australia and South Africa.
“Evidence of cricket’s new world order is all around us,” Bryden wrote in the weekly Sunday Times here.
“The Asian bloc is no more, with India accused of ‘dumping’ Pakistan, who are no longer a host country for the 2011 World Cup and whose players are excluded from the Indian Premier League.”
Bryden said that while England still retained some clout, it has lost ground to India, Australia and South Africa.
Another factor influencing the game is that “home is no longer where it used to be,” Bryden wrote.
“The IPL is being played in South Africa, Pakistan hosted Australia in the United Arab Emirates and may yet play ‘home’ series in England.
“(Home) is now wherever television cameras can be set up in a convenient time zone.”
Bryden said New Zealand, the West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are finding themselves increasingly marginalised, more for financial reasons than any deficiencies of playing standards.
“In every sense there is a danger of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.”
Citing examples of issues between players and cricket authorities in various countries because of the IPL and the impact this had on Test matches, Bryden sounded a word of caution to administrators of cricket: “(They) must be vigilant to ensure the game as a whole thrives and does not become the fiefdom of a pampered few.”
rounak