World Cup Cricket. A one day tournament started in 1975. In pre internet and limited number of channel days, this was the ultimate sporting extravaganza for millions of Indians. And the matches were exciting as well. Well, why doesnt today’s spectator feel the same about this tournament like he did in 1990s? Simple:- Its become just an extended version of various ODI triangular tournaments. Take the latest edition for example.
We all wished that the final of the ICC Cricket world cup 2015 would have been exciting and had gone down the wire, instead of the one sided dull result it gave. So did I.
But then I realized , it was very apt- a boring end to a boring tournament. Of the 49 matches played, hardly five to six had any excitement in it . The semifinal between SA and NZ was the best, followed by the first round matches of Aus Vs NZ , Sco vs Afg, Irl vs UAE, Irl vs WI and Eng vs Ban. Alright, you can add the much hyped Ind vs Pak game to it. And the enthusiastic performances of teams like Ireland and Afghanistan.
But nothing for rest of the games, they were boring one sided affairs whose results were clear during the first ten overs of the second innings. Or during the first innings itself.
ICC has been patting itself on the back, claiming how it has been the most popular world cup ever or that how over a billion viewers in seven weeks or a record crowd of 90000 plus in the final means that everything is rosy.
Who are they deluding with these ridiculous claims? Most of the matches were yawn inducing, and that an overwhelming number of viewers didn’t regret watching the highlights in the evening than get up at 4 am to watch live action (as per IST). Sure there were some brilliant individual performances, but that didn’t save the whole show.
Most matches looked like extended versions of T20 matches because the pitches made for these matches were more dead and docile than the likes of Feroz Shah Kotla and Vidarbha Cricket Association. Two double centuries, seven scores of 150 plus, and 38 centuries. Every other match crossed 300 runs and there were a couple of scores over 400 too. (Just for the record that the first ODI double hundred took 39 years in coming and the next five, five years. The last two took one tournament). Contrary to belief, too many of boundaries and sixes make a game dull. Cricket is more about endurance, carving out an inning, running in over and over out for a wicket, diving across to stop two runs, or batsmen struggling to make two runs into three runs. Boundaries are a bonus, not the main body.
And what to say about predictability and one sided games? Agreed that the last close final was in the 1987 edition. But this edition was second in predictability only to the 2007 edition, of which Australia made a total mockery of by bulldozing over every team they played against and which had a rain marred outrageous final where the last two overs were played in near darkness. Here too, it was Australia’s tournament to lose, as the other big contenders like South Africa and India were simply out of place when faced with real competition. One due to home advantage and other due to the fact that the other finalist New Zealand had played all their matches of the tournament in New Zealand itself where they hit boundaries at will. They were suddenly found at sea in the huge MCG when their biggest moment came.
It certainly isn’t a good sign if this tournament becomes a question about one team vs rest of the others. Two more similar Cricket World Cup editions and you can kiss public interest goodbye.
This entire concept of world cup cricket has become ridiculous. If World Cup Football comprising of 32 teams gets over in four weeks, Olympics with every nation on earth gets over in two weeks, why should a 14 team tournament last for seven weeks? Why is there absolutely no attempt to get over the first round matches over more quickly? Already cricket is blamed as a sport which destroys productivity and these kind of lengthy tournaments will only further confirm that.
And which sport do you find the governing body working overtime to kill any chances of new upcoming teams to compete with established ones? ICC top management is working overtime to ensure that the 2019 edition of the World Cup will feature only the top ten teams. And still ICC will have the audacity to call it ‘’World’’ cup (And they want this ten team edition to last for ten weeks). ICC gives the reason as the new teams (called associate members) aren’t upto the mark and the matches does not generate revenue. And this inspite the fact that teams like Ireland and Netherlands have shown great potential. One one hand is FIFA, which is always looking to accommodate new teams in the World Cup, Euro, African Nations Cup like tournaments and on the other hand is ICC, which is ensuring that cricket remains a colonial sport limited to 8 countries.
They should remember that Sri Lanka cricket team was worse than what Ireland team is today when they first took part in the 1983 WC. Thirteen years later, in 1996, they were the world champions. And this has been the single best thing to happen to cricket in the last three decades other than South Africa’s readmission in 1991. This wouldn’t have been possible had there been short sighted people at helm then as there are now.
But on the larger part, cricket as a sport is in serious trouble. It is dead in the Caribbean nations, on life support in Pakistan , England and New Zealand. It has become heavily loaded in favour of batsmen. Over the years, bats have become better to such a degree that a mishit from its outer edge flies off to six . As Michael Holding put it ‘’Earlier there was a sweet spot in the bat. Now we have a sweet bat. If anyone hit a six on huge grounds, he was like a superman. Now a number 11 can do it.’’ The ball has remained the same throughout. And now add to it new ball from each end, fielding restrictions of just three fielders outside the ring for ten overs and during two powerplays of five over each and you have the recipe of a bowler’s butchering. In the 1980s, bowlers with an economy rate of 4.5 were deemed bad. Now it’s a miracle if a bowlers gives less than six or seven runs an over in a one day match. If the present scenario remains or keeps getting worse, a cricket team will comprise of ten batsmen and a bowling machine.
Things don’t look very bright for test cricket too, and rightly so. A sporting event which lasts for five days in today’s world where time is money is fighting a losing battle. No matter how much the purists promote it, the fact remains that except Australia, England and South Africa, nobody is really enthusiastic about the longer version of the game. With batsmen who cant help playing flashy shots and bowlers who cant keep down runs, it will only get worse.
And moneywise too, holding big tournaments isn’t profitable in places other than India, Australia or England. And if you take out India’s population, the viewership plummets to an abysmal level. Not to mention the funding from India which is 70% of the game’s revenue.
T20 cricket is doing well but it has made the sport into something which requires more luck than skills. The art is gone. There will soon be difference left between a batsman and a baseball striker. Meaningless lengthy extravaganzas like IPL have completed the ruinous scenario. A lot of players cut short their international careers to play in it. It wont be surprising if a player today is content playing out his career in IPL instead of being in test or one day team.
The sport is fast losing its ability of catching the imagination of the public like it once did. IPL is just like a kid’s newest toy, which the kid is pretty excited about now, but will soon lose interest in. What after that? Sport is not just about cheap thrills and running cash registers.
A few remedies are:-
- Longer boundaries
- Doing away with the powerplay rules, fielding restrictions should apply for the first ten overs only.
- Allowing for more than one bouncer an over in ODIs and more than two in tests
- No more docile pitches.
- Bring back the runners for injured batsmen.
But most of all ICC, get the spirit of the sport back. Bring the magic back.
There isn’t a lot of time left.