It is the buzz around the world today that T20 Franchise cricket is hampering the actual cricket, especially test and ODI cricket.
Yesterday, Ben Stokes England all-rounder announced his retirement from the ODI. The reason he stated for his premature retirement is cricket overload. He said that too much cricket is taking a toll of his body and he is not coping with it and hence is taking retirement from One-day International cricket.
However, the dashing all-rounder will continue to play test and T20 cricket for England and his other franchise teams.
Former cricketers like Michael Vaughan believe that lot of T20 Franchise cricket is killing the actual cricket and cricketers.
This is what he twitted.
I understand the retirement of Ben Stokes at the age of just 31 years is too early and premature from ODIs.
The reason for his early retirement should be understood from a different perspective as well. Actually, there is too much cricket being played these days.
I remember those were the days when the only test cricket was played bilaterally. The nations would play 12 to 14 tests in a year. There were not too many ODIs being played and we cannot think of T20 in those days.
TEST and ODI Matches Play from 1991 till June 2022
| Year | Total Test Matches Played | Total ODIs Played |
| 1991 | 21 | 39 |
| 1992 (World Cup Year) | 26 | 89 |
| 1993 | 36 | 83 |
| 1994 | 39 | 101 |
| 1995 | 40 | 61 |
| 1996 (World Cup Year) | 28 | 130 |
| 1997 | 44 | 118 |
| 1998 | 47 | 111 |
| 1999 (World cup Year) | 43 | 157 |
| 2000 | 46 | 133 |
| 2001 | 55 | 121 |
| 2002 | 55 | 147 |
| 2003 (World Cup Year) | 44 | 152 |
| 2004 | 51 | 136 |
| 2005 | 49 | 108 |
| 2006 | 46 | 167 |
| 2007 (World Cup Year) | 31 | 197 |
| 2008 | 47 | 136 |
| 2009 | 41 | 156 |
| 2010 | 43 | 147 |
| 2011 (World Cup Year) | 39 | 147 |
| 2012 | 42 | 95 |
| 2013 | 44 | 140 |
| 2014 | 41 | 125 |
| 2015 (World Cup Year) | 43 | 147 |
| 2016 | 47 | 103 |
| 2017 | 47 | 131 |
| 2018 | 48 | 128 |
| 2019 (World Cup Year) | 40 | 158 |
| 2020 (Covid Effect) | 22 | 55 |
| 2021 (Covid Effect) | 44 | 79 |
| 2022 | 29 | 95 |
If we look at the above table where we can see the total number of Test Matches and ODI played by all nations in a year. The numbers are clearly increasing with time, especially for One-day Internationals.
The past scenario
In the past, the test matches were witnessing very low crowds and even on Television the audience watching the match was very minimal. The reason behind this was the dullness of the match. The matches are played for FIVE LONG days daily for more than 7 hours a day (including lunch and tea breaks) and what could be the result ??? DRAW!!!. No one wins, come on this is not what the spectators spend their time and money for.
Who would like to play and watch the game which is played for 7 hours a day for five days and the result is nothing, the people will like it??? Absolutely NO.
This was one of the major reasons why major other countries stayed away from this wonderful game.
The game were played at a very slow pace and no real energy was utilized. The primary energy used was standing on the field for long hours doing nothing.
The bowlers come and keep on bowling on the flat dead pitch and the cruel batsman keeps on avoiding the ball. Hardly any runs ge scored (around 200 to 300 runs) in the whole day.
The test matches were just boring and time-consuming. Only a few real lovers of the game we’re playing and watching. The money involved with the game was also in a penny.
The parents were not allowing their kids to make the career in cricket.
If the match is drawn, the morale of every player gets diminished as his efforts have given him no fruits, and he has neither won nor lost.
The spectators also gets bored and stay away from the game.
The Current Scenario
Now after the inclusion of ODI and World Cups and now T20s, the results are possible and people have come to watch the matches on the ground.
Cricket has become fast and speedy. It required more energy on the field as the batsmen are now hitting the balls across the ground and the fields who were feeling the spectators in the field are now running after the ball.
In a ODI in one innings the team scores around 300 to even 450 runs in just 50 overs. So if you calculate both innings the runs scored are around 600 in 100 overs.
If you consider the latest format of T20 matches, the runs are scored even more briskly around 400 runs in just 40 overs.
This requires more energy to cope with and the players get exhausted more after playing just 20 overs ( 3.5 hours) compared to the test match being played for a whole day.
The most important factor here is the result, the result of the game is for sure.
The Change in Test Matches tactics
With the inclusion of more ODIs and T20s and Franchise cricket, the test matches have also become a little more interesting and we are now witnessing the results of a 5-day game.
The runs scored in a day are more compared to that in the old days. The batsmen are now hitting the ball more often than not and scoring runs. They want to score runs because they are now more inclined to hit the ball.
The batsman carries the mindset of the T20s in the test matches and plays their shots. This has made the test match cricket more interesting.
If you look at the test match record in 2022 only 6 matches have no result (drawn) and most of these draw matches are due to rain or bad weather.
This shows that Test cricket is also getting exciting and the result of the match is there.
The crowd and Money
The crowd loves to watch the shots being played by the batsman. They love to see batsmen hitting fours and sixers and not just avoiding the ball and letting it go to the wicketkeeper.
The crowd likes to watch the players celebrating their wickets, catches, and 50s and 100s. The spectators want the result at the end of the day. Today’s crowd is willing to enjoy the game, whoever wins there has to be a result.
Everything in the world keeps on changing and so does the sport and cricket is not an exception. We should accept and adopt the change in a positive manner.
The game of cricket being played in the past will not be played the same way forever. Test cricket and One Day Cricket are getting faster and more exciting.
The money involved with Franchise cricket is much more than what the country board pays to the cricketer. We all strive for money and we all work for money more money and the cricketers are not only players, they are professional players these days.
The players have very short careers of a maximum of 20 to 25 years and in those years they have to earn for themselves and for their families.
They will not be able to play cricket for their whole life. More sadly if they incur an injury due to which they no longer be able to play the game anymore then the situation of such a player would be worse.
The hanging sword of injury always lies on the head of every player during his short career.
Conclusion
According to my personal opinion, the T20s and Franchise leagues across the globe have made the following changes:
- The number of players coming into the game is much more.
- The number of countries playing T20 and Franchise cricket has increased drastically.
- The revenue earned by the cricketing boards has increased.
- Revenue earned by ICC due to Franchise and T20 Cricket has increased.
- There has been a significant increase in the number of job and business opportunities due to Franchise Leagues.
- There have been a significant rise in spectators in the stadium and also watchers on Television and Internet.
- The players are now focusing only on Franchise cricket if they do not get the chance to play for their national team.
- The remuneration of the players and support staff has been increased.
In a nutshell, Franchise Cricket is not killing Bilateral cricket it is rather increasing the excitement of the game and making more fans of cricket across the globe.
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