The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodian of the game of cricket, is concerned about the increasing influence of the domestic leagues on the global International Cricket Calendar. It believes that an “urgent intervention” is extremely necessary at this crucial juncture to save the game.
In recent times, quite several domestic leagues, flush with money, have cropped up at different cricket playing geographies, the most popular being India’s IPL. Of late, SAT20 & ILT20 have been added to the list.
This steady growth in Domestic Cricket leagues has put a lot of stress on the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, which is a schedule of all International Cricket to be played by the nations in a 4-year period.
The major share of the international assignments is assigned to 3 nations- India, Australia & England, also known as the ” Big Three”. This has mainly caused a disparity in the number of matches played by a minority of member nations like Afghanistan, Ireland & Zimbabwe, which is not sustainable.
The MCC held a meeting in Dubai, and elaborated that its purpose “was to examine how international cricket can be protected, amidst a global cricketing schedule that is increasingly filled with short-form franchise tournaments”, and “what global cricket might look like in 10 years’ time should it be left to evolve organically”.
It further added, “also notable in the new men’s FTP is an alarming and growing disparity in the amount of International Cricket played by a minority of member nations compared to others; a situation which is clearly neither equitable nor sustainable.”
Having said this though, the MCC declared that the global game had never been in a “healthier position” adding that the financial fruits should be distributed among every ICC member nation.
