CA's proposal of separate T20 and Test teams will hinder quality players
Updated On: 06 June, 2010 10:39 AM IST | | Ian Chappell
The nature of upcoming tours proposed by Cricket Australia and BCCI do not serve the same purpose
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The nature of upcoming tours proposed by Cricket Australia and BCCI do not serve the same purpose
A couple of major changes of tack proposed during the week have the cricket world resembling an America's Cup race rather than a game played on manicured green fields.
First, CEO James Sutherland was musing about the day an Australian Test team would be competing in one part of the world while the T20 side was performing elsewhere. If that wasn't enough to satiate the appetite for irony the BCCI then conjured up the notion of a string of ODI's against Australia disappearing into thin air and two Test matches and three fifty over games magically appearing in their place.
It seems the explosive growth in domestic T20 attendances has suddenly swayed Cricket Australia [CA] from the idea that Test cricket is priority number one and other forms of the game fall into line. While a number one Test ranking and a couple of ODI losses to Zimbabwe has caused amateur Indian magicians to think they're Merlin.
First up, let's consider the proposition of CA's CEO. The glaring weakness in the proposal is it would hinder the best players and reward one-dimensional cricketers.
For example take a young all-rounder like Stephen Smith; presumably his preference would be to play all internationals that involve Australia. He has the skills to succeed in this endeavour but with Sutherland's proposition he'd be forced to choose between playing in a Test series or a T20 tournament. Any player who has the desire and the pride in his performance to want to excel in both the long and short forms of the game should be encouraged to do so, rather than being forced to choose between the two at an early stage in his career.
A couple of major changes of tack proposed during the week have the cricket world resembling an America's Cup race rather than a game played on manicured green fields. First, CEO James Sutherland was musing about the day an Australian Test team would be competing in one part of the world while the T20 side was performing elsewhere. If that wasn't enough to satiate the appetite for irony the BCCI then conjured up the notion of a string of ODI's against Australia disappearing into thin air and two Test matches and three fifty over games magically appearing in their place.
It seems the explosive growth in domestic T20 attendances has suddenly swayed Cricket Australia [CA] from the idea that Test cricket is priority number one and other forms of the game fall into line. While a number one Test ranking and a couple of ODI losses to Zimbabwe has caused amateur Indian magicians to think they're Merlin.
First up, let's consider the proposition of CA's CEO. The glaring weakness in the proposal is it would hinder the best players and reward one-dimensional cricketers.
For example take a young all-rounder like Stephen Smith; presumably his preference would be to play all internationals that involve Australia. He has the skills to succeed in this endeavour but with Sutherland's proposition he'd be forced to choose between playing in a Test series or a T20 tournament. Any player who has the desire and the pride in his performance to want to excel in both the long and short forms of the game should be encouraged to do so, rather than being forced to choose between the two at an early stage in his career.
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