|
Recently while browsing on the web I stumbled upon an interesting chat that one of the Cricinfo hostesses was having with the legendary English opener Geoffrey Boycott, who has gained respect as a person who talks straight and always keeps to the point.
He was giving his views on the present predicament of global cricket and how market forces dictate terms on the destiny of cricket rather than the wishes of the fans themselves.
The most topical among them was the fate of the English county Essex the very country that produced another legendary English opening batsman Graham Gooch and the struggle this county is now experiencing just to keep afloat. Boycott explained that not only the County Essex, but there were a list of other counties in the red or barely managing to breakeven and thus making its survival a very arduous task.
Another contributory factor to this he pointed out is the love for football among the English spectators which has made that sport a very viable franchise in that country or perhaps the world, simply English football is huge.
Besides that, recently The Economic Times carried an article titled English County Essex luring Indian investors for a $100 million project. It read: Representatives from a cash-strapped English county cricket club Essex are in India trying to lure investors for an ambitious $100 million project to rebuild its stadium and develop a real estate project on five hectares of land belonging to the county.
Andrew Flintoff |
Essex County Cricket Club (ECCC) chief executive David East and the club's ambassador and former England captain Graham Gooch are touring world cricket's financial powerhouse to raise $70 million to fund the real estate project and $30 million to develop cricket infrastructure.
“We wish to regenerate the cricket facilities and have come up with a mixed-use development model. There would be 423 apartments and commercial units to promote retail and allied activities. The remaining area would be used for a cricket stadium etc,” East said.
Earlier this month, players of the club had to come up with cash to fund a pre-season tour to Dubai after ECCC said it would not be able to pay for the trip. Among those, who have committed to invest are a Mumbai-based businessman, a cement firm, a seed company, a printing firm and a financial institution. It is not known how much they will invest.
Coming back to the original chat Boycott also explained The ECB shares all the spoils that it makes from its international commitments and this sum is spread between this big family of eighteen counties and the share becomes insignificant. Then if the club does not have it’s own back up resources it cannot manage and even if it is given a short term pump-in invariably it would get back in to the red.
Then the former English legend even went to the extent of suggesting that the present eighteen counties should be pruned down to about eight and surviving eight should be able to manage with the resources at hand.
The English legend then turned the page over to India. He said that India with its billion plus population and the almost religion status that cricket commands in the sub-continent, cricket has become one of the most sought after commodities by the corporate giants for advertising and that has made Cricket India the rich kid in town among the other cricket playing nations.
In reality being the Asian brethren even as Sri Lankans we feel proud that our giant neighbours have grown rich and influential with its buying power and are in a position to pull the strings where it is needed and even overrule the desires of the original cricket’s pack of power house who ruled the roost and had veto power on all matters pertaining to the game until very recently.
Ironically the tide has changed - back in England where the game of cricket was born it is fighting for survival and half way down the equator cash rich India is looking out for new pastures to spread its gospel.
Mercenaries of World cricket ….lured by the economic gains of the IPL |
England's cricket board is talking to BCCI, to replicate the Indian Premier League Twenty20 championship in the United Kingdom. Trials are on to host a T20 contest on the lines of IPL during 2010.
To plural its grip on the proceedings the BCCI also has added another two franchises into the growing IPL fraternity in India. Pune and Kochi will host the two new franchises in cricket's Indian Premier League, after the Sahara Group and Rendezvous Sports World won the chance to buy into the tournament.
The deals are worth a combined US$703 million, which was more than the total cost of the original eight franchises. Both bids were far in excess of the floor price of US$225 million. The Sahara Group which is the biggest patron of sport in India and sponsors the national team, bid US$370 million for Pune, while the Rendezvous World Sport consortium offered US$333.33 million for the Kochi franchise. The franchise auction had been postponed for two weeks after bidders and the Board of Control for Cricket in India successfully pushed for financial clauses to be relaxed.
That is the buying power of the Indian corporate!!!
The above is the pragmatic ground reality of world cricket. However, with the influence the market forces deciding upon the fate of the survival of the game also, it does not look pretty when you look out of the box. If by chance if the number of English counties are to be pruned in the future a lesser number of cricketers will be exposed to the game and even the number of Kolpak players and the number of overseas players who get the opportunity of getting exposure to county standards will also diminish.
At the same time with the budget decreases in the Western world and the cash lure in the Indian Premier League will influence more and more individual cricketers to go mercenary like some Australian cricketers did in the recent past along with Andrew Flintoff in England. So as the game grows rich on one side, the other end of the scale keeps going further up. Yet it is too early to even guess what the end result of this hullabaloo would be. However I am sure it will not be good news for the majority of the cricket lovers around the World.
|
E-mail
