The Future Of Cricket?

Warwickshire Chief Executive Colin Povey talks to Edgbaston.com about his recent fact-finding trip to India and the IPL.

It’s billed as the most vibrant and commercially successful tournament in sporting history, but just what does the Indian Premier League mean for cricket in general and for the English game in particular? Warwickshire’s Chief Executive Colin Povey offers his views:

“I returned from India on Good Friday, having spent a week out there visiting Mohali, Mumbai and Delhi. Basically I was out there on a fact-finding mission about the IPL. There has been so much hype, both good and bad, about the tournament that I made the decision that I wanted to experience it and take my own view.

 

“I spent time with each of the franchises based in the cities I visited (Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils respectively) and I spoke to the ground authorities to see how they were going about staging the tournament. I also spoke to a number of the commercial sponsors to try and get a handle on how much they were spending and whether in their view they were getting value for money, and I spent a fair bit of time meeting with players and their agents asking them if the wage figures that are being quoted are real, how much their IPL contracts will impact on their international commitments and where they see the tournament going from here.

“The first thing that struck me was how all-pervasive the coverage of the tournament was. It felt like I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a picture of Sachin Tendulkar or MS Dhoni smiling down at me. The best thing I can liken it to is visiting a city that is hosting the FIFA World Cup or the Olympic Games – everywhere is caught up in the excitement and it’s virtually the only sport being reported on in the media. During the week I was out there eight of the top ten most watched TV programmes were IPL matches. It’s not just about the sport either, it’s the dominant theme in the gossip columns because of all the Bollywood stars involved and the fashion shows that take place after the games.

“Another thing to emphasise is the standard of the cricket – which is fantastic. They’ve put together a very high quality product. Some of the hitting and fielding is of an unbelievably high standard. I was, however, surprised by the fact that I saw relatively few unorthodox strokes – batsmen were, by and large, eschewing reverse-sweeps, switch-hits and Dilshan scoops. Instead they were concentrating on hitting down the ground, and through midwicket or over extra cover during the fielding restrictions.

“Because the standard is so high, it’s forcing players to improve at an incredible rate. I spoke to Ravi Bopara and he couldn’t speak highly enough of how much he is learning from rubbing shoulders with the best cricketers from around the world. It’s fascinating to watch the players prepare for games. They are incredibly focused and practicing the most outrageous skills as thoroughly as cricketers of previous generations would practice the forward defensive. And, for me, this and the fact that modern cricketers now don’t think twice about scoring at eight, nine, ten runs an over can only benefit the other forms of the game. If players take that attitude and that skill level into, say, Test cricket, we’re going to start seeing bigger and bigger scores and some staggering run-rates, which hopefully will mean more entertainment for the spectator.

“It’s also clear that India’s younger, less established players are developing very quickly as a result of playing in the IPL, and a lot of emerging stars from other nations – such as the Australian batsman David Warner, who has played barely a handful of first-class matches – are also tearing up a storm; scoring runs and producing some brilliant stuff in the field. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the top performing Indian players from this year’s who are yet to play international cricket become fixtures in India’s international sides come two years’ time.

 

“It’s not all glitz and glamour though. The grounds themselves are very photogenic – and they’ve certainly done a brilliant job in ensuring that their product appeals to a very broad range of fans (from students paying 100 rupees to dance on the terraces to hobnobbing high-level corporates paying 40,000 rupees for a hospitality ticket and another 60,000 rupees to go to the after party and watch the fashion show!) – but a lot of the seating is simply plastic garden furniture on concrete terracing, and outside the grounds spectators often have to make their way through an area that basically resembles a building site. In the UK Health and Safety legislation would certainly mean the grounds would not be allowed to operate in such a fashion.

 

“But, when you throw in all the star names and the incredible atmosphere at the grounds, it all adds up to a very impressive product and one that I feel is going to have serious ramifications for English cricket. Our best players are understandably going to want to play in the tournament because of the financial rewards and because they will want to compete against the best. And because of this draw English cricket has some pretty serious thinking to do.

“Quite what impact it will have in the long term I’m not entirely sure. If you are a scaremonger you could say that there is a serious risk of another ‘Packer-esque’ revolution shaking world cricket. If you are more positive you would say we’ve learned from that experience before and we will ensure the new initiatives will benefit the ‘established’ game as a whole. We certainly need to make sure we don’t have a situation where the best players and officials are being forced to make a choice between the ‘old world’ and the ‘new’. I am sure there is room for both.

“Of course the key question is what all this will mean for us here at Edgbaston. I do think there is interest in a second IPL-style tournament played at the height of summer in the northern hemisphere but it would be foolish to think we can just replicate the IPL in England. There are other important issues with the broadcasters and the Future Tours Programme to be borne in mind. To access the big Indian money the presence of top Indian players would be a pre-requisite and we would need to think carefully about how these might be accommodated.

“Thankfully in 2010 we already have a vibrant Twenty20 tournament that takes place during the height of summer. Whilst many of England’s centrally contracted players may not be involved, it’s interesting to note that a lot of England’s first choice Test side isn’t in the squad for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20 – the likes of Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior all aren’t going – which perhaps indicates the most exciting English talent will be playing in our tournament this summer!

 

“What the IPL might mean for us in the future is still very much up for debate, but I think the thing that we and all the other counties have to bear in mind is that we need to make sure our T20 product is improved, both in terms of the cricket that is played and the spectator experience. Whilst English cricket has generally seen a healthy increase in the size of crowds at Twenty20 games over recent seasons, the IPL has changed the way some of us are looking at the event. The IPL has done a great job in creating a real ‘splash’ around the whole tournament; similar in a way to that created around Wimbledon fortnight or the festival week at Cheltenham or Ascot. I am sure domestic cricket can learn from that.

“Now I don’t think we should or could copy everything that the IPL has done; I don’t think everything they do would fully translate to a British audience and we are subject to a lot more regulations than they are out in India, but what the IPL has done is demonstrated just how popular and entertaining cricket can be. It is up to us not to rest on our laurels, think creatively and come up with a way of taking our cricket matches to the next level in a uniquely English and Edgbaston way.

“At some stage the ripples from the IPL tidal wave are going to reach us. When the time comes I suspect it will grant us new opportunities on a scale we would find difficult to comprehend if we stay in our traditional mindset. I also believe if we fail to grasp these opportunities we could find ourselves left by the wayside and overtaken. All told, it’s an extremely exciting time for cricket and it is up to us to make the most of it.”

Photos: Getty Images/PA Photos