Dollars making more sense

World Cricket at the moment is in a dog fight over the status of international players, and moreso their commitment to their respective countries.

At the heart of the discussion is the coming on stream of two more lucrative T20 leagues.

Set for next January and February are the International League T20 in the United Arab Emirates and Cricket South Africa’s T/20.
Undoubtedly, the jostling is on for the best talents, as the two will clash.

Instructively, the ILT/20 is shaping to be second best in terms of substantive pay packets to the well chased and established Indian Premier League(IPL).

Hence, interest is heightened all round, as players are obviously drawn towards making big bucks in a relatively short time frame.

The two new leagues add to the IPL, the Big Bash League (BBL), the Hundred, the Pakistan Super League(PSL), Bangladesh Premier League(BPL), the Caribbean Premier League(CPL), among other short formatted leagues.

This column though will conclude that the proliferation of the T/20 leagues is all matrixed into a grander scheme of things.

The manoeuvres are spreading of these leagues, and the hard to resist offers, spell doom for West Indies Cricket, as many of the region’s cricketers will be looking to the shorter form. Intentionally, our Cricket is slowly relegated to the bottom deck or second division of the international teams.

Strengthening of this notion can be attributed to most recent release of the International Cricket Council- ICC Future Tours Programme 2023- 2027, made known on Wednesday, August 17.

The breakdown shows that the West Indies to be involved in the most bilateral T/20matches, a total of 73.

To show the grading of international teams in the three formats, the West Indies has 48 ODIs listed and critically 26 test matches.

Effectively, the distribution of the formats puts the West Indies in the lower tier of the ODI and Tests.

At present, the West Indies is seventh on the T/20 table, ninth in ODIs, and eighth in tests.

Ironically, whilst the West Indies is not as potent a unit internationally in T/20s, the players are in high demand and sought after by franchise owners.

Instructively, this demand is coming with a price, as our players are practically the assets of franchises. As such, the large Indian conglomerates are spreading their wings, notably in the Caribbean Premier League( CPL) and now the new ILT/20.

Such situations spell disaster for the already remote possibilities of West Indies becoming a Cricket force, anytime soon.

It therefore goes without saying that emerging West Indian players’ first and foremost objective, will be to earn a life changing contract to one of the many T/20 leagues listed above.

And, one cannot blame them, as in today’s world, most persons are trying to secure a better financial future for themselves and their families.

Therefore, representing the region is furthest from the minds of some of the players.

We have seen recently that the likes of Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Deandra Dottin have retired from international cricket so that they can go globe trotting and ply their trade.

For some people, it is heart wrenching to see the West Indies struggling in all formats, yet some players are high and dry representing franchises elsewhere.

On the flip side, their absence is opening opportunities for others to establish themselves and keep the assembly line of cricketers for the international Cricket market.

Cricket, and its marketing advantages are evolving, with commercialisation taking precedence.

As purists one wants to be, the dollars are simply making more sense , as the super powers of Cricket are calling the shots.

Sadly, the West Indies is not in that privileged position, hence it is best that we maximise the benefits and hope that one day, the region can dictate proceedings.

Until such time, bring the economic benefits to the region.