English Players: "We Want In!!!"
By Gaurang
April 14 2013
A while back this writer had identified the ECB as the root of the problem that are plaguing English cricket. In the last fortnight or so, this has been brought home by two seemingly unconnected but in reality highly connected issues. First is the increasingly loud and strident clamour from English players to be allowed to participate in the IPL. The second is a hit piece written in Wisden about Kevin Pietersen, the one and probably only Superstar in the English cricket team at this time.
As I wrote earlier the ECB has been in a war (albeit a cold war as they cannot afford a hot one) with the BCCI ever since the BCCI established the Indian Premiere League, and decided that the best time of the year to hold it was during the Summer vacation of Indian school kids, i.e April and May. This did not sit well with the ECB who found this to be encroaching on what they have always regarded as their God given right, a completely uniterrupted home season.
In the distant past the West Indies cricket board pleaded unsuccessfully with the MCC and later the TCCB to provide some sort of break for West Indies players who plyed their trade for the West Indies the rest of the year and instead of resting during the West Indies off season, many of whom, went off to play County cricket, often sacrificing their bodies in a 7 days a week grind, including the first class matches plus multiple limited over tournaments. But most of this fell on deaf ears, as it was argued that it was upto the players themselves, and they had a right to make a living.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. The ECB is arguing that the IPL should not be granted an uniterrupted window to rope in the top players of the world, including the handful of English players who are good enough to play in the high stakes league. In fact the EBC has been desperately trying to reduce the influence of the IPL, which it sees as a threat to its own pocketbook. The ECB had preponed the English season to late April, thus ensuring even more conflict with the IPL. In the past, the ECB rushed into the ultimately abortive, and now highly embarrasing dalliance with convicted felon Allen Stanford to fund a rival league to the IPL, and now is attemping largely unsuccessfully to attract the big fish of Indian cricket to play in its county based local Twenty20 league.
The ECB with the tacit support of the old guard in the English press including icons like Wisden and the BBC has tried unsuccessfully to convince a large portion of the U.K. public that the IPL is just a bunch of Bollywood crazed Indians having a hit and giggle which the English speaking population of the U.K. should not be interested in. Though cynically the BBC give MASSIVE coverge to the IPL through the BBC Hindi and Urdu sites and Wisden just launched an Indian edition to cash in on the riches of the Indian cricket market.
In light of all this the whole ECB-Pietersen mess can be seen as a continuation of this blood fued between the ECB and BCCI. Pietersen, as one of the highest paid players in the IPL, and a strong proponent of the tournament, was targeted by his "home" board who did nothing when a whisper campaign by jealous teammates launched via a fake twitter account poisoned the dressing room atmosphere and unity. And when Pietersen rightly complained, instead of promptly cleaning up the mess, the ECB saw a good opportunity to show the other English players who was boss. It wanted these lesser lights to know that if they wanted to continue playing for England, they had to choose between IPL and their National loyalties. This is truly a cynical approach, and one that is likey to end with the ECB cutting its own nose to spite its own face. The recent scathing article in Wisden about Kevin Pietersen should be seen in this light.
However, until and unless the ECB realizes that it's job is not only to run English cricket, but also to ensure that English players are not shut out of the economic opportunities offered by the ever strengthening and growing IPL, they will do both English cricket and English players a huge disservice. And now the English players are themselves seeing that they are being forced into a form of indentured servitude by the ECB and are protesting in increasingly louder and louder voice.
ECB is floundering for a way to give into the demands of the English players and still save a shred of dignity. If the BCCI is wise they will give the ECB a fig leaf in the form of a slight adjustment in schedule or maybe a lump sum of Rupees to allow the ECB to claim "moral victory" and save face. It will be good for both English players and the IPL.
If that happens the only country whose players who would still be shutout of the IPL will be Pakistan. Now that is not such an easy problem to solve. It is not a matter of a couple of cricket boards reaching an agreement, it is a matter of Global Geopolitical Realpolitik and involves issues which have deep roots, roots that need to be cut and destroyed by the powers that be in Pakistan, but which even the United States the world's only Superpower has not been able to persuade Pakistan to do.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:05:07:21:33:13 by Birbal.
KP acted like a clown and got punished. The ECB didn't handle it well but KP was just out of control.
eng lost every time he sat out.....even to NZ
to bring back KP and please him..... they had to fire Strauss and demote Flower to coach only in 1 format.
and now KP's earnings and demand in IPL have triggred a player's revolution in england
Broad acts like a child but I am not sure how you equate his actions to KP's. KP made a mistake and got punished and now he is back in the side. Which is why the Wisden article is not particularly welcomed as it is something the ECB and KP would like to put behind them.
KP is a great player but if you look at the stats in the past 3 years you will find it is the likes of Cook, Anderson and Trott that won them the most games. KP did hit 3 amazing hundreds in the last 12 months, but he has been up and down for a bit.
the english...they want him...but don't want to openly acknowldege that they need him
KP has won many games for England and is still the X factor in the team but he is not the only class batsman in the side.
If England players are riled by KP's involvement in the IPL it certainly wasn't evident at his home ground in England today. No one at Surrey was bothered by his absence - far more interested in Graeme Smith, Alviro Petersen, Jos Buttler
The IPL is a busted flush with English based players with any future. Alfonso Thomas, one of the best T20 bowlers in the world bought himself out of his Pune contract to play for his English county!! That's how bothered they are by earnings. You only earn if you play and in squads full of old blokes who only still have names in India that isn't that easy.
The IPL will continue to generate interest on the sub continent but it's worldwide appeal is waning along with the Test reputations of the side's deeply involved with it. Keep picking up your Aussie geriatrics and your half hearted West Indians and leave the Old Country to its rain and its County Championship. But when you come to play us at the big boy games bring more that your T20 stars if you want to make it a contest these days.
Other than that rail against the dying of the light and the poor old limeys who aren't getting on the gravy train and don't seem too bothered about it.
The NY Times writes often about the IPL...never seen coverage of English County cricket in it...though I do think they mentioned the Ashes a couple of times...
English cricket, especially county cricket is getting more and more insular and geriatric in terms of people who are still interested in it...
Read on...
From Livemint
Sundar Raman, chief executive officer, Indian Premier League. Photo: Business Today
Updated: Fri, Apr 12 2013. 11 32 PM IST
Unfazed by reports of television rating dips and erosion of brand value, Sundar Raman , chief executive officer of the Indian Premier League (IPL), speaks in an interview about plans to expand the reach of the Twenty20 cricket tournament. Edited excerpts:
Over the last five seasons, we have seen some amount of rationalization in terms of ratings. How do you meet that challenge?
From the inaugural season of IPL, the absolute audience watching IPL has grown by 68%. That is substantial. From 100 million in season one to 168 million last year, 68% growth over a five-year period, in a day when fragmentation is increasing. Close to 2.5 billion eyeballs are delivered through IPL every year. Compare this to the English Premier League, which delivers close to 4.5 billion eyeballs over an eight-month period across the world. People keep talking about ratings, which is a combination of a few things on how it is measured. Let’s look at it objectively—last year, 45 days of the 49 days it was played, IPL was the most-watched programme on Indian television. I would very much doubt if there is any other league in the world which can stand up to this level of scrutiny, in terms of the numbers they deliver. Sure, there is stabilization that is happening. Having said that, people are also getting attuned to their support, loyalty (to the teams), that is slowly building. That is as critical to the growth of the IPL and the franchises in the long term as it is for the league itself. The last numbers I have from our digital partners show in excess of 40% growth in the online space, for this edition of IPL on the first three matches, which is substantial. So to me, the directions are right.
Any concrete steps to expand that reach?
It’s happening at various levels. One, our broadcasters themselves have now three channels showing IPL. You have Sony Max that shows it in English, on Sony Six there is the Hindi feed, which is unique, which is delivering to a newer audience. Up till now, it has been a viewing sport and not so much a listening sport as the commentary has been in English. With the Hindi feed, we are opening a new chapter, getting newer viewers into the fold, making it far more compelling than it used to be. From the perspective of playing the sport, IPL is being played in newer venues. Ranchi, for instance, has a fantastic stadium and huge demand for sport there. Also, we have a new stadium in Chhattisgarh—Raipur, which is hosting the first game of this nature and stature, in terms of scale. So IPL is going to more and more cities than it has in the past. Our partners are also engaged very strongly, Pepsi has launched a fan can, and the Pepsi IPL promo is going to be on 12 crore bottles and packs—that is a substantial number. If we are able to convert those people who are fans of the game to fans of the brand and vice versa, we would certainly have reached more people.
What were the key areas that needed improvement?
Clearly, over the years, the fan experience is something we have focused on. From a television standpoint, our brief is to take the viewer closest to the game. If you look at production, you can hear the players, the umpires, far better angles, statistics and graphics. Also you will see more fan pictures on TV, the way they dress, the way they support their teams, which encourages others to do more. The franchises are improving the fan experience at a ground level pretty dramatically. Our stadiums cater to a large number of fans, but there is a bigger opportunity in terms of improving the hospitality experience and merchandising experience. And that will take time. Directionally we are there, but infrastructurally it will take time to operationalize this level of experience for fans.
Do you think controversies have eroded IPL’s brand value? Research from some firms seems to suggest it has.
Our objective, at least for the management team, our focus is to run the IPL tournament in as efficient a manner and as effective in terms of delivering to the client, to the franchises and the sponsors and including all our stakeholders, including rights holders.
The measurement of (brand) value doesn’t bear any weight on IPL at a central level. Lots of agencies keep doing lots of studies and it’s not something we lose sleep over. Every league goes through a fair bit of ups and downs and we take all in our stride....
Quote:Meet_New_Mr_India
Recently, David Stern the NBA commissioner was at the IPL game promoting NBA.. IPL is surely gaining popularity globally.. specially in places where it matters.. :-)
That's interesting...and impressive...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:21:06:38:48 by Birbal.
Quote:Birbal
Right now England is NOT even playing any international cricket... it is really silly that English players are being asked to sit out by Nothing-shire and Nowhere-ssex instead of allowing them to participate in IPL...
this is oppression / repression and a matter of time before a full fledged revolt occurs