Another day (actually more like day and a half) to go before we change the calendar. Thought of putting down some important things that happened this year in the world of cricket:
1. Day Night tests find a firm(er) footing - Day night tests were started 2 years back ; pink ball cricket was more of a novelty, an experiment. This year saw pink ball cricket becoming more entrenched - WI played it, Pak and SL did too; SA and Zimbabwe capped it with a day night test , to end the year. So yes, looks like these are here to stay and increase. Why is this important? That's where the next point comes in...
2. 4 day tests - This one is still in a proposal stage, but the SA versus Zimbabwe 4- day test was accorded official status. The ICC reckons that they will 'keep experimenting' with this concept till 2019 and then decide. The first one was a damp squib (got over in less than 2 days), but with more evenly matched teams, and with Day-night 4 day tests that last Thursday to Sunday, there is a very good chance that spectators will fill stadiums to watch test matches.
3. Test League - Viewer interest and Test matches now get a context - thanks to a test league. All matches played will lead up to an eventual showdown to decide the best test team. So, every bilateral test series (and not just the Ashes) gains significance.
4. A relook at T20 leagues - The SA promoted Global T20 league didn't take off due to lack of sponsors. This caused a lot of soul-searching, some job losses and the conclusion that a) T20 leagues need a place in the cricketing calendar and b) That we cannot have too many T20 leagues.
Interestingly, this might lead to the football/ soccer like format where all the action is intra-country (in the leagues) ending with a inter-country league champion; the shorter bilateral formats (more like the football 'friendlies' will occur less often). This might just mean that Test matches (D/N, weekend, 4 day) will stay bilateral, T20s (or maybe T10s) go league style and ODIs get extinct!
5. T10s - Is this a fad? Is it a threat to T20s? Or is this a pension plan for retired cricketers?Or maybe, this is cricket's ticket to the Olympics!!
No one knows what this can become, but the T10s (10 over a side matches, each match lasting approx 90 mins) tournament in Sharjah (where else) was a reasonable success. Eoin Morgan (the biggest star of the T10s and the captain of the eventual winners - Kerala Kings) was suggesting T10 be the cricket format for Olympics; what if someone takes him seriously!
There were several other notable events - India's victory run across formats, Rohit Sharma's third double hundred in ODIs, Pak winning the Champions Trophy (and ensuring that this particular tournament gets at least one more chance) , Bangladesh's victories (and defeats), SA finally settling the ABD issue on captaincy, Aussies getting a world beating team again, England looking like losers despite a new captain (again) and also showing the world how much they like their drink, SL still grappling with the loss of Sangakkara and Jayawardane (except when they play Pak), WI and NZ not doing anything very spectacular (except for WI coming very close to upsetting England in a test match), Zimbabwe struggling with finances, Afghanistan triumphing despite the finances..... notable sporting activities. The politics (BCCI et al) continued and India's financial clout is more firmly entrenched. Lets see what 2018 brings (hopefully an Indian series win outside).
An addendum - This was also the year that Women's Cricket came into its own. The performances of our Women in Blue made people sit up and take notice. The Women came close to winning the World Cup (they played better in the finals than the men's team did in the Champion's Trophy finals) and got recognition and acclaim all over. So maybe, this will be the year when Women's cricket start's getting more mainstream.
1. Day Night tests find a firm(er) footing - Day night tests were started 2 years back ; pink ball cricket was more of a novelty, an experiment. This year saw pink ball cricket becoming more entrenched - WI played it, Pak and SL did too; SA and Zimbabwe capped it with a day night test , to end the year. So yes, looks like these are here to stay and increase. Why is this important? That's where the next point comes in...
2. 4 day tests - This one is still in a proposal stage, but the SA versus Zimbabwe 4- day test was accorded official status. The ICC reckons that they will 'keep experimenting' with this concept till 2019 and then decide. The first one was a damp squib (got over in less than 2 days), but with more evenly matched teams, and with Day-night 4 day tests that last Thursday to Sunday, there is a very good chance that spectators will fill stadiums to watch test matches.
3. Test League - Viewer interest and Test matches now get a context - thanks to a test league. All matches played will lead up to an eventual showdown to decide the best test team. So, every bilateral test series (and not just the Ashes) gains significance.
4. A relook at T20 leagues - The SA promoted Global T20 league didn't take off due to lack of sponsors. This caused a lot of soul-searching, some job losses and the conclusion that a) T20 leagues need a place in the cricketing calendar and b) That we cannot have too many T20 leagues.
Interestingly, this might lead to the football/ soccer like format where all the action is intra-country (in the leagues) ending with a inter-country league champion; the shorter bilateral formats (more like the football 'friendlies' will occur less often). This might just mean that Test matches (D/N, weekend, 4 day) will stay bilateral, T20s (or maybe T10s) go league style and ODIs get extinct!
5. T10s - Is this a fad? Is it a threat to T20s? Or is this a pension plan for retired cricketers?Or maybe, this is cricket's ticket to the Olympics!!
No one knows what this can become, but the T10s (10 over a side matches, each match lasting approx 90 mins) tournament in Sharjah (where else) was a reasonable success. Eoin Morgan (the biggest star of the T10s and the captain of the eventual winners - Kerala Kings) was suggesting T10 be the cricket format for Olympics; what if someone takes him seriously!
There were several other notable events - India's victory run across formats, Rohit Sharma's third double hundred in ODIs, Pak winning the Champions Trophy (and ensuring that this particular tournament gets at least one more chance) , Bangladesh's victories (and defeats), SA finally settling the ABD issue on captaincy, Aussies getting a world beating team again, England looking like losers despite a new captain (again) and also showing the world how much they like their drink, SL still grappling with the loss of Sangakkara and Jayawardane (except when they play Pak), WI and NZ not doing anything very spectacular (except for WI coming very close to upsetting England in a test match), Zimbabwe struggling with finances, Afghanistan triumphing despite the finances..... notable sporting activities. The politics (BCCI et al) continued and India's financial clout is more firmly entrenched. Lets see what 2018 brings (hopefully an Indian series win outside).
An addendum - This was also the year that Women's Cricket came into its own. The performances of our Women in Blue made people sit up and take notice. The Women came close to winning the World Cup (they played better in the finals than the men's team did in the Champion's Trophy finals) and got recognition and acclaim all over. So maybe, this will be the year when Women's cricket start's getting more mainstream.
