Cricket takes a leap into the unknown with half a billion pounds

England might be struggling against India on the field of play, but Indians with deep pockets and an abiding, almost cliched interest in the game are set to revive English cricket. Owners of IPL teams and IT billionaires are pumping close to half a billion pounds into the domestic game, allowing counties to pay off long-standing debts, focus on cricket development at various levels and attend to infrastructural needs.

This is a good thing. Sport needs money to thrive, to attract more youngsters and fans, to endure as an important element of our culture. What may not be as good is the possible hastening of the end of international cricket as we know it, the blow to Test cricket, and the possible handing over of the game to moneyed men and women who will demand their pound of flesh.

That the vehicle for the bonanza is the silliest format of the game, The Hundred, with its 10-ball sets and umpires waving white cards, is only of passing significance. The new owners of the eight franchises, from Mumbai Indians to Sunrisers Hyderabad might decide to convert it to the more popular T20 format. That, of course depends on what television thinks is the more profitable (a call to be taken in 2028 when the current contract runs out). The chances of The Hundred spreading to other countries where IPL owners have their teams, like South Africa, are not so bright.

For all the criticism it has received in its 16 years, the IPL has revived cricket in many countries, either directly by buying franchises there or by inspiring similar leagues, as in Australia.

Yet — and this is the paradox — what is good for individual countries may not necessarily be good for the game itself. England’s windfall will allow the game to thrive at different levels, but the running of the game, with traditional administrators on one side and the newbie franchise owners on the other, will be tricky. There’s power and there’s responsibility. You can’t have one without the other.

The sport will find itself in an impossible situation if all the power is in the hands of the franchise owners and all the responsibility is vested with the national governing bodies or the International Cricket Council. A sensible compromise will have to be worked out.

Players too will, in effect, end up serving two masters even if they have the permission from one to serve the other! A player contracted to an IPL team with worldwide interests and earning thrice or four times what his cricket board pays, could get caught in the powerplay. Currently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India does not allow Indians to participate in other leagues, arguing it will dilute the IPL. Players have to be preserved for international cricket too, something the BCCI is aware of.

For the private owners, cricket is a business and profit is the bottom line. Cricket boards have to look beyond that to the development of the game itself. The club versus country debate is set to intensify.

In time, there might be temptation to reduce or indeed do away with red-ball cricket because it may not be commercially worthwhile. The recent series India played in Australia and series among the ‘Big Three’, England being the other team, are the biggest draws in the game regardless of the colour of the ball. The ICC is reportedly working on a two-tier format for Test cricket to ensure all matches are competitive and draw large audiences.

There is nothing inherently unsatisfactory about the shorter formats subsiding the longest. But for that to happen, non-financial power and non-financial responsibility will have to remain with the administrators.

Businessmen will have their demands (exclusive dates in the calendar, perhaps, prioritising franchise cricket over international competition, influencing the national boards in other not-so-subtle ways); they have appeared on the English domestic scene like some heroes on their white steeds to rescue a game in distress. Yorkshire said they were just a couple of months from bankruptcy. One county secretary has spoken about the desperation in counting the toilet rolls.

India’s largesse will receive gratitude, maybe even resentment from some quarters. Cricket is going through interesting times, the future arriving faster than predicted.