The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has called for ‘urgent intervention’ to keep international cricket safe, saying it is increasingly being affected by domestic leagues amid a busy global schedule.
A plethora of franchise leagues, including the latest SLT20 and ILT20, is putting too much pressure on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Program (FTP), creating a ‘dangerous disparity’ in the number of matches played by weaker member nations.
India, Australia and England, part of the Big Three, get the lion’s share of international tournaments, while smaller Test-playing nations such as Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe do not get to play many matches against top teams due to the very busy FTP. The MCC said the purpose of the meeting, held in Dubai, was to examine how international cricket could be preserved amid a busy global cricket schedule filled with shorter-format franchise leagues and what global cricket would look like over the next 10 years if it was organized systematically. Give time to develop.
The MCC said in a statement on Friday, “The men’s cricket program in 2023 is full of franchise competitions which compete with the recently released ICC Future Tours Program for bilateral international cricket until 2027.” The only time this year without a combined schedule clash is in October and November when the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be held in India.
According to the statement, “This trend is repeated annually. International and franchise cricket are constantly clashing. Not just during ICC global tournaments. Indian Premier League is the only domestic tournament where conflict with international cricket can be avoided.
The MCC lauded the ICC Women’s FTP but also called for lessons from the men’s game to make international cricket more useful for players amid T20 leagues.
“Unlike the men’s schedule, the recently released ICC Women’s FTP schedule until 2025 is very clear and there is no conflict between international and domestic leagues,” the MCC said.
Former India captain and World Cricket Committee (WCC) member Sourav Ganguly said it is imperative to strike a balance between franchise cricket and the pinnacle Test format of the game.
He said, “I still believe that Test cricket is the biggest platform for cricket. That’s where you get great players and that’s why it’s called Test. It is a test of skill.
Ganguly said, “It should always remain at the top and I am sure countries will value it and strike the right balance between franchise cricket and Test cricket.”
