Contrasting cricket

This week in Colombo we will witness another prime example of the state of world cricket. Sri Lanka as a country is fanatical about cricket and around every corner there is always someone with rich cricket knowledge ready to wax lyrical about the latest success of their beloved team.

Interestingly, it has a very similar passion for rugby with both of those sports always juggling for pole position on the back page of the daily papers, but back to cricket and its projected progress.

During the last two tests against New Zealand, the Lankan players have been watched by literally only a smattering of spectators each day. This week some 30 000 fans will wedge themselves into the Premadasa Stadium for each of the two eagerly awaited T20 internationals.

We all know that T20 has reignited and revitalised the game but the stark contrast of crowd support for these two versions of cricket is telling. The spectators are voting with their feet and the story is similar in all corners of the cricketing globe.

Quite simply it cannot be ignored.

So where does this leave the future of all three forms of the game? As I have previously discussed, an IPL window must be agreed upon to ensure the best players do not have conflicting interests and abandon country representation. For that to happen a few things still need to be ironed out, not least of all some regional cricket board compensation and the seeking of closer ties with the ICC.

These steps need to happen as a collective interest to take cricket to the next level before the international game is fragmented due to private initiatives and individual reward. The tricky part of this suggested united forward direction is that it must occur without diluting the enormous success, extraordinary vision and ownership of the IPL. Therein lies the challenge.

My advice to you is to watch closely during the Champions Trophy in South Africa because the likes of that tournament will not be seen again. One of two things will happen. Either the 50-over game will shrink to a 40-over contest or there is certainly merit in it disappearing completely.

Think about it. Is it not time to free up the enormously crowded cricket calendar and only play test cricket and T20 cricket? That would provide two very separate and distinct platforms for the most desired formats of the game which would then enable more T20 international contests, which is obviously exactly what the paying public wants.

Simplifying world cricket's focus generally would definitely elevate the status of test cricket and encourage the implementation of the proposed exciting development of test matches at night. When Kerry Packer played one dayers at night during World Series Cricket in the late 70s it provided an amazing spike in the interest of that game. I am certain the same would happen with tests played under floodlights.

In the meantime over the next few days T20 in Colombo will be hogging the spotlight and I, along with thousands, will be enjoying every minute of it.