Hyderabad: India vs Australia – Test Series. India-Australia-England – Tri Series. World Cup – month long cricket. Indian Premier League – not yet over. All in a span of about 5 months. I think cricket fans are going to die of an overdose.
To add to that, you might get to see one of your favourite cricketers from the yesteryears, soaked in the colours of T20s and smashing ‘em around the park like it’s nobody’s business. Excited? What happened? Ok wait, for your benefit, let me just clarify things.
Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar are planning to start a new Twenty20 competition for former international players. Unconfirmed reports say that Warne and Tendulkar have offered 28 big-name ex-players contracts worth $25,000 a match, with 15 Twenty20 games planned for the Cricket All Stars League over a 42-month period. Woot woot!
If all goes well, you’d get to see Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis back on field. Oh boy!
Now, this league will be a proper T20 league and like we know, the shorter the game, the more the moolah. Now, we are not complaining one bit, but someone else is whining.
Who is this now?
Remember the smart gentleman clad in whites? Yes, that’s right, Mr Test Cricket isn’t too pleased with this development. Yes, he loves Warne and Tendulkar, but their idea could well mean that Mr Test might just get sidelined.
Honestly, Tests are no longer preferred by the spectators. We want instant results, pretty much like 2-minute noodles. We want action – fours, sixes, wickets and a lot of aggression – which, sadly, isn’t what Mr Test Cricket is known for. Therefore, the masses have begun giving him a polite ignore and have settled for his siblings who make their popcorn worth the money.
One more addition to the now swelling family of T20s would just mean that Mr Test Cricket’s USP would be in serious threat. So, yes, ‘real’ fans of cricket shouldn’t let him die an untimely death.