As you may all know by this time, Bangladeshis have opted to participate in the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Talking about the ICL sounds strange...it has been a very long time indeed.
Well, you may well ask, "why not BDis choose IPL instead of ICL....you know there are taboos and things like that?"
I'll leave you to ponder that...
Young and flamboyant Shahriar Nafees tells us why - according to his understanding, ICC hasn't anywhere said that those playing in ICL cannot play for their counties or countries. (CNN-IBN dated Sept 17 2008 video not yet available) That boy has potential at 22...
"Not so!" says Gazi Ashraf of BD Cricket Board. The future for this erratic performer is bleak he says.
"But what about Ashraful?" you might ask...just because "erratic" came into the picture.
Habibul Bashar clarified "it is not for money alone...we love the game" in the yet to be available video clip of CNN-IBN. I'll not nitpick on the significance of that "money alone" in that sentence.
But let that be, and let the fuming and frothing boards be, for the moment. 1st world countries have permitted their ICL players back into one of their many folds, so why not Pakistan (remember the Badshahs?) or BD? Which category does India fall in? Kapil Dev hints and suggests, but goes on to say they'll play even if crushed...they'll get the money they deserve, even if crushed. There is some legalese going on...
So there are three international teams so far in the ICL - India, Pakistan and BD. New Zealand and Sri Lanka cannot be far away and it must be a cinch to whip up an Australian or Saffer team - there are so many players in those ranks who are "out of the loop" so to speak. Can't be long before all teams are represented, now that counties and countries (1st world only at the moment) may not have problems fielding ICL players...they may have problems fielding IPL players instead! Kapil tells us why - ICL plays better cricket and IPL plays better marketing.
In which case, I ask you "How long before the barriers fall down?" Let's expand it further, "How long before synergies develop, splicing ICL and Stanford into a business sensible bond (BsB)?" Watch out ICC...don't say you weren't warned! Spurned women and businessmen can be quite a handful.
While those who must, wrestle with these issues, let's look ahead to an ICL season which is becoming more interesting with younger players and nationally demarcated teams. Now they have a western India ground presence as well.
The number six doorway
2 hours ago
14 comments:
the icl will get itself killed if they are to be recognized...or bond with stanford...
its beauty lies in having a parallel nation representing league...and then let the market decide the fate...
Stanford is how they'll probably go. It is mutulally beneficial to both. Stanford gets his entry into the Indian market finally...he's been hankering for it for quite a while and all thi supporting WI cricket drama is just so he can become official...now he is a WICB controller and official.
This is where Subhash Gupta gets his foot in -hands over the cricket organisation to Stanford and takes all the TV rights. Plenty of Stanford publicity and opening for his businesses. Zee has a global presence...wherever asians are there.
You see he has golf and polo interests as well and Kapil is also working towards bringing big-name golf and golfers to India, and polo is always a maharjah game with corportae following as well here. AIG is stuttering...Stanford financial services could strike forward into new territories...a colleague like Stanford can take Zee a step up towards a wider audience and maybe to replicate some of Murdoch's zoo-zaa.
Plenty could happen between the two you know...
the only problem with this is...is zee willing to let go the booty and settle only with tv rights?
stanford is a giant who will gulp zee in no time and who knows they wont even be left with having tv rights...
They will work out something if it gets to that. see that as the next big turmoil in cricket.
England is thick with Stanford...wonder how she will respond?
And what about WI? They had a few things to say about ICL, IPL and India in general as well...or is it all sab kuch maaf if you figure at the extremes of this?
SB seriously, how much of interest can ICL really generate in India with shadow teams like Badsha's and BD? Cricket in India to a great extent is star driven. ICL may at the best draw local crowd at cheap to moderate prices. It cannot tie the audience in front of TV as did IPL with its star attraction.
Zee has some deep pockets and are able to run the show well so far but then sustaining it in the long run is very difficult. May be that's where Stanford can chip in. Even then BCCI's muscle power too strong to handle. But for a change of guards and a change of mind in BCCI, ICL won't hog the limelight. But it can continue to be poor man's IPL.
Bala, ICL is not as dumb as media wants us to believe or as Kapil lets us. You see they are marketing this sport in areas which are unlikely to recieve many interantional matches. They are like the late Gulshan Kumar of T-series who believed that all he needed was a profit of Re.1 and the volume of sales would take care of the rest. We have seen what that Daryaganj fruitjuicewallah ended up building.
Selling to the mofussils...from where the cricketers are coming but big-time cricket doesn't go to there to show the locals what their annas and thambis are doing on a bigger stage than the village green.
I see them working their way up from the periphery...if and if they and Stanford combine, then its a deadly product.
That's correct SB. They feed those who are deprived but that may not get them enough to pay the stars of ICL. That means Zee has to dig deeper and deeper to pay the stars and retain the ICL attraction.
Honestly ICL is good for Indian cricket. We need something like this to shake off the monolith that is BCCI. Thanks to ICL, domestic players in India are now getting much better compensation.
But to make ICC and BCCI sit up and reverse the ban on ICL require more ICL fans / crowd, which enables Zee to go more aggressive on star acquisition. ICL is like poor cotton mills that sufferred at the hand of Reliance (like IPL)in 80's and early 90's.
Current owners of cricket won't bother seeing fringe players joining ICL . In case of BD they will just pump in more funds, trouble the life of deserters and keep in BD board happy.
They probably need someone like Stanford to join hands. But then if BCCI and modi are savvy enough then we may even see Stanford becoming their friend.
BD players are now banned for 10 years. That effectively wipes out international careers of all BD players involved. How unsettling that could be? Can ICL guarantee another 10 years for these players, if they perform at good pay levels?
ICC, BCCI and the bosses of cricket will go to any extent to make ICL a failure. Very sad state of affairs. Subhash Chandra needs an Ambani (why not Anil?) or Stanford.
"Spurned women and businessmen can be quite a handful."
LOL... I can certainly vouch for the women.
To me it was nothing more than some worthless fringes doing it entirely for money. If they had the hunger to play cricket for their nation, they could have held on and tried harder. A freaking 22 year old joining the ICL!! Brilliant attitude!
I'm all ears Scorpi...cricket can wait, the warriors can wait. :)
There's something about what you say about 22 year olds which rings true...but did you read Sfx's blogpost of old where he spoke about how we come to accept something as official? You may have to dig through his blog a bit for that post...maybe a year old.
Good to see SLC lifting the bank on ICL players to play domestic cricket. Now BCCI wants ICC to consider and take action. What nonsense? If ECB allows their ICL players to play county, how can ICC stop SLC from lifting the ban. It is time BCCI come to terms with the reality
SD, it was obvious that gradually this is what would happen. Individual boards which do not have the wherewithal to satisy their players will have to pull away from the mutual protection group...especially when some countries already broke the bond with private entrepreneurs. One of the reasons I felt that the second team coming into ICL would open the floodgates.
We should soon see an Ozzie team (even if they are over the hill players) and the same of NZ, SA and England teams. SL is already in the making...Marvan wouldn't have been sitting idle, would he?
Now coming to IPL going to ICC...I think that's right too.
See, this is a struggle between establishment and newcomers. IPL has found the rug pulled from beneath it (will gradually) by its mates in the establishment who resent India's clout.
If Australia, SA, NZ and England had wanted to make things tough for ICL and Stanford, they'd have done it along with others.
Now...new alignments are bound to be formed and perhaps a new structure falling in place sooner than expected.
Just wait and watch...Stanford will make his move and ICL will suddenly find recognition supported by England and the likes. Just see it unfold...
This is what I said - So there are three international teams so far in the ICL - India, Pakistan and BD. New Zealand and Sri Lanka cannot be far away and it must be a cinch to whip up an Australian or Saffer team - there are so many players in those ranks who are "out of the loop" so to speak.
So the Sri Lankan team is getting ready...NZ and SA next and a bunch of second rung domestic players or retirees from Oz/England should complete the initial quorum.
Kenya, Ireland...there are other teams like them who could come into ICL
For SL this works well...it solves the immediate problem of player discontent over their internal pay and contract structure...Arjuna has played a many angled stroke. he wasn't in favour of IPL but will use it as long as it suits him. he doesn't yet see ICL as a threat so it doesn't bother him as long as some of his players are paid and kept happy.
Watch this unfold and gather momentum.
Yes SB, ICL is of course gathering some momentum. But still IPL and BCCI can spoil it by sharing the proceeds with disgruntled boards. In a way Modi is a spurned businessman. His stint in his family businesses and own efforts were failures. IPL is his door to salvation. Can he allow it to be spoilt?
ICL now needs some one big like Standford. I wish and hope your words come true soon.
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