On all the development blogs, we worry about the “what, how, good and bad” of cricket development. But sometimes, people ask a very basic question: take a step back, and ask exactly what the point is of developing cricket in the associate countries? If they have the culture of cricket, the numbers etc, then they will improve themselves. Why are we proactively worried about it?
From the other side, some baffoons give statements about focussing on only China and US as they have great money potential. As if the game is starving for money right now.
Here is the problem with this thinking. It is not the associates that need cricket. Cricket needs the associates. The game needs something new, all the time, something fresh.
No one denies that one of the best world cup ever to take place was the 1992 one in Australia/NZ. It was for multiple reasons: colored clothing, day night cricket, great format, great game production, and last but not least, a new team. SA was the one thing that every cricket watcher noticed. Unknown players, good standard, almost a cinderalla team.
The novelty aspect of the game is long gone after the advent of cable. Now, you will never wonder what a player is like that you have heard about so much. You will never wonder if someone is really as fast as they say he is. If he has been playing ODI or Tests against other countries, the chances are that you have seen him, and know the answer to that already. Its pretty easy to follow global cricket when there are only 8-9 teams playing it. There is no mystery there.
The other novelty aspect, that you get to play different teams, with different strengths and weaknesses, thats not there either. The same teams play each other all the time. England played Australia for 7 ODIs, then were also playing them in the semis of the Champions Trophy. The result was also in line with how things had been in the past. Ind/Nz/Sri played each other in a triseries, and Pak played Srilanka for 5 ODIs right before Champions trophy. Pak and NZ now start an ODI series after their semi. And ofcourse, just 2 months before all that, there was the T20 tournament. Even Pakistan vs India, the most viciously watched game, was becoming somewhat of a passing by event due to the 2006-2008 overdose.
More teams ARE needed, more fresh players are needed. Otherwise the game will get completely pointless. I personally believed that the Champions Trophy should have been only 6 teams. With 8 teams, its just the world cup ! But if there are 20 competitive cricket teams, even at Bangladesh standard, they would create some freshness.
The second reason is from the perspective of association. Why do illetrate people in Pakistan know that there is a country across the world down under where there was a man called Don Bradman? Why would people find interesting that Usain Bolt’s favorite sportman as a child was Waqar Younis? Through the common aspect of the sport, you tend to begin and understand the other culture, methods, people a lot better. Wouldnt the Indians want that Sachin Tendulkar is known well in the 1.3 billion chinese population? Wouldnt the Australians want that Brett Lee is well known in the US. Wouldnt these players want it themselves?
Third reason is a basic one. If its a global sport, then it should not be limited to 1/3 of the worlds population. There should be an attempt to help promote it in the other 2/3.
The 4th reason is talent based. The greatest talents can be anywhere in the world. The one billion population of India did not produce Viv Richards. He was from of Antigua, a country of 60K people across the world. The world of cricket is better off because of Viv Richards. Since talent can be anywhere, you have to make sure you go everywhere to find it.
Money is the 5th reason. It is there, I dont deny it. But its not the main reason. If you make this the main reason and then only go after high GDP/capita countries, its foolish, and you lose out on the other points. Money is important as it creates more of a cricket economy, even for people in cricket playing nations in the developing world.
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