The Missed Opportunities of the Champions Trophy

For all of the fanfare that is being touted by the ICC and the ECB over the upcoming Champions Trophy tournament in England during June – is there any fair dinkum cricket fan out there that gives a rats arse about it, apart from the fact that there will be some cricket on TV to watch on those cold winters evenings? The BCCI more or less threatened not to turn up, such is their lack of interest (and pouting at only getting $300 million from the ICC instead of the $600 million they want). It isn’t even the fact that it is billed as a mini-World Cup (which it isn’t). Back in 1975 when the first real World Cup was run, it was with exactly this number of teams and this two-group-two-semi-one-final format. But how can you have a mini-World Cup where teams are excluded based on rankings and not on a qualifying tournament? All this then becomes is a tournament with the same old faces, playing for a meaningless trophy that everyone will claim is ‘an important tournament in World cricket’ when in reality it is a three week sojourn in the Old Dart before returning home after the Indian Premier League has run its course.

The cricket world is currently being skewered by the apparent popularity of Twenty20 cricket. The rise in domestic T20 leagues is beginning to clog up the cricket calendar for international cricket, both Test and ODI (One Day Internationals). These are attracting cricketers from around the world, and seeing international stars mixing with local players in teams and tournaments is not only great for spectators, it is good for cricket relationships at player level and hopefully then on an international level. Whether it is good for the level of cricket played in other formats, in regards to technique and temperament, is a debate for another day, as is whether T20 should be played at an international level (no, it should not, but again that is another debate). What T20 cricket is doing is taking up the time where ODI and ODD (One Day Domestic) once flourished, and with less of this now being able to be shoehorned into the calendar, there are fears for its livelihood. In Australia, the ODD tournament, currently the Matador BBQ Cup, is played over a three week period in October, and for the majority is played on three grounds in Sydney, in front of crowds that can barely make a ripple when a boundary is hit or a wicket taken. Cricket Australia has not cut it completely, but has minimised its costs completely. One wonders however how Australia’s domestic players can improve their standing for a national call up if they are only playing one day cricket at a first class level for three weeks of the 26 week calendar season? Even when they do, as in Cameron White’s case, is anyone looking? White has dominated the Matador Cup for three seasons, and yet still cannot find a recall to the national set up. Meanwhile the Big Bash League now sprawls over the summer school holiday period, taking up seven weeks of the season and banishing all Sheffield Shield cricket in its wake, allowing big hitters on flat decks and small grounds to dominate against bowlers who are restricted to bowling at the stumps to avoid wides and free hits and who only get four overs to have their say. Half of every squad barely gets to raise their voice let alone have a meaningful bat or a good spell of bowling, wasting the best months of the cricketing calendar sitting on a bench and watching the world go by. They might be well paid for doing nothing, and the cricket for the audiences may be entertaining, but what is it doing for cricket and the cricketers overall?

Which brings me back to the Champions Trophy. An eight team tournament that does not contain Full Member countries of the ICC in West Indies and Zimbabwe because they are not in the top 8 on rankings in ODI cricket. That may not seem to be a problem by some, but there are bigger problems. Because this tournament also contains none of the up and coming countries who are aiming to play more and more international cricket. What an oversight it is not to have Afghanistan and Ireland in this tournament. What about Scotland and the United Arab Emirates who both played at the last World Cup in Australia? How about the Netherlands or Canada who have both played at previous tournaments? No doubt two influences would have stopped this from happening. The holders of the rights to show the tournament on TV pay their money for people to watch, and their ability to draw advertisers is directly correlated by how many are watching. Thus their question of ‘who wants to see Scotland play Zimbabwe?’ would have been a driving force in negotiating just the ‘cream’ of world cricket playing. This would then have influenced the ICC and the ECB who would be looking for the largest profit available. And this is where it all falls apart. What would be of the most benefit to those associate countries named here who are not currently in the Champions Trophy – a handout from the profits made from the tournament, or hands-on tough matches against top ranked opponents in which to judge their own skills and development? Surely the answer is self-explanatory. And should some of the games be one sided, what does it matter? All countries had to start somewhere, and all teams got some floggings. They still do now – has anyone seen some of Australia’s batting in Tests in recent times?

The Champions trophy as it stands is a non-descript (read useless) tournament. However, if it had instead been extended to four groups of four teams, all playing each other once, with the top team in each group making the semi-finals, it would not only have given all of these countries an opportunity to gain much needed experience and game time, it would also have not stopped the best four teams making the final stages. And given the proximity of teams to host country England, it’s not as if it would have been a stretch for them to travel to the tournament.

If cricket is going to survive and expand in the world’s current climate, it needs to have these associate countries playing the sport, and improving, and succeeding. England at least started this by playing two ODI’s against Ireland this week. Other countries need to start doing this as well. The ICC should be reversing its decision to lower the number of teams who will play at the next World Cup to ensure that these associate nations are allowed to compete. The Champions Trophy would have been the perfect way to do this, but instead its meaninglessness is extended. I will be watching, and I will no doubt enjoy the cricket, but I will also be ruing the missed opportunity for cricket as a whole and not being able to watch Afghanistan show their wares on the world stage again.