Maybe the best thing that can happen for the sake of world cricket at this exciting, revolutionary but dangerous time is for the Indian Cricket League to be given some slack.

As the West Indies Cricket Board chief said this week, his team and New Zealand are most vulnerable to the new Twenty20 extravaganzas going on now in India because they cannot afford to prevent their top players from leaving their systems to play in either the unofficial ICL or the officially-sanctioned Indian Premier League.

It won’t stop there. South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh players are also not as well paid as the likes of India, Australia and England players who can take it or leave it as all the England players have done as well as a few Aussies like Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson. Though give it time.

The Kiwis, West Indians, Pakistanis are leaving by the dozen almost and their cricket cannot afford to allow so many players to be lost to IPL for six weeks at crucial times but more vitally they cannot cope with three-year bans being handed down to so many good players still worthy of Test and one-day international cricket for playing ICL. Most of the Lahore Badshahs team in the ICL would still be competitive in Test cricket.

The net result is that Test and world cricket will be weaker and a more inferior product will eventually impact on TV rights revenues. Times might be good now but there is no proof that outside of India this will always be the case. And all countries rely on their TV revenue to exist.  

The IPL’s TV revenue, auction proceeds, team franchise sales and sponsorship is so healthy that this product cannot seemingly be harmed in any great way. It is such an exciting product product with so many stars involved that the novelty value will run for some time and hopefully thereafter. But equally, the ICL should be given a chance to work too.     

It is clear the rest of the world are doing their best to show solidarity to the Indian board’s IPL by demonstrating a no-tolerance attitude towards players signing for the ICL. The England board were the latest, after New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. It would seem they are hoping their efforts will be handsomely rewarded through shares of revenue from the IPL or maybe hoping an extra, lucrative series against India will be pencilled in at some point.

I can’t help thinking cricket has lost an element of perspective. Is the ICL really the devil it is being made out to be? I have never detected such antipathy for a body since the world turned against South Africa, with good reason during their Apartheid regime. But the ICL is hardly that.

They are giving jobs to people in cricket, people whose careers might be flagging, ending, starting, going through tough times, good times, umpires who are retired, young players who need more exposure. And they have always maintained they would not stop their contracted players from playing for their country.

I have no allegiance either way. I think it is healthy that two such leagues as the ICL and IPL co-exist and ultimately as long as the long-term health of the game is in good hands and that the crown jewels of Test cricket is not harmed in any way, fine.

But let’s get this antipathy in order. There have been plenty of issues through cricket history to get blood boiling and lawyers hovering but this shouldn’t be one of them. For the sake of keeping cricket strong in all parts of the Test world, give the ICL a chance to work and players a chance to earn a better living without being punished for playing some competitive yet harmless Twenty20 that is entertaining TV viewers, for as as we all know now, ultimately, it’s all about the TV viewer.

Richard Sydenham is Managing Editor of Bigstarcricket.com

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