The current Australian men's ODI and Test captain, Pat Cummins, urged a revised look at the congested cricket calendar to specifically held-out periods to have fitted into both the IPL and Test cricket. Opening at the MCC World Cricket Connects 2024 event at Lord's on Friday, he brought out how players were torn between their commitment to their respective countries and professional obligations at some of the earning franchise leagues.
"Franchise cricket for some countries is more lucrative, more appealing than international cricket. If I went and played franchise cricket, I could probably be away for a half or a third of the amount we are for Australia." Cummins explained.
He suggested windows for both IPL and Test cricket, just like Australia has its clear Test season starting from the month of November till January, which would make things easier for players to decide on what to play in those times. "In Australia you know Test cricket is from November to January and basically no other cricket is going to get in the way of us playing Test cricket then. If we can have specific windows for IPL but then also Test windows that makes the decision-making for the players a lot easier," Cummins noted as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Meg Lanning, captain of the all-conquering Australian women's cricket team and winner of multiple World Cups, was joined by Cummins in citing a crippling workload for elite players. "The reality is in my view that you can't be playing everything these days, both internationally and domestically as one of the top players. I think it's too much. And while it might seem fine initially and for a few years, I think it's just inevitable that you'll get burnt out doing that," she observed. Lanning definitely talks about the fact that sustaining a schedule like this brings with it, over time, inevitable burnout.
Mike Baird, Chairman of Cricket Australia, did say that he raised his concerns regarding the future sustainability of Test cricket in those discussions. He called for fair economic distribution and how viable it was to maintain a strong Test-playing fraternity.
Deliberations from the summit highlighted how complex the balancing act had become for cricket's stakeholders to eliminate self-doubt and ensure longevity and global appeal for both franchise leagues and traditional international formats.
"Do you have a smaller amount of Test playing nations that can be sustainable, as opposed to trying to prop up a system with additional cost that is adding to the economic challenges of maintaining Test cricket.".
"We don't feel CA should dictate to any country, but we're open to ideas and proposals on how to support Test playing full stop. There's a summer to fill, and white-ball cricket can play a role, but it still remains the dominant game in Australia. It is very clear Australia will support and invest and grow Test cricket opportunities as long as we possibly can," he concluded.
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