In something different, the Park Cricketer is peering into a crystal ball to predict the future of Men’s International cricket. Note that this is 100% satire and more than a little cynical.
More T20 Franchise Cricket
The IPL will be extended to six months and will expand to 16 teams, with 15 games each and a top eight finals series. The IPL will be given clear air in the calendar, with no other International cricket, though the PSL will continue during the IPL (as Pakistan players still won’t be allowed to play in the IPL), as well as unofficial T20 leagues in smaller countries.
The Test Tri-Series
The main Test nations will be India, Australia, and England. And they will play an annual tri-series across the three countries.
Each nation will play six Tests (two in each country, including one neutral Test in each leg), with the top two nations playing a one-off six-day Final in the number one’s nations’ country. The Australian leg will be played in December, the England leg in June/July, and the Indian leg in October. The two touring nations have the option of playing warm-up Tests against other nations, though they won’t be counted as official Tests. But the Ashes, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will still be awarded to the winners of those series’.
The smaller Test windows will allow for an expanded Big Bash League, The Hundred (which will be a T20 league), and a T10 version of the IPL.
T20Is and ODIs
There will be annual T20 World Cups, with India hosting one every two years (Pakistan will play their World Cup games in a neighbouring area). Bi-lateral T20I internationals will be scrapped, with the exception of pre-World Cup warm-up games.
One-day International cricket will be scrapped (including World Cups and the Champions Trophy).
T10 Cricket
Aside from the T10 IPL, other T10 leagues will continue to be played in the middle of nowhere by has-beens, never-was’, and will be full of “sports betting enthusiasts”. And nobody outside of those tournaments will give a shit unless something funny happens.
The Gurgler presents stories of the Park Cricketer, where we explore the lower reaches of the great game of cricket from the suburban ovals and rural grounds across Australia.
