Too Much Cricket
Yeah Right!
For many years, sooky international Cricketers have complained about the heavy international cricketing schedule, player burn out and depression.
Along comes the IPL and India's big money ICL and all of a sudden these concerns are on the back-burner.
In scenes reminiscent of great Slave auctions, the Indians had the last laugh as they were able to pay top dollars for any white man under the sun. More humour followed when the highest bids for non-Indian players were for the "monkey" Andrew Symonds.
At $NZ875,658 a year for 44 days work, Brendon McCullum now becomes a higher priced star than any All Black. What pundits and critics fail to mention, Rugby is still very much a closed sport. Had the IRB developed the game into sports mad countries of the sub-continent the same could be happening to their game. In order to pay what we must all realise are crazy amounts of money, it must sustain itself with income. TV rights, sponsorship and rich benefactors make Cricket a huge game.
Watch out though for players holding back playing for their country and being unavailable around the time of these Indian funded circus events due to "injury".
Lets not begrudge the Black Caps for pulling big money as if you could work for 44 days and get paid 4 or 5 times your current yearly salary then there would be no issue would there?
But now is about the time to stop whingeing about player burn out. It seems that dollars is the be-all and end-all cure for working that little bit harder. Dollars is the antidote for McMillan, Astle, Cairns, Adams and Bond to rid themselves of the toxins of John Bracewell, diabetes and recurrent injury.
Dollars also seems to have pulled Adam "Mike Pero" Parore out of a six year retirement to go to India to play in the ICL. With things quiet on the mortgage front lately, this seems a wise decision for Parore, who undoubtedly will still be fit enough to play at a top level. Skill depending.
Then of course there is Martin Crowe. Hogan and touring the sub-continent never seemed to gel. The man scored more runs off the field that on it in hot curry conditions. Now dollars seems to have cured his stomach overnight.
Australia's hottest player, Michael Clarke comes out looking the best of all this. He's refused the current contract to spend more time with his sick father, hot fiance and going fishing.
For many years, sooky international Cricketers have complained about the heavy international cricketing schedule, player burn out and depression.
Along comes the IPL and India's big money ICL and all of a sudden these concerns are on the back-burner.
In scenes reminiscent of great Slave auctions, the Indians had the last laugh as they were able to pay top dollars for any white man under the sun. More humour followed when the highest bids for non-Indian players were for the "monkey" Andrew Symonds.
At $NZ875,658 a year for 44 days work, Brendon McCullum now becomes a higher priced star than any All Black. What pundits and critics fail to mention, Rugby is still very much a closed sport. Had the IRB developed the game into sports mad countries of the sub-continent the same could be happening to their game. In order to pay what we must all realise are crazy amounts of money, it must sustain itself with income. TV rights, sponsorship and rich benefactors make Cricket a huge game.
Watch out though for players holding back playing for their country and being unavailable around the time of these Indian funded circus events due to "injury".
Lets not begrudge the Black Caps for pulling big money as if you could work for 44 days and get paid 4 or 5 times your current yearly salary then there would be no issue would there?
But now is about the time to stop whingeing about player burn out. It seems that dollars is the be-all and end-all cure for working that little bit harder. Dollars is the antidote for McMillan, Astle, Cairns, Adams and Bond to rid themselves of the toxins of John Bracewell, diabetes and recurrent injury.
Dollars also seems to have pulled Adam "Mike Pero" Parore out of a six year retirement to go to India to play in the ICL. With things quiet on the mortgage front lately, this seems a wise decision for Parore, who undoubtedly will still be fit enough to play at a top level. Skill depending.
Then of course there is Martin Crowe. Hogan and touring the sub-continent never seemed to gel. The man scored more runs off the field that on it in hot curry conditions. Now dollars seems to have cured his stomach overnight.
Australia's hottest player, Michael Clarke comes out looking the best of all this. He's refused the current contract to spend more time with his sick father, hot fiance and going fishing.
posted by Cactus Kate at 6:54 PM
2 Comments:
Of course, both could be true - there may be too much international cricket causing burntout players, and a whole bunch of players could be bailing for IPL or ICL lucre. Just that they won't necessarily be the same players.
After all, those signing for IPL or ICL so far who have retired from other forms of international cricket:
* Chris Cairns
* Nathan Astle
* Craig McMillan
* Chris Harris (okay, the selectors seem to have retired Harry)
* 'Pero' Parore
* Hogan - seriously???
* Andre Adams (who never wanted to retire, but...)
etc
As for the injury-prone like Bond - Styris answered that when he said that ditching the longer forms of the game would prolong his playing career. And given the number of ODI or T20 matches you can fit into a test slot, it's probably more lucrative as well.
This whole issue could be solved by the ICC adopting a multi-level international comp. Who says it benefits Bermuda or Bangladesh to get repeatedly trounced by Oz? And even if they do eventually learn something from the sink-or-swim method, it would surely be faster progress by playing in a 2nd division with comparable teams?
Wonder if they'll let Pero P back into the Indian hotels where he used to refuse to pay his bill?
"Money isn't everything, but it's surely way ahead of whatever's in second place."
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