MCC World Cricket Connects: Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain in men’s ODIs and Tests, has called for fixing the relentless cricketing schedule, adding that having specific windows to play the IPL as well as feature in the longest format will make the players’ decision making easier.
Cummins was speaking at the MCC World Cricket Connects 2024 held at Lord’s this week. “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.”
“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 was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Meg Lanning, Australia’s multiple World Cups winning captain in women’s cricket, felt it is becoming impossible for top players to do it all – playing international cricket as well as feature in leagues around the world.
“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 said.
Mike Baird, Cricket Australia Chairman, talked about the worries on sustainability of playing Test cricket in future happening during the summit. “There was discussion around sharing economics and acknowledgement across the board that larger countries would potentially play a role in that. But there were also questions around how many sustainable Test-playing nations are there?
“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 said.
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“We don’t feel (Cricket Australia) 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 (Test cricket) 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.
