My vision for T20

Last week I wrote about the divergence of three formats, in a post which was the most popular Substack I’ve written by far in terms of number of readers - it’s obviously a hot topic in the cricket world currently which polarises fans.

However, those polarised fans don’t really have any control over where the game is heading. Just as in other sports, such as football, commercial realities will take precedence over all else.

Not just that, but the three formats are continually diverging. Boundary percentages in T20 cricket continue to rise, and there’s still scope for teams to gain big competitive advantages in terms of roster construction (pre-tournament) and resource management (during the matches) - don't expect the current boundary percentage numbers to plateau any time soon.

A day will come where there are a lot more T20 specialists worldwide, because 1) the format will require unique skills which aren’t necessarily transferable to longer form cricket (they may for 50 overs to some extent, but the format could be obsolete by that time) and 2) the financial rewards for doing so make focusing both playing time and specific training schedules on one format an obvious choice. This could also see the end of bilateral T20 series, which aren’t much more than glorified friendlies in any case.

Writing this early in the morning, I do apologise to any traditionalists who have just choked on their muesli while reading this - other breakfast choices are available - but the above are realities of how cricket will likely evolve in the future.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen IPL teams purchase teams in other leagues. There’s presence in the CPL, and there will be ownership also in the new South Africa and UAE leagues. This isn’t going to stop - if leagues such as the Big Bash and The Hundred enabled private ownership, you can be sure that IPL teams will be interested in acquiring teams in those leagues too.

Like it or not, I can see all these leagues become feeder leagues to the IPL. If an IPL team wants to test out a young prospect in high level competition before they trust them to play IPL, they can send them to one of these leagues to be assessed. It reminds me of the baseball system where players have to work their way up through minor leagues before playing at the top level.

We’ve also seen speculation about a longer IPL, or two IPLs per season, so I want to discuss how I would approach this. The IPL is so big commercially that it’s only natural that those involved with it want to see it grow further, so here’s how I would like to see it evolve.

My vision is for the IPL to last for the majority of the year, with a not dissimilar number of matches for each team to how many each team play in baseball. The tournament would be taken worldwide, with, for example, two months in India plus a month in all the major cricketing countries plus the USA - a country where I think the T20 format will explode in the next few years.

Then, around the world, each country has their own T20 leagues which are like the minor leagues in baseball, feeding into the major league (the worldwide IPL). This is where the young talent gets to play to prove themselves, before making their way up to the main stage. On the flip side, any player performing badly in the worldwide IPL could be demoted to the minor leagues (their domestic T20 league).

As with other sports, such as football, there would be a full transfer system, rather different to the IPL which hasn't really evolved with regards to player trading yet. This would spark huge interest commercially, with content for fans going through the roof - imagine transfer deadline day in the IPL! I’m not sure you’ll get an IPL head coach giving an interview through their Range Rover window like Harry Redknapp was famed for back in the day, but it would be great content regardless. Who would be the cricket version of Jim White? Comment below!

The final part of my vision is for there to be no overseas player restrictions. I actually can’t believe there isn’t a league which has done this already. There aren’t really many restrictions in football, and for a league to be as high quality as possible, this does need to happen. There will be an abundance of opportunities worldwide for players of all major cricketing nations to prove themselves worthy of opportunities in the main tournament through their own domestic leagues (which would have no overseas players in it), and I like the meritocratic aspect of all players having to earn their place in the main tournament.

So that’s it - a virtually year-long IPL, played around the world with minor leagues in various countries feeding into it. No overseas restrictions for the playing XI, and a full transfer market as well. What do you think?