A lot has been written about how if the Australian cricket team cancels its tour of Pakistan, the players will be free to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and earn big bucks. Obviously the security situation in Pakistan is always going to be a concern, but the whole affair looks a bit suspicious. So far, no one has directly voiced their concerns over the players’ true motivations, but I have no hesitation to write about my concerns on this blog. I believe that the players are probably exaggerating their concerns about touring Pakistan, so that they will be available for the IPL.
Cricket has now got to a point where the players can no longer be bothered to play for their country. Even worst than that, the players seem more willing to play Twenty20 than play test matches for their country. This seems very hypocritical on the part of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who in the past has been very dismissive of the Twenty20 concept. However, he now seems very keen to play in the IPL, especially since he has been named as one of the five most sought after players.
Then again, perhaps the IPL is the first sign of a brand of professionalism that cricket sorely needs. Cricket is pretty boring at the moment because no country can compete with Australia. If cricket teams become companies, and cricket players are paid according to their talent, then some real competitive juices will start flowing. It will be really interesting to see talented Australian players come up against each other – Brett Lee bowling bouncers at Ricky Ponting, or Shane Warne trying to bowl Andrew Symonds around his legs. International cricket can be free to concentrate on the most pure version of the game, test cricket.
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