It'll be okay Ricky

For those of you who know me well, you'll know that I'm a big cricket fan. It's my number one favourite sport by a long margin - I'll basically watch any cricket match between any two teams at any given time, and if no TV is available then I'll try listen on the radio. I'm sure Asia will testify to all of this as she (like most women to use probably an unfair stereotype) can't stand cricket.

Anyway, for those of you who have been locked up in a cardboard box the last couple of months, the latest 'controversy' to grip the cricket world is the ongoing saga of the Indian Premier League or IPL for short. The IPL is basically a free market cricket competition where a bunch of wealthy businessmen have got together to bid for the best players in the world to play in a competition which will last for a month and a half in March-April. The latest player to get his 'knickers in a knot' about this is the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. He says that the competition has the potential to ruin international cricket because many players can earn more in a month in a half playing in the IPL than they can in an entire year playing for their country. This applies not so much to the already handsomely paid Australian cricketers but rather to the NZ and South African players who are not paid nearly as much as their Aussie counterparts. Ricky's argument is that if you are a player what would you do? Spend a month and a half playing cricket in the sub continent then take the rest of the year off to be with family and friends or do it the 'hard way' and play cricket for your country with up to 8 months of the year spent away from family and friends? The choice is obvious when put in these terms.

However, Ricky has forgotten one very important thing. The value of most of the players for this competition was not determined by how they played in other 20/20 competitions but rather for the most part it was based on their form in the more traditional forms of the game, test and one day international cricket. The implications of this are obvious to me - if a player chooses to play only in the IPL, and perhaps plays poorly in this competition, then if he chooses to forgo cricket for the rest of the year, then what are the chances he will be picked (bought) again the following year? I would say practically none. So, in all likelihood, players will continue to play other forms of cricket and play for their country, if only to increase their value the next time the IPL auction comes around. Besides, there are those who will want to play for their country regardless. Chill out Ricky, cricket is in better shape than ever.