Steve Waugh bashes T20 leagues, says it has promoted "loyalty to money"

Legendary batsman Steve Waugh on Monday said that the incentive on offer in T20 leagues has lead to a decline in national duty, saying that it has promoted "loyalty to money", during an interaction with the Indian media at the Laureus World Sports Awards.

The Australian great also went on to bash former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum and the West Indies cricket team.

"Somebody like Brendon McCullum retired from Test cricket even though I feel he still had three-four years in him. He is just working for superannuation right now, for his family, which is alright.

"Overall I feel there is no loyalty to the team, there is loyalty to money now. I don't blame the players but it's tough on the fans," Waugh told the media.

According to the ex- Australian skipper, these T20 leagues have made it impossible for any country to strike the balance between the three formats of the game. However, he feels Australia, India and England are almost close to reaching the equilibrium.

"I think Australia is the closest when it comes to striking a balance, India has the potential and England is also coming up nicely...I think it's impossible to strike a perfect balance given that there are three different teams.

"It's not realistic. I don't think there would ever be one world no.1 in all three formats of the game," said Waugh.

Waugh took West Indies as an example to explain how T20 affects the growth of other formats. "There is a danger and we all know that. Look at West Indies. The incentive to play T20 cricket is so much more than Test cricket," he said.

Commenting on Australia's performance at the World T20, he said that Steven Smith's men deserved their early exit from the tournament.

"I appreciate that we put Test cricket on a pedestal and because of that probably T20 has suffered but I respect Cricket Australia for giving primacy to Test cricket. As a result, we didn't have a settled line-up in World T20 and we got what we deserved," he added.

Former England captain Ian Botham, echoing Waugh’s sentiments, said that Twenty20 should be kept at the "bottom of the shelf".

"Test cricket is number one because it ebbs and flows beautifully but there is a shelf life for every format. And I feel Twenty20 should be at the bottom of the shelf. People are saying it was a great World Twenty20 final last month. I say it was a great last four balls, the rest of the final was a drag. I think it was a pretty poor final," Botham said. West Indies defeated England in the World T20 final in a last- over thriller with Carlos Brathwaite smashing Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes.

Botham stressed on the fact that Twenty20 is becoming a gamble. "That's a real threat. T20 could become a lottery because cricket is much more than just 20 overs. Crowds like it but then crowds like Test cricket too. In England every big Test series is sold out, it's the same in Australia, South Africa or New Zealand" he said.

He went on to say that players have to remind people about the importance of Test cricket and are also obliged to look after the long format of the game.