Why are cricketers these days preferring franchise-based T20 leagues over Test cricket?

Nation versus Franchise

There is hardly the pressure that once undergoes while representing the country.

De Villiers was also right in emphasizing that apart from ICC events, fan interest in bilateral tournaments is dwindling. The alternative market of franchise-based cricket, with the money being pumped into it, is seriously on the rise like never before.

“The worrying thing is that the players are telling us that if things don’t change, they will be turning more to T20 leagues,” De Villiers said. “It varies from country to country. Countries where players are well paid and Test cricket is stronger have a big affinity to Test cricket. But in many countries that is not the case. Everyone in cricket has now got to the point where we need significant and proper changes.

“The two T20s leagues (IPL and Big Bash) are an internal market and free agency is on the rise. The West Indies are just a forerunner of the free agency change and we have got to do what we can to make international cricket as attractive as it can be to players.”

The present structure of the ICC is heavily skewed in favour of the 'Big Three' so much so that India, Australia and England can seriously pay their players enough to keep them away from rival T20 leagues. With the widening of the financial gains, countries like South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies will never be able to pay their players anywhere near to what franchises can offer them.

Michael Clarke had been critical of the West Indies players taking part in the BBL while the Windies were being annihilated by the Aussies in the Test series. Clarke said, "The players that are here playing in the BBL I think it’s really disappointing they’re not part of the West Indies Test team.

"There’s a number of players in Australia who would be in their number one picked Test team. I think it’s disappointing for the game and Test match cricket. I’d like to see that changed. That will come down to the ICC and West Indies Cricket Board trying to get together to make it work.”

But what Clarke fails to see is the basic flaw in the way the ICC is structured which makes it impossible for cricket boards outside the Big Three to pay their players satisfactory wages. The most disappointing case in recent history is Brendon Taylor's early retirement from international cricket citing reasons of financial instability. If cricket boards are not able to pay players according to their demands, it is only natural that cricketers would gravitate towards the cash-rich franchises.

An uncertain future lies ahead

T20 cricket is here to stay.

Franchise-based cricket is here to stay and might well be the future of the sport. But the ICC needs to play a bigger role in regulating and re-structuring cricket. There is universal acceptance of the fact that new life needs to be breathed into Test cricket to resuscitate it from the dying embers. Organising a World Test championship, more Day/Night Tests and even franchise-based Test cricket might be a few desirable options to work with.

But all these are quick-fixes that hardly address the actual problem. The elephant in the room remains the ICC with its unmitigated greed and lust for power. And that it is a three-horse race at the moment is no secret with new financial restructuring set to lead to a 20 percent increase of the expected revenue of $2.5 billion which will be pocketed by the BCCI over the next eight years.

For countries like Zimbabwe and West Indies, it is a losing battle as they are sure to lose some of their finest players to T20 franchises over the next few years. Unless a re-structuring of the ICC with a radical financial remodelling is on the cards - which is extremely unlikely given the elite position enjoyed by its three core members - more countries will see a rapid exodus of their international superstars.

But interestingly, the ICC stands much to lose from such a development. The mushrooming of T20 leagues is slowly empowering private entrepreneurs to experiment with their own models of controlling cricket. This is bringing about a radical decentralisation as far as financial control and governance of cricket is concerned.

Should any such alternative blueprint of governance backed by private commercial players who do not lack in financial muscle catch the imagination of the cricketing fraternity at large, the ICC will find that its moves so far have fatally backfired.