MUMBAI: The people who matter within the BCCI appear to have a single-point agenda on their collective minds. Come what may, deliver the remainder of the India Premier League that was suspended mid-way.
What clearly does not matter to the board is that the players, who are already in the middle of a very hectic season, might confront fatigue / injury issues. It does not matter that other boards have their own schedules which, unlike the BCCI’s haphazard and ad hoc ways of functioning, are more process driven and structured.
According to the Times of India, the Indian cricket board is likely to make a “big announcement” during its May 29 Special General Meeting (SGM). BCCI sources told the daily that the BCCI plans to talk to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to reduce the gap between the second and third Test of the five-match series between India and England, which is starting in August.
As per the schedule, there is a nine-day gap between the above-mentioned two Tests, and BCCI is looking to reduce it to four days. “If that gap can be reduced to four, it will allow BCCI five extra days to make use of,” board said, as quoted by TOI.
What said sources have told the daily make for interesting reading: “If that gap can be reduced to four, it will allow BCCI five extra days to make use of. If we can have those extra days eked out from the India-England schedule, it adds to the window. If not, then within these 30 days, a full day will have to be set aside for the Indian team and English cricketers to travel from the UK to the UAE; five days will have to be set aside for the knockouts later.
“That will leave the BCCI with 24 days to conclude 27 matches. This window has four weekends available, which means a total of eight Saturdays and Sundays for doubleheaders that can accommodate 16 matches. That will leave the BCCI with 11 matches to be held in 19 days.”
How does all this work out for others? As IANS notes, in the current schedule, there is only a month’s time between the end of the India-England series and the start of the T20 World Cup, slated to begin in mid-October and end in mid-November. Immediately after that, is the Ashes series between England and Australia.
England has a packed schedule in its own summer, beginning in June. They are launching The Hundred – a 100-ball competition – this year. It will be held in July and August and all England international stars are expected to play the first few matches to attract eyeballs. Advancing the India Test series by a week would mean the series will begin on July 27, just six days after The Hundred starts forcing a lot of England’s international stars to miss the 100-ball tournament.
“ECB cannot relent because the English counties which are hosting matches, international and The Hundred, will be up against them. There is a lot at stake. It is not just the counties but other stakeholders too,” an official in the know of things told IANS.
As the newswire further reports, this leaves the BCCI with a month between the England series and the T20 World Cup where it has to somehow fit the IPL with little thought given to the current quarantine rules or the exhaustion of Indian players.
Add the fact that England and Australia play their first Test on December 8 of the Ashes series, and that pretty much means that England and Australia’s biggest stars would be unavailable.
Seen from this perch, the whole idea is preposterous and uncaring about the welfare of players. But money is all important so the show will presumably go on, come what may.
