Larvatus Prodeo

The structure of elite-level cricket competition is virtually unique. Soccer, rugby, the various American codes - you name it, they’re all based around clubs which are free to recruit players from where they choose, rather than representation from the country or state where one was born - though at the sub-elite level, England’s county teams have been full of Australian players for decades.

The recent Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition was strikingly different, with many of the world’s elite players distributed around the various teams like a schoolyard pick-up game. And, according to cricketer-turned-businessman Neil Maxwell, it’s the way of the future, and the cricket establishment must deal with it or miss out:

WORLD cricket is on an irreversible path towards a franchise club system in which players will be free to participate in three Twenty20 competitions and earn millions from contracts alone…Maxwell also believes that if Test cricket and player development are to feature in the revolution, governing bodies such as Cricket Australia must act fast.

Continue reading ‘The end of a sporting anomaly’