It happens once and you think it is part of the deal. When it happens twice you wonder what is going on. It happens thrice and you start getting mad. When it is repeated, you scream out expletives. Didn’t the organisers know about June weather in UK?
After today’s possible rehearsal final, one is apt to ask whether the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are capable of planning a proper global tournament.
Fortunately for the ECB, it has many defenders who see no fault in the planning. In fact, an astute commentator blamed the entire matter on social media griping. “It was held before in the birthplace of cricket around this time and no one complained. Now with social media we are hearing all that moaning, groaning, etc. “
That is the point, actually. Social media has given the voiceless a voice. And the voices are saying that somebody should have taken care of the weather angle. The proverbial weather as unpredictable as a baby’s bottom seems to apply to the ICC's thinking cap as well.
A less shiny tournament
What the rains have done is taken the shine out of the cup. Pakistan, Sri Lanka (SL), and India—from the sub-continent—have been hit, though some say that SL has benefitted from not having to play two tough matches. Win or lose, the games are no longer about who won or lost, but also about who could not play. I mean, just because England invented the game and, as colonizers, they spread the game to the colonized, these cannot be the only reasons to qualify them as smart.
None of the big countries that matter are playing the game and that is the issue. It is howling in a puddle rather than singing a sea ditty. Global realities are not reflected in the current equation of the ICC. So, small-timer mentality rules the roost. This way, the ICC will not grow; the only way out is to expand.
China should join
For that to happen, the ICC needs—among others—the Asian giant, China; which is already into cricket but not test-playing yet.
China may take long, or a short, time to play regular tests but its presence will make the biggest difference to the health of the game. Not only can it de-colonize the ICC—which is urgent for the game in general—but it will be able to offer resources that are beyond the scarce imagination of the ICC. It can provide millions of venues, link the game to the largest market in the world— and growing—plus the game can roll on as the Belt and Road Initiative grows too.
Otherwise, cricket will remain a small-time affair of small-time nations who cannot make it in other games or sports. China can be the saviour of the situation and should be welcomed.
