Is the Rise of Franchise Cricket also the Downfall of the International Format?

(IPL 2023 winning moment for Chennai Super Kings)

In the current cricket scenario, there has been a discussion prevailing for a long time regarding the impact of T20 Leagues over International cricket. This is happening because the T20 leagues, like the Indian Premier League and Big Bash League, have acquired higher audiences than some of the international tournaments and matches. The major reasons behind the growth of the T20 leagues are the involvement of money and the fast-paced cricket action that the fans love to watch. However, with the growth of T20 leagues, many cricket fans are also concerned about the international format, as the fans have started showing less interest in the ODI and test formats of the game. This has really been a matter of concern for the old-generation cricket fans, as Test cricket and ODI cricket provided them with the feeling of being in a classic match.

Emergence of T20 Leagues

The shorter format of the game emerged in 2003 as the idea of the same was given by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The ECB started this in the same year, and various English County teams participated in the shorter format of the game. Other countries also noticed its immense success in the first season, as the T20 leagues were then introduced in Pakistan, Australia, and several other cricketing nations. This also helped the International Cricket Council (ICC) to launch the T20 series and World Cup, which garnered the attention of the fans. But then the emergence of T20 leagues took place, where players from various countries came under one team to go against the others.

(England’s T20 Blast on its 20th anniversary)

The concept of T20 leagues is based on franchise cricket, as the franchises bought the team players and participated in the tournament. The Indian Premier League, Caribbean Premier League, and Big Bash League have been some of the top examples of the franchise games of the T20 leagues. For years, these leagues have garnered the attention of cricket fans across the shorter format of the game, but here are some reasons how the T20 leagues have influenced International Cricket.

1. Fans Show Less Interest in the Longer Format of the Game

In the early days of the game, the Test format was given priority as most of the international matches took place in the same format. Even the emergence of the ODI format increased the game's viewership across different parts of the world, as the fans were able to watch the classic cover drives to the deadly yorkers, which maintained the pace of the game. But that was the type of cricket loved by the old generation.

The new generation of cricket is now focused on the fast-paced, thrilling actions of the game, which is mainly provided to the fans by the shorter formats of the game. Due to this reason, the ICC (International Cricket Council) and the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) have started to focus more on providing tournaments related to the shorter format of the game, which has increased the viewership in the International format and also given a new shape to the classic rivalries.

(Fans showing less interest across the Test matches)

But the ICC was also concerned about the decline of the Test format and ODI format, due to which they have boosted the Test and ODI series, making it compulsory for the participating nations to play the same. This also contributed to the introduction of the World Test Championship, as the full-time members of the ICC participated in the tournament, competing against each other to win the World Test Championship. Although the World Test Championship and ICC World Cup have provided a growth to the longer formats of the game yet again, it is still being affected due to the T20 leagues.

2. Players are now Money-minded

The main reason why players participate in the T20 leagues is the money involved. Fans have also seen various players taking part in the T20 leagues even after their retirement and giving it more preference as compared to International cricket. The involvement of franchises has shown that the money being involved across the T20 leagues is huge, which has also made several players money-minded.

One of the most common examples is the West Indies Cricket team's downfall, as most players looked forward to the T20 leagues more than International Cricket for their country. Players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and several others lost their Central contracts from their respective cricket boards due to their higher participation across the T20 leagues and not being available for the country.

(Sunil Narine and Andre Russell playing for KKR in the Indian Premier League)

This can also be seen for the legendary New Zealand bowler Trent Boult, who has withdrawn himself from the New Zealand Test team to focus more across the T20 leagues. This shows that the players are now more money-minded and are now playing for money rather than playing for their country. This has also sparked various controversies among cricket fans and players over the past few years.

The West Indies cricket team's players revealed that they received much more from the T20 leagues as compared to the International format, due to which they decided to focus on the T20 leagues more. Many of the retired players have also shown their concern over the players being more money-minded and not taking International Cricket as seriously as they take the T20 leagues. Some of them have even pointed out that the T20 leagues have given various players the opportunity to participate in the T20 World Cup for their teams.

3. More Entertainment in the Shorter Format

Since the T20 leagues are the shorter format of the game, they provide more entertainment to the fans than the Test and ODI formats. Fans nowadays won't prefer sitting in front of their Television screens for hours to wait for the match to finish or reach a result. In the T20 leagues, fans are able to receive much more entertainment, as each and every match promises to be nail-biting for the cricket fans. With just four hours of the game, fans know that it could turn at any point, which makes them stick to their screens or seats in the stadium and enjoy the thrill.

(Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell playing for RCB in the IPL 2022 edition)

Along with that, one of the major aspects of the T20 leagues is that players from different countries can play with each other. Fans are able to see deadly duos like Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pat Cummins in one team going against the opponents.

Therefore, the fans are able to see their favourite players from different nations compete with and against each other with the help of the franchise cricket or T20 leagues. As the boundaries are being bashed in every over and important wickets could fall anytime to change the game, the T20 leagues have provided much more entertainment to the fans than the longer formats of the game.

4. Overlapping International Schedules

The T20 leagues have now grown a lot, as several countries are now having their own leagues which take place over a few months. With so many T20 leagues taking place all over the world, these leagues also overlap the international schedules. And since the players have been giving more preferences to these T20 leagues, the international cricket scenario has been affected to a great stage.

There is only one T20 league, which is a part of the ICC Future Tours programme, and it is the Indian Premier League. This means that fewer international matches will be conducted during the Indian Premier League season, which has also led to fewer international matches every year, as compared to the number of matches that took place before the T20 leagues became popular.

(International League T20 captains photoshoot hosted in Dubai)

One of the major examples in this case is the IPL 2024 season, which will be concluded just a few days before the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The T20 leagues are being conducted every month, which has overlapped the international schedule to a great extent. With this overlapping of the T20 leagues over International matches, the fans are often confused regarding which match they should be watching, which affects the viewership of the International matches to a great extent.

The International Cricket Council still provides the El Clasico rivalries to the fans, as they know this is the only way the fans would be able to show higher interest in International Cricket, regardless of the format in which they will be played. But there are still a few more things that the ICC should do to ensure that the interests of the fans rise again in the International format, as the 2023 ODI World Cup has been a massive success, with fans showing their interest across all the matches, regardless of the teams which were playing in the tournament.

5. National Boards and Players Prefer T20 Leagues More

Another influence of the T20 leagues across the international format is the player and national cricket board preferences. Since the respective Cricket Board conducts the T20 leagues, they are able to keep a major part of the earnings which they make with it. Companies pay out a good amount in terms of sponsorship, which boosts the revenues of the T20 leagues and provides higher returns to the National Cricket Boards. This revenue is much more than the revenue they receive from the international series and matches, which is why the national boards have also given more preference to the T20 leagues than to the international matches.

(IPL Trophy being presented at the time of Auction)

Since the companies who pay for the sponsorship also know about the decline in the international matches' viewership, they offer lower prices for the same, which also causes a decline in the revenue of the International matches, which is received by the National Cricket Boards. Now since the T20 leagues have been a money game, the cricket boards are able to receive huge profits by investing amounts across the same, contributing to the growth of cricket in their country and its expansion across several parts of the world.

Not only the cricket boards but also the players have also given higher preferences to the T20 leagues due to the salaries that they are able to receive from the same. The players would be paid higher by their franchise if their performance is good, and this boosts their confidence levels to perform well across different T20 leagues across the world.

What’s the Future of International Cricket Amid T20 Leagues Popularity?

Therefore, the T20 leagues have grown a lot over the past few years, but someone's opportunity is someone's loss. In this case, the fans' interest has decreased from the longer formats of the game, for which it had been known for several decades. Although the International Cricket Council and National Cricket boards have been taking steps to ensure that the viewership and players' participation across the longer formats remain as it was, it is slowly showing results.

Most of the players have been a part of the T20 leagues just to be a part of the T20 World Cup and not for the ODI World Cup or Test Championship. This has affected the spirit of the game as players and fans have started showing their focus across the shorter format. If the cricket boards are not able to push forward their impact to revive the longer formats of the game, the T20 Leagues will soon take over the International format.