There is a lot of cricket that goes on around the world. Be it international cricket in the form of Tests, ODIs, T20Is, franchise T20 leagues, domestic cricket in different countries or even T10 competitions these days, cricket is played round the clock. The schedule seems very cramped and it’s hard to keep track of.
It is something that the outgoing ICC chairman noted. Greg Barclay believes that cricket is currently in a mess and hopes that the new ICC chair Jay Shah resolves it.
“I reckon, gee, I’m at the apex of the game and I can’t tell you who’s playing around the world. In fact, I didn’t realise that Sri Lanka were in South Africa until I read about Marco Jansen’s seven wickets this morning. So, we’ve lost perspective. It’s not great for the game at all. It’s a mess. The calendar is incredibly congested and self-interest is such that it’s almost impossible to untangle all of that, because no one’s going to give up their content,” the outgoing ICC chairman Greg Barclay was quoted saying to Telegraph in an interview.
Barclay was at the helm for four years and thinks that Jay Shah can use the opportunity to take the game to another level. While he wants the new ICC chair to use India’s help but doesn’t want India to overpower or influence the world of cricket. However, he admits that the game is lucky to have such a massive contributor like India.
“I think he’s [Jay Shah] got a great opportunity to use what he’s got in his background to help India take the game to another level, but without making it sort of under the yoke of India as well. We’re really lucky to have India. They’re a massive contributor to the game across all the measures. But one country having that amount of power and influence does distort a whole lot of other outcomes, which is not necessarily helpful in terms of that global growth,” Barclay added.
‘India could help the game grow’
The 63-year-old further elaborated on the India topic on how they can help the game grow and expand. “Jay has the ability to bring India into the international fold even more. There are a number of things that India could do to help unite and grow the game, including commercially helping to pool off-shore rights, using their teams to give opportunity to smaller Full Members and emerging countries, using their clout to open new territories and markets, collaborating closely with the ICC to help benefit members, as examples,” the outgoing chairman explained.
