LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Follow the money to the end of cricket as we know it
‘The limited overs World Cups will thrive and there will always be the Ashes. Probably. But Test cricket is being marginalised at a frightening speed’
The death of international bilateral cricket, or at least its severe physical impairment, is likely to take a huge step closer to reality in the next few weeks when Cricket SA announces the eight successful bidders for team ownership in the inaugural Global Destinations T20 league at the end of 2017. If Cricket SA’s interview panel is guided by the size of the bid — and this is a money-making venture after all — then there is a very good chance that the best players in the world will become even less available to represent their countries — and the public’s interest in Test and one-day international (ODI) series will diminish still further. There was a thought that SA’s new league would attract interest in a different market from that of the Indian Premier League (IPL). There would be many corporates and cricket-mad millionaires for whom $300m in India was a little out of reach, but $30m for a team in SA was manageable. As it transpired, there were almost 60 expressions of interest....
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