By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat
Former Australia cricket coach and opener Justin Langer has urged decision-makers to protect international cricket at all costs as the game’s calendar is squeezed ever more.
Despite coaching in the Indian Premier League, Langer has stressed the value of international cricket, which faces increasing pressure from the emergence of franchises.
Langer was speaking at World Cricket Connects, an event at Lord’s hosted by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) designed for the leading voices in the game to discuss the health of cricket and consider the path required for its future success.
One of the topics on the agenda was the position of Test cricket in the sport’s landscape, with Langer insists that it must not be sacrificed.
He said: “I love domestic cricket, but I also love international cricket and we have to keep protecting that. International cricket brings the whole country alive or breaks the heart of a whole country. It’s like the football at the moment, with the Euros. If England win, the whole country celebrates. That doesn’t happen in clubs.
“Two things have happened in the last 12 months. This time last year, I was at the Totteridge Cricket Club. I was there with probably 50 kids; I was watching them play cricket. It happened to be when Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins had that amazing partnership at Edgbaston (in the Ashes).
“I was watching and inside the changing room, there were 50 nine-year-old kids in their whites playing T20 cricket outside, all watching the Test match. When the winning runs were hit, they were shattered, but for 20 minutes they sat and watched this extraordinary game. That is Test cricket.
“Then last summer I commentated for Channel 7 and the West Indies, no one would have bet they would beat that Australian team at the Gabba.
“But Shamar Joseph, in Test cricket, it had Australia enthralled and it brought the Caribbean to life. I had him in the IPL with me, and in Guyana, they bought him a house, a car, he’s a national hero. Last week we saw a million people turn up to see India celebrated for winning the World Cup. That is bilateral cricket and international cricket.”
The event brought a range of prominent thinkers in cricket together at Lord’s, with players, coaches, broadcasters, franchise owners and administrators all in attendance.
As well as Langer, former Australia women’s captain Lisa Sthalekar, who is now the president of the World Cricketers’ Association, the players’ body in cricket.
With a wide range of discussion topics, Sthalekar was keen to stress the importance of the players having a voice in shaping the game’s future as issues such as scheduling and growth impact their careers.
She said: “I do think there were a number of people in the room who understand the value and importance of players. I feel like players are a huge stakeholder in the game yet have never been asked and are trying to share their views.
“You can’t reduce those full members being on the ICC board, but you can provide more independent thinking around it. By adding more independent thinking to challenge them.
“I’d love to see that the players have a seat at that table. Because they are a big driver and there is value in should someone represent the fans? Why are we just talking about the players?
“We heard that fans are going to be driving what cricket looks like, but they don’t have a seat at the table. There is a huge opportunity if ICC can open their doors a little bit more to independent thinking.”