Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Aussie Invasion of the IPL Continues...

Yesterday I did a post on the Aussies taking the IPL by storm. Shaun Marsh and Dominic Thornely were the latest signees to the league.

That wasn't the end of the Aussie signing spree though.

One of the commentators on that post mentioned that the dominance of Aussie coaches in the IPL has led a number of domestic players to join the IPL. Very true I think.

The latest Aussies to join the IPL are Micheal Buchanan and Matthew Mott. Micheal is the son of former Australia coach John Buchanan and he joins his father at the Kolkata Knight Riders as the teams strength trainer.

What in the world is a strength trainer? Is he going to train the likes of Saurav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting, and Chris Gayle to become stronger?

Matthew Mott is the New South Wales' coach and he also joins the Kolkata Knight Riders as John Buchanan's assistant.

And so the Aussie invasion of the IPL continues. There could yet be more though.

In a recent survey held by the Australian Cricketers' Association, 47% of the nationally contracted players said that they would consider early retirement to play in the IPL or the ICL. 49% of the players with state deals said the same.

I believe that this is going to have quite an impact on Australian cricket in the future. All the Aussies could well be thinking that this is India's plan to strip them of the world dominance that they have been on for over a decade.

Pakistan's domestic cricket is already suffering with the cream of domestic stars opting for the ICL. Even though this year the Aussies in the ICL were the ageing ones like Jason Gillespie, Damien Martyn, Jimmy Maher, and Micheal Kasprowicz, theres no reason why younger ones won't follow suit in the future.

A weakened domestic structure in Australia is bound to weaken the international team.


I say the ICL because in the same survey, 75% of the contracted players said that the ICL was good for the game. Now this is a surprise! I had thought otherwise since majority of the Aussie bloggers call it evil. The players obviously think otherwise.

Here is a further case for lifting the ban off the ICL and accepting it as an open competitor.

If the best players of cricket in the world feel that a league, labelled as rebel, is good for the game and that they would even consider early retirement to play there, the rebel label needs to go sooner rather than later.

The BCCI and the ICC need to wake up already.

Make your pitch on this post...



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12 Pitched:

  1. Jrod said...
     

    Dominic Thronley, red hair, hits the ball a long way, is afraid of short fast bowling, bowls medium pace averagely.

    Shaun Marsh, sh1t hot batsman, likes a drink. Could be a 10 year player for Australia.

    Matthew Mott, most boring opening batsman ever. Spent many a year at the MCG watching him make 50 off 200 balls. Should be an expert on 2020.

  2. Obaid said...
     

    how about a mental strength trainer? All chokers and under achievers could use them

  3. Tim said...
     

    Australia are taking the IPl by storm, certainly...not a surprise though! Add in Gillespie, Martyn and co and they're taking the ICL by storm as well...

    Think we'll see an Aussie ICL team pretty soon.

  4. Tim said...
     

    PS fancy swapping links?

  5. Obaid said...
     

    Sure Tim... will go ahead and add a link to your blog

  6. Arjun said...
     

    Thanks for the short bios, jrod. Any idea what teams they've joined, and if so, will they get a chance in the first XI anytime soon?

  7. Rob said...
     

    If the IPL/ICL takes off, by which I mean long term -- and it looks like theyu might -- then the IC will have to make room for them and restore the status quo. The other nations cannot afford to have their programmes decimated -- there will be a solution (forced or otherwise).

  8. Q said...
     

    Arjwiz, I've reported on this post and my previous one on Aussies in the IPL about the teams that these guys have joined.

    Uncle J - any views on Micheal Buchanan?

  9. Q said...
     

    Welcome to Well Pitched Tim. The Pakistanis have taken the ICL by more storm than the Aussies. I'm not suprised by the internationals joinging the ICL and IPL but what is amazing is that Aussie domestic stars have been able to strike neat deals for themselves.

    ICL Australia is being planned along with ICl Sri Lanka, ICL South Africa, and ICL New Zealand.

  10. Q said...
     

    Rob - welcome here.

    I agree with you. I think the leagues will take off. the ICL already has and IPL will do as well surely. Other nations will have their own leagues soon and the ICC will be left with no choice but to alter the FTP.

    Haroon Lorgat, the in coming CEO seems to be in favor of these leagues and their presence in the FTP - the future looks bright for them then.

  11. Jrod said...
     

    Micheal Buchanan, dont think he ever played for QLD, his brother is in the squad. I'm assuming he is tall and lean like his old man, probably doesn't have a moustache and is getting paid a fortune for doing sweet fu9k all i'd say.

  12. Q said...
     

    I'm still not over the strength trainer bit..

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