The Amazing Mr Benjamin Stokes

Cricket Credibility trumps Cash

    The cricket calendar used to allow everyone to keep an eye on what was happening around the world, but unless you’re a spread-sheet fanatic with insomnia and multiple satellite subscriptions, you have to pick your poison and stick with it these days.

    Oddly, this choice doesn’t seem to be as straightforward as it should be. Most of us will have heard “I’ve really tried to get into it / follow it – but I just can’t seem to.” It’s an apology which is neither necessary nor appropriate.

    These choices are likely to be influenced by how much credibility – or ‘authenticity’ - the cricket has. At the moment, and this is changing quickly, international fixtures still command the greatest respect amongst the majority of followers. And in the fight amongst domestic T20 tournaments for a greater audience share, credibility will be key, not just money.

    In fact, those tournaments which make a point of not prioritising money may be more successful in the long run. It is already happening. The Big Bash was in big trouble a couple of years ago with a lack of public interest resulting in dwindling crowds. Short-sighted greed was partly to blame when the organisers expanded the competition to a glutenous two months.

    With the golden egg-laying goose in intensive care, Cricket Australia performed much-needed surgery on the schedule. But they also stopped obsessing with signing overseas players. It became apparent that by giving so much time and attention to the Overseas Player Draft they were sending the wrong message to supporters. They were reflecting an apparent lack of confidence in their own players.

These days the Big Bash teams are focussed on unearthing cricketers in their own catchment areas, big-hitting and yorker-bowling Grade cricketers who might never have been given an opportunity otherwise. Franchises will still take the opportunity to sign eye-catching and headline-grabbing internationals, like Quinton de Kock, but for the most part they are happy with proven T20 cricketers who will help them win matches rather than, maybe, put another couple of hundred bums on seats.

    And they’ve stopped feeling insecure about not having ‘big names’ from elsewhere. Supporters care far more about results than who gets them. Perhaps the record crowds that tournament is now enjoying are merely coincidental. Maybe it has nothing to do with the change of perspective.

    It is a problem the ILT20 can only dream of having. The UAE league, currently, exists only because of money. It is convenient wallpaper for the multitude of satellite broadcasters desperate to provide content. And a fantastic way for otherwise unemployed professionals to be paid, handsomely.

Players hopping and skipping between tournaments, before they have concluded, is just weird. Whatever the chances are that they might contribute to a win in three games before they move to a different tournament, for more money, the suck on the credibility vacuum is intense. Was Nicholas Pooran, as brilliant as he is, worth a gamble on the reputation of the SA20? Perhaps he was.

    Those who make a living from the game on the other side of the boundary rope don’t always enjoy quite the same luxury of choice, especially without an international cap. So, when the chance does arrive to work and indulge a passion simultaneously, it is accepted without pause and with gratitude. It’s great to see you again, Hyderabad. India vs England starts on Thursday. Can’t wait!

The full effect of the Brendon McCullum / Ben Stokes Test revolution won’t be appreciated for many years to come, but their impact on the game will be talked about for as long as it is played. McCullum was magnificent today. “Do you think the five Test matches will be over quickly, or will we have five-day Tests?”

    “Does it matter as long as they’re exciting and people want to watch them?” What a response. I love him. England are preposterous underdogs, under-skilled with spinners – who will decide the series – and reliant on Joe Root for a Bradman-level haul of runs. Yet millions of people will watch, and listen, not because of a macabre desire to rubber-neck a car-crash but because Stokes inspires a belief that anything is possible.

So, I’m back in India just a couple of months after the World Cup, describing the series for TalkSport, on the wireless. Long tours aren’t what they used to be with weeks to explore the country and share experiences, but those who have followed me for a while will know that I’ll do my best. If you can listen, do so. It’s good to give the television a break. Allow us to do the watching for you while you do the listening.

    TalkSport have booked proper, grown-up hotels with lots of channels on the TV so I’ll still keep an eye what’s happening elsewhere, but there is a sole focus which is as exciting as anything I can remember for decades. Amazingly, it’s not even about the result.