Expert Blog

Fantastic cricket, but who’s watching?

The Champions League has been a wonderful platform for a lot of cricketers but with no Indian teams in contention for the title, the tournament has not gone down well with the Indian masses.

So has the Champions League been good? If you asked the cricketers, they would say yes pretty resoundingly; especially those from overseas for whom this is a great, and lucrative, stage. Also the idea of franchise-driven teams is refreshing because it allows more players a shot on the big stage. If, eventually, the game has to grow, I suspect it needs to follow the football model for part of the way and from that point of view the Champions League makes a lot of sense.

To be honest, the cricket has been really good. I wish more Indian fans would wake up to quality cricket beyond our shores but that is prevented to some extent by the amount of cricket we play here. But the top four teams were eminently watchable; they showed enthusiasm which was fantastic to watch and reminded us of the value of homogeneous, well-bonded teams.

It raises questions about the IPL where teams come together for short periods, have only a little time to get to know each other (indeed, they often don’t) and then disperse. The football comparison isn’t really valid here because those teams get into training well before the season starts and play together for almost six months without wholesale changes year upon year. It gives the players time to know each other and that then leads to playing for each other which is at the heart of all good teams.

However, I am not sure the commercial partners would be as enamoured. From what I have read in the papers, the ratings haven’t been sensational, which is a pity, and that means that in the festive period, people did things other than watch cricket. Does that mean there is viewer fatigue or is the market getting rational? I think as the various formats settle down we will get a better idea but on the fact of it, I suspect viewers have started prioritising.