Times They Are A Changing!

The young man pictured above is 22 year old Jofra Chioke Archer and he is having the time of his life, recently starring at the Big Bash, then signing up for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 IPL for the princely sum of £800,000. Yet to qualify for England, he has all the attributes to become a T20 superstar. Form and fitness permitting, that is what he will be. The chances are that he may never play Test cricket even if he is allowed to quality sooner than originally envisaged.

A few years ago, the notion that a young cricketer in his early 20s could command such riches was the stuff of fantasy and from an England perspective, Archer is Not alone. Tymal Mills and and Ben Stokes have received greater sums and there is a host of other players who have probably trebled or quadrupled what they receive on the county circuit by playing T20 around the world.

Now, two quality players have eschewed red ball cricket to play only white ball cricket for their counties. With the riches on offer in the shortest form of the game, others certainly will follow. No longer is Test Cricket or playing for England the pinnacle of aspiration.

It is hard to believe that T20 was invented in England just under 15 years ago. Compared with the Big Bash and the IPL and indeed a few of the other T20 competitions around the world, the current English version is a poor relation. The weather and some of the venues do not help which is why the ECB is looking to roll out its all new regionalised jazzed up version.

All this is anathema to the diehards who, in rose tinted spectacles, hark back to a time of uncovered wickets, gentlemen and players, Peter May, Ted Dexter, out grounds, large crowds, festivals and, more contemporarily to Botham’s Ashes, packed houses at the one day final at Lords and everything right with the world.

But the truth is that every so often cricket needs a kick up the backside or a shot in the arm. Kerry Packer and his trusty lieutenant, Tony Greig, did just that in the 1970s and the result was a vast improvement in the one day game and in what players could earn. We forget that long before the County Cricket imposed its vicelike stranglehold over the game of cricket, cricket was a game of teams funded by rich men played by hired gun players paid substantial sums and upon which even greater sums were wagered. T20  is the modern reincarnation of those times and if nothing else, it might make the administrators think creatively how the longer forms of the game can be more attractively presented. A good start would be to stop using the four day game as bookends to the season but it may be too late for that!