In 2022, during the English summer and a month after the Indian Premier League (IPL) had finished, a Mumbai Indians squad toured England playing 10 20-over games against club sides and county second XI teams. They won them, as you would expect, but that’s not the point.
Mumbai’s “problem”, which will only increase as the IPL teams head towards globalisation and 12-month contracts for their players, is what to do with those assets between IPL seasons and all the other tournaments in which they have teams.
Even after the IPL expands to three months in the next couple of years, the inclusion of the Caribbean Premier League, ILT20, SA20 and perhaps America’s Major League Cricket won’t add up to a full year. Not quite.
But even if they did (and they will soon) that doesn’t solve the problem of what to do with the majority of their bloated squads who don’t make the starting XI. Mumbai can’t transport Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis around the world and expect them to be match-ready after six months in the nets.
When the cricket world is changed by annual franchise contracts, the vast majority of international cricketers will always need a base close to their roots, a home to return to, the place they played the game before they became millionaires. The club that gave them their first contract and helped to “make” them. And, on most occasions, they will be welcomed home with pride and open arms. In future the homecoming should also include an invoice.
Former England great Alec Stewart is now director of cricket at the country’s richest county, Surrey. They can afford to have 20+ players on annual contracts but, if Surrey cannot see the sense of it, you can be sure it is changing elsewhere, including SA.
“They can go off and play for the Mumbai Indians or the Rajasthan Royals, or in the Big Bash, or wherever else it might be, but currently the way it works is that they are under contract to us, they go away and play elsewhere, and when they come back they want time in the indoor centre, the benefit of the best coaches advising them on their game, just to get ready to go off and play in another franchise competition somewhere else,” said Stewart, known for straight talking but not for being outspoken.
“Oh, and by the way, I’ve got a little injury so can I get treated by the Surrey physio, the Surrey doctor, the Surrey medical staff, and can I get rehab as well? Just so they can go off and play somewhere else for a lot of money. Oh, and by the way, I’m not fit for the Blast, sorry. So, who looks after them for the rest of the year?” Stewart asked last week.
“We’ll see those contracts changing in the future. If a T20 specialist is only going to play for us for six weeks a year, then he can still earn, and be paid, really good money for that time but should the county be responsible for that player outside that six-week period?” Stewart said.
Not without being paid to do so, at least not in SA. The Titans, for example, should always be proud of Brevis and always welcome him back between Mumbai Indians commitments. But if and when he signs full-time then the Indian team should be paying the Titans for any game time they give him — not to mention use of training facilities and medical treatment. It may be of greater interest to Mumbai having one of their most promising assets playing competitive cricket than it would be for the Titans to make space for him.
“I’m looking ahead in my crystal ball, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if contracts change in the coming years. We’ve already seen the start of it with England letting three or four players take part in the PSL instead of being available for the tour of Bangladesh earlier this year for financial reasons,” Stewart said.
“Fair enough, that was their decision — they might not have been first-choice players for England, so they made their choice. But England will be reviewing their contracts and that will have a knock-on effect at county level. If a county cricketer gets injured playing for the Sydney Sixers, they don’t put him back together again. They come back to their county. Is that right? I’ll leave that up to other people to decide,” Stewart said.
Even when the Saudi League starts and there are T20 tournaments year-round, there can still be a place for domestic cricket. Those who fear that local cricket will be decimated and rendered irrelevant may simply be looking in the wrong direction. It’s not about people, personalities or loyalty, it’s just business.
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