Interesting article on IPL

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/looks-like-a-lame-duck-quacks-like-a-lame-duck/2008/02/15/1202760601602.html

The point being that if palyers don't actually represent cities or states or countries, then do we (or they) really care about the results?

Not being a big T20 fan, I'd probably not watch Punter playing for the Chennai Cheaters . . . and I wonder how popular this will be outside India itself?

I look forward to your children - no doubt scattered all over the world- supporting the Chennai Champions.

And this Adam Stevenson fella is a bad journalist.

Interesting. I was making a similar point to the "WGAF" point to my Indian uncle last night.

He was saying the IPL/ICL will see the death of cricket as the Boards realise that they don't actually own cricket. My point is that while I think Test cricket will suffer in the short term, eventually the money in IPL/ICL will dry up as people realise it is boring is bat shit (dancing girls, Bollywood stars notwithstanding) and really we've always supported out country first and our players second. Once no one is interested, the money will dry up.

The point about Packer is a good one - I think he knew fundamentally what people wanted and didn't want to upset that. The night games and coloured clothes etc were all a sideshow.

I seem to recall once reading about WSC that despite all the players who signed up, if Dennis Lillee hadn't signed then it would have fallen over before it started. Would be interesting to see how interested people are in IPL once it becomes clear that the aging legends aren't up to it anymore and there are no new legends because such a status is forged on the test field.

i guess aussies dont watch real football. maybe we should organise some exchange programs so they can see the world beyond their 20 mile radius of being

Just because he calls it a lame duck doesn't make it a lame duck ....

Things that contradict the article ....

The "Slave" Market...the cricketers have volunteered for the market ...they know their fate and no one is forcing them into it ...

Last week in the Pura Cup Magoffin and Edmondson held off Qld to get a draw . They denied Qld legend Michael Kasprowicz a victory in his last game . Both Eddo and Magoffin are Qlders who have transferred to WA because they couldn't get a game in Qld . No trouble for either of them to play for an adopted team .

Overseas players have plenty of success in County Cricket ...and the fans of the counties love the good players ( and hate the shit ones) as if they were born and bred in that county

The club based football codes all draw their players from everywhere ....and the fans of those clubs come from everywhere and are passionate about their clubs ...

McGrath Warne and Gilchrist have retired ...and if their performances aren't up to what is required they will be dropped from their teams ...or will retire fully themselves as they have too much pride to continue to put in sub par performances

As was shown at the 20/20 World Cup the better Test and JAMODI players don't necessarily make the best T20 players (and vice versa) so the big name retirees really only have to get people to watch the first time ...after that the games have to be good enough to sell themselves

I think it's more than that MB. People watching have to have some emotional skin in the game. You can't manufacture that - we saw that with Super League in Australia and it reflects why the pinnacle of Rugby League for instance is state of origin (where you can't buy players).

As for real football - the emotional heart of that sport has always been at club level. For cricket, it has always been at the international level.

True points , JGK

but if the Indian crowds embrace it ..it will be here to stay ...and it will draw supporters from elsewhere ...as long as teams remain fairly constant ...a full draft every year would kill that ...Super league tried to replace an existing league ...the IPL is trying to co exist with international cricket ...this is the level that is perfect for T20 ...at a sub-international level (pardon the pun)

Hope you're right MB but I can't see that the owners of the teams will be content with just the 44 days a year.

What you farkers do not realize is that one of the potential (I may be wrong and probably am) fatal flaws in the whole IPL business is the 'city versus city business'.

IMO, we Indians couldn't be bothered. We do not have nearly the same sense of identification of being from a city and supporting our city team, as the western world (e.g. NY Yankees against the Boston Red Sox). Of course this is changing- I was in India 'permanently' five years ago; but forummers currently in India would have a better idea- SG, TO, doremi, what say?

If I'm right, this is what could be dangerous to IPL as a long term concept, though as I said it could change. Nuffink else.

pfft, the city vs city thing is what makes it interesting, esp for middle-class and above. who cares about the state, its all about the metros. would love to see delhi and bangalore getting their ass whipped by bombay

what other rivalry could you have? reliance vs kingfisher? think not

So Mumbai versus Calcutta, et al, will keep the IPL going? Interesting.

Not discounting what you said. Just surprised. Ah well, the world changes.

I think I'll look at the teams before deciding which one to support. I've lived in all the metros except Chennai, and don't really identify with any of them.

IPL will be an interesting experiment. Packer had the best current players, playing for their countries (albeit one side was a World XI). The same can't be said about IPL on both fronts at the moment. I'm not prepared to bag the concept at this stage, but let's see what happens.

I reckon within five years it will be a dead duck.

Much of what's in the article is debatable, or even just crap. But the last par "To get bums on seats and fingers on remotes nothing beats meaning: a fair dinkum contest between two fair dinkum sides that punters identify with, playing for something - something more than mere money - that matters." makes a shedload of sense.

The first two seasons will be huge, but it will slide thereafter.