Australia's Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has suggested a specific window for Test so that players don't have to choose between franchise leagues and international cricket. Cummins admitted that for some countries, franchise cricket is more appealing. While advocating for specific windows for Tests like the Indian Premier League (IPL), Cummins made a false claim that no other cricket takes place in Australia from November to January.
“Franchise cricket for some countries is more lucrative, more appealing than international cricket. If I went and played franchise cricket, I could probably be away for a half or a third of the amount we are for Australia,” Cummins said at the MCC World Cricket Connects 2024 at Lord’s.
“In Australia, Test cricket is from November to January, and basically, no other cricket is going to get in the way of us playing Test cricket then. If we can have specific windows for IPL, but then also Test windows, that makes the decision-making for the players a lot easier,” he added.
While Australia play Test cricket at home, the Big Bash League (BBL) takes place. Many prominent Australian players who play Test cricket have to skip the Australian T20 league. This is the main reason why senior players like David Warner have barely played in BBL in last few years.
West Indies CEO made a similar suggestion
Earlier, West Indies CEO Johnny Grave was of similar opinion as well. He wants a number of Test series going on at the same time to make the format more appealing.
“I support the concept of finding Test match windows, where there are periods in the year when only Test cricket is played and we have a number of series going on in different times,” Grave echoed similar said in an interaction with the publication.
“It might be a test match starting in Sydney or Wellington, then Kolkata or Dhaka followed by one starting at Lord’s or Newlands and then one starting at Kennington Oval so eight Test teams, four Test matches filling up almost the entire 24-hour clock,” he added.
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