When Saudi Arabia comes to call, few sports can resist. For the Cricket, then, its Saudi moment was just a matter of time.
Australia reports suggest that Saudi, after having invested in golf, tennis, football, boxing, F1 and electronic sports, are planning a jolt of the Crickt calendar, with four Twenty20 tournaments, which involve eight franchises, dotted throughout the year.
It is invoicing as Crickt's response to the Grand Slams of tennis, and who would not want a piece of that?
The boss among rumors benefits of a competition that could eat eight weeks of an already crowded schedule is the test cryket, with the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting that it could generate an “source of alternative income beyond the established financing model of Cricket”.
In other words, try the Cricket under the so -called three greats of India, England and Australia could receive a chance in the arm.
The trial format has been insured of its future so often, in many ways, that our first reaction should not be surprise.
The ECB believes that the Cricket calendar already has a Grand Slam style format, as Saudi investors are suggesting
Indian Premier League is a giant and its growth shows no signs of stopping
The Saudi have already bought boxing, football, formula one, tennis and more sports
After all, if you want to convince a skeptical world of your honorable intentions, say something, anything, to keep the traditionalists happy. But it is reasonable to lift an eyebrow with the basic premise: that the way to save the trial cricket is organizing more … T20!
However, the Saudi face another problem, and is logistics instead of philosophical: the ECB will not go anywhere near their proposed company. The rumors of the plans arrived for the first time to Lord's a while ago, but his belief is that Crickt already has a Grand Slam of four tournaments, composed of the IPL, the hundred, the Big Bash and the SA20, none of them overlap, all of them lucrative.
Essentially, the ECB, which still enjoys the glow of the auction of one hundred, and anxious to protect its value, considers Saudi plans as an Australian initiative.
And they consider that the notion that Indian players, who are currently prohibited from participating in any T20 domestic tournament, will not be the IPL, will bless the adventure with their presence. If Indian and English players are absent, it is difficult to see how the ground clears.
This will not stop the excitable talk, of course, because Cricket, so full of existential anguish, loves the thought that the rich and powerful are looking at their direction. But even if the plans fall on stagnation, it is worth seeing the importance of any potential Saudi investment.
Danny Towsend, a Seiprofessional Australian footballer who is now executive director of the SRJ Saudi Sports Investments, the sports arm of the Mega Rica of the SoberateRenign Wealth Fund kingdom (more than £ 700 billion in the last one), has ruled out the critics of the growing participation of the sport of the Saudis in sport in sport as a minimum minority.
He recently told Sportspro: 'I think the athlete is almost a little joke these days. What industry does not want to improve its reputation and improve the way they do their business?
On the one hand, then, sports statements are a joke. On the other hand, it is precisely what the Saudi are doing. And to judge by anger among Newcastle United fans after someone dared to address the issue after their first domestic trophy in 70 years, they are doing it effectively.
To judge by anger among Newcastle United fans after someone dared to address the subject after his first domestic trophy in 70 years, the Saudi are effectively deported
The impression of a Neom artist, the Saudi megaciudad supposedly a suitable proposal to be a host place in the 2034 World Cup 2034
Some might argue that they have a job in their hands, given the dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. And that is before he approaches the occupied migrant workers helping to build Neom, the megaciudad proposed by Saudi Arabia, and prepare the kingdom for the 2034 World Cup.
An ITV report last year said that 21,000 have died there since 2016, a figure that the call of Saudi “misinforms”. The Bangladesh government, meanwhile, believes that 13,685 of its compatriots perished in Saudi Arabia between 2008 and 2022. Saudites say they have 'solid regulations and standards' instead. The arguments continue.
They would forgive you for thinking that the Crick is in its first agonizing about the wisdom of helping Saudi Arabia to clean its reputation. Nothing of the sort. In October 2022, the CPI agreed to a lucrative sponsorship agreement with Aramco, the Saudi state oil company that is believed to be the largest corporate taxpayer of greenhouse gas emissions since 1965. More recently, the mega IPL auction took place in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital, Riyad.
And because Cricket is so poorly administered, the ICC is more synonymous than ever with India after the appointment as president of Jay Shah, previously the honorary secretary of the BCCI, it is easy to see why the Saudites could believe that there is a gap in the market.
Another obstacle. At present, any new national competition backed by ICC stipulates a maximum of four players abroad of full members by franchise. The full members are the 12 evidence, so if the host country, as Saudi Arabia, is only an associated member, the quality of the Cricket will suffer, together with the credibility of the competition.
But, and it is a great but, if Jay Shah can be persuaded that he is somehow in the interests of Test Cricket to support the Saudi initiative, then it is conceivable that an exception can be made. At present, for example, the ILT20 backed by IPL in the EAU allows up to nine Cricket players abroad for XI game. The Saudi would have to press for something similar.
It is difficult to believe that the company can succeed without a relaxation of these regulations. And it is difficult to see precisely how Cricket escapes another eight weeks. On the other hand, would the plans have come so far if they were destined to fail? So that all the decline in the ECB gets involved, something is underway.
Such is the chaos of the Cricket administration, and therefore, it is susceptible to the sport of a sugar dad, which cannot be ruled out: England or no England.
The ILT20 backed by IPL in the EAU allows up to nine Cricket players abroad for Game XI, including the tastes of Alex Hales (left) of England and Tom Banton
The president of the CPI, Jay Shah (in the photo with Rohit Sharma) was previously the head of the Indian Cricket
The danger of sport and politics mixes
Are sports and politics mix? It depends on who you ask.
When the all -terrain of Pakistan, Aamer Jamal, appeared to train during the series of tests against England during the winter, he had written the number 804 in his floppy disk, not ostentatiously, but at the bottom.
This gesture cost him about £ 3,000, the approximate equivalent for a Pakistani -and -a -half -game tariff player, so much more than a slap on the wrist.
Jamal's crime was to attract attention, although in a low voice, to the prison number of Imran Khan, the former captain and winning prime minister of the country of the country, who currently languishes in a cell for charges of corruption and other matters.
Imran says that these positions are politically motivated. His many followers agree, singing '804' in Rallies; It has even been heard in one or two games of the Super League of Pakistan. Obviously, you get involved under your risk.
Aamer Jamal's crime was to attract attention, although in a low voice, the prison number of Imran Khan, the former captain and worldwide prime minister of the country
Chaos calendar hits Corbin
Back, briefly, to Saudi Arabia: How would a new tournament advance in the schedule anyway?
The case of Corbin Bosch, who made his debut in the test for South Africa during the winter, summarizes the enigma.
Corbin Bosch (right) signed for Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL in January, but recently jumped to the Mumbai Indians in the IPL
Having initially signed for Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL in January, the ship recently jumped to the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, filling a hole left by its injured compatriot Lizaad Williams.
In an attempt to dissuade others to do the same, the Board of Pakistan has issued Bosch a legal notice that claims breach of contract. Wait more restlessness while everyone takes a portion of Cricket cake.
Sam Billings will not have his desire to be the captain of the White Ball of England, but they could do it with part of his taste
Billings's bold statement
If the recent Crick of the White Ball of England has lacked trust, then appointing Sam Billings as captain would clearly not get things worse.
“There is a reason why your name is mentioned, if I'm honest,” he said on Kent media day.
“My history in recent years: each team in which it enters, improves.”
It won't happen, but England could do it with some taste.