We blame football and specifically the Champions League. The European Cup was a perfectly good competition, but UEFA and the leading clubs wanted more cash, so lo and behold eligibility was extended to sides finishing 2nd, 3rd or even 4th in their respective leagues and the cumbersome Group Stage was born. Tedium and money ensued.
Cricket soon followed suit. The World Cup may only come every four years, but the tournaments in South Africa and West Indies felt like they lasted that long. This year’s edition will feature 42 pointless matches before the real action starts in the quarter-finals.
Twenty 20 competitions around the world – particularly those in England and India have got longer and longer. There may be more money in the short-term, but eventually the patience of cricket fans will run out and attendances will fall – this is exactly what happened in last year’s FP T20 in England, which featured the mind-boggling torture of 151 matches.
The concept of less is more seems to be alien to cricket and football administrators alike. Rather than leaving their audiences wanting more, they leave them begging for the pain and torture to end.
But amidst all this overkill, at least there was the sacred Ashes. A five-Test series every two years was just perfect with plenty of time for anticipation to build and then the main event itself that always leaves you wanting an encore.
Until now that is.
Now we know that with the World Cup being held down under in 2015, staging an Ashes series in the same Australian summer wasn’t going to be viable. But rather than delaying the series by a year – meaning that the sequence would go England 2013, Australia 2015/16, England 2017, the greedy men in the ECB and Cricket Australia have come up with a doomsday scenario.
The result is a back to back Ashes series in 2013 – 10 Tests in six months. And then to compensate for what would be a three-and-a-half year gap until the next scheduled series in England in 2017, the men in suits are likely to sanction another series in England in 2015.
We love the Ashes – you may have noticed – but the prospect of back-to-back series is about as appealing as being trapped in a lift with Westlife and Simon Cowell.
Maybe its time for cricket fans to stage an Egyptian style revolt and unseat the faceless administrators that are ruining the game?
Where next?
Twenty 20 cricket’s very English crisis
Cricket’s warning from Football
Full coverage of the Ashes 2010/11 series
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It's become quite fashionable to whine about sport like this. There's too much. It's boring. It's all about money.
Well, here's a solution. If you don't want to watch back to back Ashes series... don't. If you're bored by test no. 6 just turn off the tv and walk away. No one is going to make you follow it.
Same goes for the idiots who complain endlessly about the Champions League group stages. If you think the match will be boring or pointless or predictable... do something else.
Posted by: Ben | Tuesday, February 01, 2011 at 10:00
Three Ashes series in 2 years.
Nutso.
Posted by: Vim | Tuesday, February 01, 2011 at 12:10
I think you are missing the point somewhat there Ben - whether we watch it or not it will still be on and will still be devaluing the series.The viewing figures have dropped year on year for the group stages of the Champions League but we stil have them. It's still all about the money and not about the sport, and that isn't really the point of sport is it? What about the corinthian spirit and all that? I'm sorry but I actually would rather stand up for better sport, and competitions which have a greater value. Otherwise you lose the meaning of sport, which I guess you just don't understand.
Posted by: Rohan | Tuesday, February 01, 2011 at 16:27
They really are utter bastards. It is overkill and takes away a big element of what makes the series special. The most annoying thing is despite Ben's sage advice I am sure I will still end up watching as much of it as I can. They are banking on this being a common phenomenon.
It won't work forever cricket administrators. You managed to butcher the previously enjoyable as a brief interlude domestic T20 game, please leave the Ashes alone.
Posted by: MartDawg | Tuesday, February 01, 2011 at 18:41
Agree here -- very poor decision.
As I get older (read: I'm not a student any more!) it gets harder and harder to follow every moment of a five test series. I have stuff to do. For the Ashes, however, I pull out all the stops. 10 tests in six months will be too much, though, and I'll miss quite a lot (especially as a resident of a non-cricket-playing country, when things like highlights packages can be hard to find).
The result is I will feel less involved in the series, and my bond with it will weaken. Not much, perhaps, as I am a true cricket tragic (note: this is the only respect in which I consider myself to have anything in common with John Howard), but a little. Sad. And utterly unnecessary.
Posted by: simon | Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 06:10
Ive certainly taken your advice as far as the Champions League goes Ben - I dont watch the group stages and just tune in when the knockout part starts. I hear what youre saying, but the Ashes is supposed to be an event, and part of that is the associated build-up and anticipation. Two series in six months isnt special, its overkill.
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, February 04, 2011 at 15:25
T20 is gone now MartDawg. God knows how many matches there will be this year. I am falling asleep already at the prospect...
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, February 04, 2011 at 15:27