Test cricket, we hardly knew ye

Years from now, when test cricket is finally done and dusted, elbowed off the stage by the pressures of Twenty20 or some other mutant form of cricket, we'll all look back on the creation of the IPL as the moment that things really started to go pear-shaped. Franchises, some of whom are now worth as much as NBA teams, have entered the scene, and it scarcely bears thinking what these corporate heavy-hitters will do with the bunch of jokers that has been running world cricket for some time now. They'll want to protect their players, they'll squeeze out good deals (if need be at the cost of the international scene), and they'll go get the best talent, all of whom will find this much more attractive than the rigors of test cricket. The national boards can only watch now, as their precious international schedules will bite the dust, the first move in which eventuality was made today by Lalit Modi announcing that Australian players could join without no-objection certificates from Cricket Australia. That delinks the IPL from the international schedule, and in the future IPL franchises may be expected to want their players to stay fit for the important games, and not bother with bowling themselves into the ground bowling 20 overs a day in test matches. A generation of youngsters will grow up with this as the most visible face of cricket (check out Malcolm Conn's piece on the telecast of IPL matches in Australia). We asked for interesting times, and we have them.