20 Overs cricket has made the sport even more prosperous than it ever was, and ICC is looking to gain much more fervid success but they’re seeking to replicate the similar formula of other cricketing boards.
ICC Plans a Franchise Based T20 Tournament
Champions League T20 captivated fans, ran from 2009 to 2014, but BCCI, Cricket Australia, and Cricket South Africa controlled the league, which could’ve been one of the many reasons behind its languid performance, and the fact that India’s fan base solely supported the tournament’s economic success.
But now The ICC is planning to organize a tournament that they have labeled as the World Club Championship (WCC). The ICC will organize it with the required aids from the major cricketing boards. It could reunite the other top teams from different leagues. It could also make a massive support to the struggling Cricket Boards.
The tournament could refill the Lacuna left by the sad demise of CLT20. A as per reports, The ICC is very keen to have such tournaments to display Franchise Cricket’s Prowess even more. New Zealand Cricket has recently announced their own Franchise League and MLC is set to expand to 8 Teams by 2027.
The MLC continues to garner more and more viewers so the tournament such as WCC could be a boon for globalizing the sport. The clashes between the top teams of different leagues like RCB vs Sydney Sixers could invigorate the tournament even further. The WCC sounds more inspired by The Club World Cup of Football than CLT20 but the time will tell what ICC come up with.
The value of just IPL is $10 Billion so a tournament such as this is more than likely to succeed. The ICC badge could yield a different type of emotions within the fans. And yet, the tournament may sound all good and nice but The ICC will surely face certain hurdles.
ICC Could Face a Challenge to Find a Window
The cricket calendar is already packed with matches—especially high-intensity ones. It’s congested with international fixtures like Test matches, bilateral series, and major ICC events. Almost all the Top Cricket Boards around the globe have their own franchise leagues. It carries a massive lucrative deals, so that makes it tough for ICC to sneak in such a tournament.
The geopolitical tension between India and Pakistan could further question the possibility of both the boards coming together. It also challenges the ICC’s hopes of getting their respective teams to compete against each other.
The tournament could elevate the smaller leagues’ teams if there’s no exclusivity but can those matches entailing the smaller teams bring in a huge viewership which would help commercially? These questions may force ICC to include just teams from the well-established leagues that could surge the tournament commercially.
How many teams could play the tournament and what are the criteria for a certain team to qualify? Can ICC find an unclaimed space in the so busy cricket schedule? If they do find right answers for most of the questions then a tournament that maybe played for few weeks every year packed with full intense could be on the rise which would be a delight for the Franchise Cricket lovers.
However, ICC must not overshadow International Cricket especially Test Cricket for the obscure tournament that doesn’t guarantee 100% success as Test Cricket must still be the highest and the pinnacle form of the sport.
