Death by T20 leagues? It is real, it is coming
Death by T20 leagues? It is real, it is coming. Sometimes it feels like cricket’s administrators are inspired from scene from A Clockwork Orange. Malcolm McDowell’s character is strapped to a chair and forced to watch reels of footage against his will, and thought: “Yes, that is an excellent way to promote our product.”
What is alarming this month is not so much the potential death of one format, which caused the shorter, less-punctual cousin the Briefing to come over all Arthur Schopenhauer, but the relentless evolving of another. With the climate emergency, looming energy shortages, rising authoritarianism and global economic meltdown on one hand, scientists have identified the latest threat to life on earth – a superabundance of T20 leagues.
Suddenly the T20 leagues are springing up everywhere. This is inflicting strategic timeouts. Soon, the major leagues will be starting to create windows within windows to allow their feeder T20 competitions space to evolve. The players will be seen floating from auction to auction like chum tossed into the sea. If you are fit and healthy and know how to play, you may find yourself been signed up for a draft soon to be held in Nepal or the Maldives.
The schedule is a lot to keep up with, but have no fear. There is a handy rundown of all the officially sanctioned T20 leagues currently in business. These leagues are taking over the long format. They are hurdling up the schedule of the cricket world. The cricket players are sandwiched between the T20 leagues and the ODI. But, the emergence of the T20 leagues are taking over.
Indian Premier League
Big Bash League
Pakistan Super League
Caribbean Premier League
Bangladesh Premier League
The Hundred
Lanka Premier League
Super Smash
International League T20
CSA T20
TrumpT20
Crimean Premier League
International Space Station T20