Cricket's 21st century growing pains
A central tenet of the International Cricket Council in recent years has been to achieve growth in cricket.
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A part of the ICC's vision is to create opportunities for more people and nations to enjoy the sport. This may be the single unifying factor for all its members in an otherwise skewed governance regime, dominated by India, Australia and England.
However, growth is in the eye of the beholder. It could mean increased revenues, participation, watching or viewing, matches played, or more franchise leagues. Uncontrolled growth can lead to an inefficient use of resources, something already evident in an overcrowded international calendar.
It was concerning, therefore, to read reports emanating from an ICC board meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from April 10 to 13, that the idea of officially recognizing the T10 cricket format was raised.
Although it is understood that the topic was not part of the official meeting agenda and did not receive much interest and support, it could be regarded as the first step in a process to achieve recognition.
The most prominent T10 tournament is the Abu Dhabi T10, first held in December 2017. Since then, T10 competitions have been held in the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the US.
Last year, a planned T10 league in Scotland was cancelled because it did not receive ICC sanction. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, five academy teams are currently playing a T10 competition promoted by Cricket Victoria.
So far, T10 cricket has not been played by full members in either men's or women's cricket at national level. If the format were to be recognized performance data would be included in a player's official statistics.
Cricket is already a sport conflicted by multiple official formats. T20 franchise cricket threatens to eclipse Test cricket. In recognition of this, the ICC is considering splitting the 12 Test-playing members into two discrete divisions for Test series.
The issue of promotion and relegation is a stumbling block, as neither of Australia, England or India wish to forego series against each other. Smaller countries fear marginalization.
The multiple format factor was also a talking point over cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. There was some support for the T10 format on the basis that it would be appealing to fans and allow more matches in a day in a single stadium. Its duration of 90 minutes puts it on a par with football.
However, it has been determined that six men's and six women's teams will compete in the T20 format. Ninety athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing squads of 15 players.
If the US qualifies automatically as host nation, the criteria for selecting the other five countries are awaited with interest. A long-awaited showcase of cricket's diversity and global reach may end up being exclusive.
There can be little doubt that cricket's inclusion was largely motivated by the desire to cater to South Asian audiences and provide the International Olympic Committee with opportunities to secure handsome broadcast deals.
Talk of switching the venue to New York from Los Angeles because it is 9.5 hours behind India compared with 12.5 has been quashed by the announcement that the Fairgrounds in Paloma, 50 km from Los Angeles, will be the venue. A temporary, purpose-built structure will be constructed on a 500-acre complex.
Both T10 cricket and the sport's inclusion in the Olympics represent major opportunities for the ICC to pursue its growth mantra. Whilst Olympics participation is firmly underway, formal recognition of T10 appears some way off.
A particular concern is that adding another format alongside the three current international ones risks a dilution of interest in and the value of those formats. A glance at the introduction of The Hundred in England and Wales confirms that risk.
Another criticism of T10 is that bowlers have a limited role, since they can only bowl two overs. Teams batting second also appear to have an advantage, winning 70 percent of the time.
If T10 is not going to be officially recognized in the immediate future, growth will need to be generated through existing channels. There is a limit to how much the 96 ICC associate members can achieve. Together, they receive a mere 11 percent of the ICC's annual revenue distribution, approximately $67.5 million, an average of $700,000.
As many of them can attest, the establishment of structures to develop local talent requires additional funding from alternative sources, which are hard to acquire. This is not a way to grow the game in those countries, either in terms of increased participation or international competitiveness.
Much has been made by the ICC of the growth in audience numbers for the 2025 Champions Trophy. It estimates that the total watch time was approximately 250 billion minutes, including 137 billion minutes on Star Sports and 110 billion minutes on JioHotstar.
The final between India and New Zealand saw peak concurrent viewership reach 122 million on TV and 61 million on JioHotstar, a new benchmark for digital views in cricket. The overall figures were almost a quarter higher than those for the ICC Men's World Cup in 2023.
These growth outcomes are fueled by India, through its corporates and its people. The burning question is whether this dominance can have a cascade effect for the game in general. Applications of digital technology for spectators have been prominently developed in India.
Streaming platforms provide more ways to watch cricket. Social media has allowed fans to connect with teams and players in real time. Virtual reality technology promises to change the way in which they can watch and interact with cricket. Each of these channels is helping cricket to grow and reach more people around the world.
Cricket's future is being determined by its ability to adapt to the digital age and to recognize that its audience now prefers shorter formats. Its future also depends upon the ability of its custodians to blend old traditions and formats with the new and emerging ones.
Without healthy domestic structures, which include longer formats, there is a danger that the top players, those coveted by the franchise leagues, will not be produced to the same standard. There is a counter argument that young players now grow up in T20 cricket and do not need to experience any other format to succeed.
In Harare, the ICC batted away discussion of T10 cricket to focus on suggestions to improve the longer formats. How long it can hold that line in the dash for growth is uncertain.
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