Test players retiring early for franchise is worry but can’t fault them: MCC’s Stewart
Cricketers retiring early from Tests to pursue franchise-based T20 leagues is a worry but they can’t really be blamed for wanting to earn more by playing less, says Fraser Stewart, Head of Cricket at MCC — the global guardian of the Laws and Spirit of the game.
Stewart welcomed the International Cricket Council’s recent decision to approve the usage of pink balls in day-time Tests on a trial basis to reduce the effect of fading light in the final session of the day. He believes it could spark fresh interest in the format and liberate it from the vagaries of nature.
“That’s something that ICC, and I believe in a bilateral series — say, India playing Australia. It’s for them to agree amongst themselves, for a particular game, are we going to use a pink ball?” Stewart responded to a PTI query. Stewart was in town to launch the Kannada edition of the Laws of Cricket app of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in partnership with the Association of Cricket Umpires Karnataka (ACUK).
“Either they think there might be bad light, that it’s going to cause a problem, or try to get more people in the ground so that they can come after work and you can get more people watching the Test match,” Stewart elaborated.
“If both teams are happy to play with pink ball, perhaps because they think it will mean that there can be more play because of bad weather, then it seems to make sense. Anything that means that there’s more play and that more people can see the game, it makes sense,” he added.
