Cricket as a whole is facing a turbulent time. The game has developed faster than most would have imagined, and first class cricket is taking a backwards step as the popularity of Twenty20 and the shorter forms of the game continue to explode. I wanted to look at the economic pressures facing cricket and whether the longer form of the game can continue in the face of the unrelenting pace of the shorter forms.
The emergence of Twenty20 cricket over the last few years has surprised every professional body associated with it. Originating from the ashes of the now defunct Benson and Hedges Cup, the ECB wanted something in its place, and put funds into looking into a more viewer friendly alternative to One Day and Test cricket. The International Cricket Board agreed and in 2003 Twenty20 was born. It has undoubtedly fired a shot of adrenaline in to crickets weary arms, with huge satellite TV deals lifting the sport off its knees into the mainstreams living rooms. It’s quicker, more exciting and far more accessible to the populist palate than the structure of the longer forms allow them to be. Twenty20 has recruited most cricket lovers while managing to find a whole new audience. But does a rising tide raise all boats? Is the popularity of Twenty20 taking valuable marketing and advertising revenue away from the rest of the sport?

I asked Paul Topley, owner of Churches Fire Security, a major sponsor of the Rose Bowl, home of Hampshire County Cricket Club. ‘In my experience, teams tend to put as much onus on sponsorship as they always have, money is money, and we see cricket as more and more of an attractive commodity’ claims Paul, commenting on the lucrative TV deals that Twenty20 has produced for the sport. ‘Twenty20 is a nice two hours of entertainment, seeing people smash sixes doesn’t require as much attention as longer forms of the game.’ I asked him if he thought he would have sponsored the Rose Bowl before the dawn of Twenty20. He replied: ‘Ten years ago we would have thought twice before trying to advertise at the Rose Bowl and this is in no small part down to Twenty20. It is popular with more people and globally gives the game more exposure.’
The world ‘global’ is a major sticking point for the future of the game. The popularity of Twenty20 in Asia is enormous and has exploded in a way that no one could have anticipated. But spectators have claimed that England’s thrashing of India over four Tests in the summer could have done more harm than good, revealing that for the longer forms of the game to prosper, the Indian team must prosper too. If India loses interest then it will undoubtedly affect the rest of the world. One billion people will take their money and out of one form, and invest it in the other. This can only make the longer forms uncompetitive as a result. The IPL on the other hand has showed massive growth in the region, with over $50,000,000 being spent on wages alone.
Paul reflects: ‘It does seem like Twenty20 is the future, mostly for the reasons I gave before, more interest means more people watching, more revenue streams generally, more corporate boxes, more television money. But I wouldn’t say the longer forms of the game are in massive trouble, they just need to emphasize what people have always loved about them to continue to grow.’ England’s successful tour against India in the summer is testament to that, four Tests, every single day each sold out, along with the following One Day Series being popular as well.
It’s fair to say that Twenty20 has become king of cricket globally, with worldwide appeal and even a push for it to be included as a future Olympic sport, but nationally, traditional forms of the game remain strong and if they want to remain as competitive with Twenty20, they will enforce the values that made them so popular to begin with.
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