As England and India forge their own paths with white-ball cricket competitions the Hundred and T20, is the future one of cooperation?
When the bumper England versus India Test series rolls around in the summer of 2025 – a year where the hosts also head Down Under to face Australia in the Ashes – the entire landscape of cricket could be drastically different.
In England you could see announcements surrounding the sale of the eight Hundred franchises – despite issues surfacing around Hampshire being able to keep hold of their Southern Brave outfit.
You could also see a changed white-ball team given Brendon McCullum’s widened brief to include ODI and T20 cricket.
And, arguably more importantly, you could see Indian influence in the English game through IPL owners in both the 100-ball format and at county level: Sunrisers Hyderabad are reportedly interested in a £50m takeover of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
India vs England
In India there will be a desire for new talent after various retirements across the game: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have retired from T20 cricket while there are rumours about others following suit from other formats.
The subcontinent will also look to strengthen their already tight grip on the sport, which could be helped by Jay Shah’s appointment as chairman of the International Cricket Council. Shah is the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the son of Amit Shah, India’s minister of home affairs.
Cricket could be a hugely different place. And that’s no bad thing.
The global trend in format preference has shifted to the shorter styles of the game, with Test cricket enjoyed in countries few and far between.
And even countries where it is more popular, such as England, price rises and Bazball have reduced the will to attend on days four and five.
For reference, Marylebone Cricket Club this week also confirmed that prices for the Test series between England and India would reach £175 apiece.
Hundred x IPL cooperation?
“The IPL is clearly out there,” director of business operations at the England and Wales Cricket Board told the Business of Sport podcast.
“But in the men’s game there are 17 short format franchise domestic leagues [Including T20 Vitality Blast and The Hundred in the UK] in the world.
“Seventeen all after the same 50 players, maybe 40 players. It’s just unsustainable, it is not going to work.
“And I don’t know what that is going to look like: I don’t know whether some will go completely or they’ll end up being like a tiering around the world.”
“But when that change comes, when that split comes at a rapid rate it’s really important we’re in that top tier.
“I can see the very top four leagues pulling up and pulling apart and it is very important for English cricket that we are one of those.
“The Hundred has the ability to get there, we just need to go through the process to allow us to get to that top table.”
It is clear there are planned futures for the IPL and Hundred franchises – eight of the 10 Indian Premier League teams have a franchise outside of the IPL – and no matter what happens it appears that closer collaboration is on the cards.
Time for annual England versus India matches? Maybe.