If ODI cricket is dying, why does it have a World Cup?

Cricket’s Ryder Cup?

Telford Vice
Cricket’s Ryder Cup?

byTelford Vice•  
Broadcasters have kept the 50-over showpiece alive for decades, but the deals that fund it are set to shrink © Getty
Broadcasters have kept the 50-over showpiece alive for decades, but the deals that fund it are set to shrink ©Getty

All ODI cricket needs to do to be declared dead is fall over and stink. Many of us have heard variations on that theme. So why is the format still granted a World Cup?

Because, Brian Lara told reporters in Cape Town on Thursday, “the World Cup is important. Yes, there is an issue with the 50-over game with the advent of T20 cricket. But I look at it like the Ryder Cup. Nobody plays team golf, except once every two years [in the Ryder Cup].

There are more attractive forms of the game

“There are more attractive forms of the game [than ODIs]. Test cricket is still very vibrant in England and Australia, and T20 has taken over everybody’s mind. So I understand the problem.

“[ODI cricket] is sandwiched between the WTC and the T20 World Cup, but it’s still a very important version of the game. Maybe they can limit the [number of bilateral ODIs], but having the World Cup every four years is a necessity.”

That’s a laudable view from one of the most affable figures in the game. It’s valid, but closer to the cold hard truth is that World Cups make money. The 2023 edition earned record revenue of USD719,000 and cost, in direct expenses, USD147,000. That’s almost five times as much paid in as going out. In 2019 the World Cup made USD557,000 for the price of USD138,000 — more than four times the outlay.

Lara spoke at the launch of the playing

Lara spoke at the launch of the playing schedule for next year’s men’s World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The tournament is expected to generate more than USD1,500,000,000. Or more than twice what it made in 2023.

We have an ODI World Cup mainly because broadcasters pay the ICC vast sums to put the tournament on the air. The 2024 to 2027 deal was worth USD3,670,000,000 globally, USD3,000,000,000 of it earned in India alone. The broadcasters have spent that kind of money because they know they can recoup it, and make far more, from selling advertising.

But the bubble is set to burst. JioStar, who hold the rights in India, are keen to extricate themselves from their 2024 to 2027 contract — which accounts for a smidgen less than 80% of the global ICC deal. The broadcaster says advertising revenue has stalled while the rights fees have rocketed, and so they are losing money. JioStar are unlikely to win this battle in the current cycle, but it’s clear the value of future contracts will shrink. By how much? Anywhere from 30% to 50%, estimates say.

The scramble by national boards to establish franchise

The scramble by national boards to establish franchise T20 tournaments should help bridge the gap, but the calendar is already packed and every country that could use a league will get one.

The way cricket makes its money is changing, as is the amount of that money. Might ODIs become a victim of the squeeze, or at least be diminished in number? And does that mean the 2027 World Cup could be the last?

Because Lara’s Ryder Cup analogy doesn’t quite fit. The event turns 100 next year and has pretty much stayed what it was at its inception: matchplay golf between teams representing the United States and Europe.

Cricket’s first World Cup was played by women

Cricket’s first World Cup was played by women in June and July 1973. The men followed in June 1975. It’s not cricket’s fault that its premier international white-ball tournament is almost half the age of the Ryder Cup, but that does mean the latter comes with nearly double the amount of tradition and gravitas as the World Cup. Indeed, it’s easier to see parallels between the Ryder Cup and Test cricket than it is to concur with Lara’s argument.

That doesn’t mean World Cups haven’t given cricket indelible memories. Lara himself has been responsible for some of them, as cricketminded South Africans know only too well — he scored both of his World Cup centuries against the Proteas.

In the 1996 quarterfinal in Karachi, Lara — batting in a cap because Allan Donald was left out of the XI to accommodate both Paul Adams and Pat Symcox, made a scintillating 111 off 94 — 22 of them hit in a single Symcox over — to help West Indies win by 19 runs and end South Africa’s winning streak of 10 ODIs. The same teams played the opening match of the 2003 World Cup at Newlands, where Lara clipped 116 off 134 in a three-run Windies win.

The national anthems were being played, and I

“The national anthems were being played, and I looked up and in front of me was Nelson Mandela,” Lara said on Thursday. “I told myself, ‘I can’t not perform today. The great man is watching me; I’ve got to perform.’ He might not have been too happy [with the result], but I’m sure he enjoyed it.”

Next year’s tournament will start one day after the rugby World Cup kicks off in Australia and end eight days after the final whistle is blown in Sydney. That clash might not mean much in Asia, but the current generation of Springboks are the best team rugby has yet seen. They have won a record four World Cups and will be in search of a hattrick of triumphs next year.

The time differences between South Africa and Australia should help fans of both sports keep an eye on both tournaments. But were there concerns that rugby could steal cricket’s thunder in the country?

I don’t think there will be competition

“I don’t think there will be competition for viewership or interest,” Trevor Manuel, a former South Africa finance minister who chairs the cricket World Cup’s local organising committee, told reporters. He backed up his assertion by taking the international view. “Cricket is the second most followed sport, and it’s because the Indian subcontinent is as big in cricket as it is.”

That will remain true regardless of how much money there is or isn’t in the game in a future that might or might not include an ODI World Cup.

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027

Source: www.cricbuzz.com