ECB is more worried about money than Test series

So, the news is England is planning to scrap home Test series against Bangladesh after 2010. The question is 'why?' well, the answer is because of the increasing commercial unfeasibility of such contests. Hmm. Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, told reporters in Mohali, India this news where cricket gets its most popularity and money. So, money is the main reason to make this decision. There is no wonder about this decision considering the economic meltdown. But Giles Clarke says that "If we are going to have a proper strategy for Test cricket we want to have games like that we have just had in Chennai,". "It showed everybody just what a Test can be. There is a very hard-fought game between Australia and South Africa taking place in Perth at the moment. So, he is more worried about the holiness of test cricket.

But is it the real reason behind this decision? ECB will start its own IPL version Twenty20 English Premier League which is set to launch in 2010. So, in the future English players will be busier? To give them some relief ECB plans to shed some test series. And Bangladesh tour to England is the softest part of the FTP where ECB will throw its axe. Nowadays, ECB is more concerned about money. Surprisingly, a very much conservative ECB agrees the five year Stanford Twenty20 series (summer picnic) for $100 million. Stanford's high-profile relationship with ECB sealed the deal after landing at Lord's in a helicopter, and with a trunk full of $20m in banknotes. But according to a report in the Daily Mail, the inaugural tournament made a loss of more than US$40 million. This December Stanford scraps the deal and ECB in some trouble. So, we can understand their anguish.

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman a bright gambler who financed his Oxford education playing backgammon and bridge, a committee member of the Society of Merchant Venturers. And everyone in England is not happy about him. One county chairman said: "Clarke is a clown and a pompous one, and David Collier is a poor chief executive. There is no plan. No strategy. Everything is done off the hoof. Clarke should go."

The sad thing is nowadays cricket is run by merchants not by lovers.

Source:
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/19/giles-clarke-ecb-allen-stanford-cricket-england
2. http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/382556.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
3.http://content-www.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/379071.html
4.http://content-www.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/382736.html