ICL

From Encyc

The ICL (Indian Cricket League) is a pioneering cricket league that introduced the idea of player auctions where players play for the team with the highest bidder, and gave players a much higher pay than they would normally get even playing for their country. The ICL is controversial because the idea was rejected by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) who, after asking for 50% of all of their profits (a sum that would have bankrupted the league had it been adhered to, because of guaranteed profits to investors) refused to support it and asked for it to be banned. The BCCI in turn planned their own league, calling it IPL (Indian Premier League). Eventually, the ICL did gain support from other quarters and went ahead, but it was labelled as an "unofficial" and hence "rebel" league, because the BCCI refused to support it. The BCCI went further and banned all players who had played in the ICL for playing for India or to play first class cricket in India. Other cricketing boards around the world followed this idea. As such, most of the players in the ICL are either too old to be playing international cricket (are retired) or else are disheartened by their country's selectors.

Note: While Wikipedia falsely states that there have been THREE full series of ICL, there have actually only been TWO full series, as the one that they claim to be a THIRD (the Edelweiss 20s Challenge) was actually a challenge tournament that was a part of the 1st series and not a separate series.

New ideas[edit]

The ICL pioneered a number of new ideas, most of which were copied by the IPL. These include:

  • Player auctions.
  • Playing 5 "international" players per side out of 11 (in comparison, English county cricket only allows 2).
  • Having franchises rather than representative teams (although the teams do have city names).
  • Having international sides play (in the 2nd season, in 2008, they had a side from Pakistan called the Lahore Badshahs and one from Bangladesh called the Dhaka Warriors).
  • Having players contracted to the team in all things.
  • The concept of a "private league", which is not part of a country's official structure.
  • The concept of a "rebel league".
  • Domestic competitions (primarily due to the BCCI refusing to allow ICL players to play for India, they also had a domestic series).
  • "World challenge series" - in 2008 they had Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and "World" teams playing off - unfortunately cancelled halfway through due to terrorist attacks in India.
  • The use of 2 "challenges" per team per innings - where they get to challenge the umpire's decision, which is then referred to a 3rd umpire who looks at the video footage. If the decision is reversed (out to not out or the other way around) then the team still has 2 challenges, but if the decision is not reversed then they lose that challenge. It works in much the same way as the challenge system in tennis.
  • Having cheerleaders in a cricket match.

ICL series 1[edit]

In ICL series 1, there were 4 tournaments in total. These were:

  • Indian Cricket League 20-20 Indian Championship (30 Nov 07 - 16 Dec 07) - what is normally regarded as the official series - won by Chennai Superstars
  • Indian Cricket League 50s (27 Jan 08 - 10 Feb 08) - 50 overs per side matches - won by Chennai Superstars
  • Indian Cricket League Edelweiss 20s Challenge (9 Mar 08 - 6 Apr 08) (falsely reported in Wikipedia as being the 2nd series of ICL) - featured Lahore Badshahs for the first time and was probably designed as a way for Pakistan to challenge the Indian ICL teams - won by Hyderabad Heroes
  • Indian Cricket League 20s World Series (9 Apr 08 - 15 Apr 08) - India vs Pakistan vs "World" - won by India

(reference: http://www.indiancricketleague.in/fixtures/icl-tournaments-fixtures-and-results-season1.html)

Series 1 began with a much shortened tournament featuring only 6 teams who played each other once each, a total of 5 matches each, or 15 matches total plus the finals.

Whilst the tournament did feature a number of retired players (Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Harris, Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan for example) it also featured a number of players in the prime of their careers who were not happy that they had not been recently selected to play for their country (Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Andre Adams, Jason Gillespie, Justin Kemp) and even featured some players who were being picked by their country (Shane Bond, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq). Whilst it was loathed by the BCCI and hated by many, it also gained a lot of support, some from unexpected quarters. The fact that players were banned from playing for their country if they played in the ICL in many ways made the tournament stronger. While IPL had to be played in between international matches and had to allow players to leave to play for their country, the ICL could be played at any time. Indeed, they could play multiple tournaments in a year, which is what happened.

Recently retired former captain of Pakistan Inzamam-ul-Haq was a big plus for the ICL, and a number of Pakistani cricketers helped to create Pakistan's own side, who played in the 3rd tournament of the 1st series, the Edelweiss Challenge tournament, under the name the Lahore Badshahs. Lance Klusener, who, until falling out with the South African board, was one of the stars of world cricket, attracted a number of other players, who wanted to see Lance Klusener play (Klusener had years earlier tried to sue the South African board but failed in his law suit).

Not only did they have the main tournament, but they also had a 50 over per side tournament (a traditional one day tournament), a challenge tournament which featured the Lahore Badshahs, as well as a World Series, with India vs Pakistan vs the rest of the World, at least of the players that played ICL.

ICL series 2[edit]

In ICL series 2, there have so far been 3 tournaments in total. These are:

  • Indian Cricket League 20-20 Domestic Tournament (21 Sep 08 - 30 Sep 08) - did not feature either Pakistan or Bangladesh teams or any international players at all - won by Chandigarh Lions
  • ICL 20-20 Indian Championship (10 Oct 08 - 16 Nov 08) - the main series - won by Lahore Badshahs
  • ICL 20s World Series (23 Nov 08 - 29 Nov 08) - India vs Pakistan vs Bangladesh vs "World" - this was cancelled halfway through due to the terrorist attacks in India - incomplete - was at 1 win 1 loss for all 4 teams as at when it was cancelled

(reference: http://www.indiancricketleague.in/fixtures/icl-tournaments-fixtures-and-results.html)

Series 2 began with Bangladesh announcing that they wanted a team too, as Pakistan had with the Lahore Badshahs. Bangladesh's team was called the Dhaka Warriors. ICL decided to have a "domestic tournament", with all of the Indian-born ICL contracted players, who can't play first class matches or international matches otherwise, and who are mostly NOT retired players. Neither the Dhaka Warriors or the Lahore Badshahs were allowed to play, as they were from outside of India, and none of the international players played either.

In the main series, they had 9 teams, with a 7th Indian team being created. As with season 1, each team played each other once, now playing 8 matches each, with the top 4 playing off in knock out semi finals. Lahore Badshahs started badly but ended up winning the competition. Dhaka Warriors also started badly but were for a while looking like making the finals before losing their last 2 matches and finishing 5th, just outside of the finals. Bangladesh's ICL team actually was most of their test team! This shook the whole of Bangladesh cricket, although their new test team still almost managed to beat New Zealand in a test match and won a one day match against them.

The 3rd tournament, the world series, was now more of a true world series than before. The Pakistan side not only featured players from the Lahore Badshahs but also Pakistani players who played in other sides, as was the case for Bangladesh. Indeed, it was so close that, as at when it was cancelled, all 4 teams had won 1 and lost 1. They were all going to play their 3rd and final match, the two winners would then be the two that would play off in the final. It was, in other words, at the exciting end of the series.

Controversies[edit]

All of the controversies relating to the ICL revolve around the BCCI's refusal to allow them to exist, and then, when they found that they were unable to dissolve the ICL, they labelled the tournament as unofficial and began banning players who played in the ICL, then encouraging other national boards to do the same. A number of players had already committed to the ICL before they found out that it would lead to them being banned from playing for their country and were quite upset about the bans. Mohammad Yousuf for example tried to get out of his contract so that he could play for Pakistan. In series 2, however, Mohammad Yousuf willingly came back, even though he had managed to have his contract dissolved.

A number of people think that the ICL should be allowed to exist and that cricketers who choose to play in it should be allowed to still play for their country. A similar situation existed in the 1970s when Kerry Packer decided to create the "World Series Cup" and offer players lots of money for participating. Eventually, that move worked and we now take one day cricket for granted. Why is the BCCI banning players if they play? The IPL hadn't even been thought of when the ICL was already ready to go. It wasn't a question of the ICL taking away players from the IPL because the IPL only exists because of the ICL. Had BCCI supported the ICL in the first place, then this could have been an official tournament, as is the Stanford Twenty/20 series in the West Indies. That tournament is a privately run tournament, as is the ICL, yet Stanford's Twenty/20 series is supported by the national (or actually international, as West Indies is an amalgamation of several countries) board of the West Indies, yet the ICL is not. A lot of people think that it is just greed and bullying by the BCCI that is trying to silence the ICL. And yet the ICL is supported by a number of big names in cricket, including India's all-time great Kapil Dev, who, perhaps aside from Sachin Tendulkar, is their greatest ever player.

On the other hand, a number of people think that the ICL should fold. They failed to get support from BCCI and the IPL exists as an alternative, so there is no need for the ICL at all. Why does there need to be 2? The only reason that the ICL went ahead after being knocked back by BCCI is because millions or even billions of dollars had already been invested into it by industry around India and if it had been cancelled then it would have led to millions or even billions of dollars lost. Why would a player play for the ICL when they could play for the IPL? If they are retired, like Inzamam-ul-Haq or Chris Cairns, perhaps it is fair enough. Yet Adam Gilchrist is retired and he plays in the IPL, not the ICL.

The end result of the bans is that the ICL is able to host multiple tournaments each year and doesn't have to worry about when they schedule them. If they clash with international tours, it doesn't matter, because the ICL players aren't allowed to play for their countries. The ICL doesn't have to worry about domestic seasons either. They don't need to worry about complicated covers for players who leave halfway through the tournament to play for their country. It is, in many ways, purer than the IPL. The bans in many ways make it an easier tournament to run.

In the IPL, in comparison, in the early stages we saw the likes of Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden playing but then later they had to be replaced as they went off to play for Australia. Sides were bolstered by players like Adam Gilchrist or Shane Warne who were retired, or else players like Shaun Marsh or Shane Watson, who at that stage were not in the reckoning to play for Australia. In the ICL, however, you see an all-time great like Lance Klusener play for the entire tournament, and then for the other 3 tournaments in that year too.

External links[edit]

Of note: 2 months after the creation of this article, which exposed Wikipedia's errors, nobody has tried to make the corrections on Wikipedia.

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