India no longer controls world cricket: Andrew Strauss

Compared to the cricket of the past, there has been a huge change in the cricket of today. Franchise T20 tournaments around the world are now looking very strong. Cricketers are also seen leaning more towards this short format cricket. Former England captain Andrew Strauss believes that such expansion of the RT-T20 franchise tournament is a sign of democratization in world cricket. According to him, nobody controls cricket now. He even thinks that the control of cricket is not in the hands of India now.

The former England captain made such a comment in a speech at the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) recently. MCC organizes lectures every year on important contemporary issues in cricket. And he gave a speech there. Strauss was the seventh English cricketer to be the keynote speaker at the MCC office at Lord’s Cricket Ground. As the Indian cricket market is quite large, at one time it was thought that the Cricket Board of India controlled cricket. But now the era has changed. Strauss claimed that the control of cricket is not in their hands now.

He said, “Earlier there were certain things. Because of which the control of cricket was thought to be in the hands of a certain person. It could be this room at Lord’s. It could be the England Cricket Board’s balcony or any other national team’s cricket board. Or it could be county cricket.  who used to get priority over others. But that doesn’t matter anymore. No one in particular controls cricket anymore. Even India doesn’t control cricket.”

The former England captain also said, “Cricket is doing wonders now, with time cricket is spreading across the world. A lot of people are joining the game. That’s why a lot of changes have come here. Because of so many changing things and hustle and bustle around, cricket is not the same anymore. In cricket, democratization has happened. The future of cricket will be determined by the ICC, but the future of the game no longer depends on this hall in Dubai. It depends on the purchasing power of those who follow the game.”

Note that the Indian Cricket Board, England Cricket Board and Australia Cricket Board were actually considered dominant at one time. Due to its popularity, it is still believed to be the source of the majority of the ICC’s revenue. That is why their influence on cricket is considered to be high. But Strauss feels that the previous perception is wrong as the climate of cricket has changed.