Sunday 13 May 2007

Lara, Warne, McGrath in rebel Twenty20 league!

(Renewing rivalry? Photo: Getty Images)


If glamour quotient is the yardstick, ICC can take a walk. And when it holds the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September, ICC can expect a good run for its money, fame and everything else.

The rebel Indian Cricket League has staged a series of coups by roping in the likes of Brian Lara, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. And if this is not enough for the lawyerly Malcolm Speed to lose his sleeps, ICL has assured “more big names to follow.”

Media baron Subhash Chandra launched the ICL amid much fanfare and the breakaway Twenty20 competition is likely to take place right after the ICC event.

With Warne, Lara and McGrath, among others, quitting the stage, mainstream cricket has lost much of its glitz, gloss and glamour. It went to such extent that Lasith Malinga was voted among the sexiest men in cricket, something left even the staunchest of his supporters cherry-red in the face.

From viewers’ point of view, it simply could not get better. I have a couple of suggestions. Get Jayasuriya, the quintessential woodcutter who once mistakenly walked into a cricket field and stayed on to hack bowlers with the willow. And I know you need an electronic microscope to find if Inzamam has any supporter left. Still, can’t we have the big, bushy Inzy in the circus?


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