I would like to start off with a unique idea! yet one of the most important issue which might have never been accounted for and never
gained any attention at bigger level. But, it has hampered the level of
Cricket (Test / ODIs) and the quality of the cricket matches over the time big time.
Its high time when ICC (International Cricket Council) needs to become a "Regulator" instead of an "Organizer" - so far ICC has not been able to regulate cricket in a great manner due to which so many scandals have become a BAU (Business As Usual) for any cricket follower.
First thing first, there should be a minimum acceptable criteria set up by the ICC for any player to be eligible to represent his country in any
form of international cricket i.e. Test, ODIs & T20s. Following few options
might be considered:
- There should be a yearly quota of players to be given ODI and/or Test cap for each country. For example; Yearly maximum 2 players could be given test cap and maximum 5 players could be given an ODI cap by any playing nation.
(This
will ensure that the relevant cricket boards bring sheer talent to play at the highest level and by doing this the quality of the players would certainly
increase).
- If a player is making his Test Debut; he must have pass a pre-requisite criteria set by the ICC. This criteria could be any of the following:
- At least age of X years (say 17 years)
- At least 2 years of domestic career
- For a batsman; at least 1,500 domestic runs and for a bowler; at least 100 domestic wickets. A wicket-keeper requires having at least 50 victims behind the stumps.
These sort of rules might help board/ players/ ICC at the same time if it is implemented properly. We have seen players being given
ODI / Test cap and swabbed just after playing one or two matches. ICC should
impose a rule that any player who is introduced in international arena must be
given X number of matches (or else provide a valid justification).
These are just suggestions which are hypothetical and according
to me, might be useful to promote the quality of cricket at international
level. These could be fine-tuned to any extent in order
to make it viable and practical in the lights of current ICC rules &
regulations.