Amendments
After all the work I put into my schedule, the powers that be have gone and changed things. *Sigh*
The Black Caps were orignally scheduled to play 5 ODIs against Sri Lanka. Then news came through that India was going to pop over and join in, and a bonus triangular series was announced, slipping in just before the Champions Trophy. I had suspected there would be difficulty getting this extra tournament fitted in the schedule before the Champions Trophy, but nothing was said, and though the Trophy hasn’t yet been scheduled I just assumed that a window had been spotted and that time would be found. However, the original tour to Sri Lanka was scheduled to run until 19 Sept., while the Champions Trophy, though still not scheduled, is slated to start on the 24th. It’s pretty tight fitting in the 4 games of the mini triangular.
So, not surprisingly, the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour has been dropped, with the little triangular to take its place. An extra warm up before the tests has been added and the 2 20-20s will still be played, but have been bought forward to immediately following the tests.
I’ll update my schedule.
It’s a bit of a disappointment really. We are swapping 5 ODIs for only 2 or 3, depending on whether we make the final of the triangular. The extra test warm up is very nice and it will be a bit more interesting having a game or2 against India thrown in. However, giving up a decent ODI series for a pissant triangular is disappointing. I’m not too impressed with whatever deal was done here.
July 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
For those of us disappointed by this change in schedule, there’s a two-point message in it which comes with a “get used to it” clause from the ICC (or the BCCI, if you look at it that way):
1. In this middle of all this talk about striving for a balance between the T20 expansion and the need to protect test cricket, the ODI has fallen by the wayside. In spite of the current stipulation that teams play no more that two T20s on tour, I think the ICC has decided that dropping some ODIs off the calendar is a convenient solution – nevermind that they could be focusing on improving the 50 over format or get down to organising a decent World Cup for once. By contrast, the amount of importance given to staging the Champions Trophy seems to indicate that bilateral ODI series are on their way out.
2. This solution is perfect for India (read: BCCI), as the tri series fills up a gap in their schedule. It also suits Sri Lanka fine – they still get to host a sizable number of games with the Indians guaranteed to bring in the crowds, and their players get a bit of a breather. Not so good for NZ, because ODIs are their strength after all. But we already knew where NZ figures in the ICC’s priority list, right?
September 9th, 2009 at 9:30 am
[...] was disappointed when the tour schedule was changed from 5 ODIs against Sri Lanka to a miniature tri-series with India, but considering how one-sided [...]