Former England captain Michael Atherton feels IPL has disrupted cricket

England has provided some prolific openers in it’s glorious history and Michael Atherton has to down as one of the best. Technically astute and a brilliant reader of the game, Atherton also captained the English side for while and he did a pretty decent job.

The former English captain now is concerned with the future of the game, as he feels cricket has been disrupted. Interestingly, he believes it’s the Indian Premier League (IPL) that has caused this disruption, which has given the players too many options and opportunities.

“Like any other industry, cricket has been disrupted. IPL has been a disruptive event, giving players options and opportunities,” Atherton said. Discussing the intricacies the gentleman’s game is facing in the contemporary world alongside Mike Gatting and Kumar Sangakkara, he also spoke at length about the future of Test cricket.

The game has always adapted and will continue to do so. I remain optimistic about the future, he said. Ganguly suggested that more day-night Tests is the “way forward”.  “It is difficult for working people to spend the whole day away from work at a cricket ground.

Test Cricket has to be financially viable: Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara, arguably one of the greatest ever cricketers to have played the game, believes Test cricket has to be financially viable to continue. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the dip in the percentage of occupancy in the stadiums for Test cricket, which clearly is not a great sign for the game.

But Michael Atherton reckons Test cricket is still going well in England and India, which he also feels should continue in other countries. He noted that the grounds in India may look empty during Tests, but the attendances are still very high considering the sizes of the grounds.

“We still sell Test cricket well here in England. The grounds in India may look empty (during Test matches) but we have to bear in mind that those are much larger grounds,” Atherton said.

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