Cricket: Ronnie calls for shake-up

From the archive, first published Thursday 13th Oct 2005.

Dinosaur Championship cricket must move into the 21st century or it could disappear like the Dodo.

Ronnie Irani strongly believes the stone-age game he has been playing for the past 11 years is in grave danger of extinction.

And the England and Wales Cricket Board must take it by the scruff of the neck and shake it up violently.

"The entire country is currently gripped by cricket because of England's Ashes triumph over Australia," said the tough-talking Essex captain.

"But if we don't do something to revolutionise our Championship cricket we'll lose all the fans to football again before any of them have had a chance to watch it.

"The captive audience for four-day cricket is retired people of 50-60 years old and upwards. Let's not kid ourselves it's any different.

"Who else has time on their hands to watch it? The Twenty20 Cup and it's big brother, Forty40 League (the successor to the totesport League), is exciting everyone and is open to all ages, schoolchildren and senior citizens alike.

"But Championship, or dinosaur cricket as I call it, is boring a lot of people.

"There are too many draws, too many teams tamely batting out the final day and too many captains who are scared of losing."

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Published Thursday, October 13, 2005

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