We deserve Cricket. Soon.

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Coronavirus. Sigh. Is there any other word thrown around more these days than that? So much so that almost everyone on social media reads the word ‘Carnivorous’ as ‘Coronavirus’. 

Free Hit Contributor – Muhammad Nazeer

Yes, it’s just a stupid meme but it gives an idea about the impact this pandemic has had on the mentalities of people all over the world. We’re all sick of hearing about it, and we are all aware that we are going to keep hearing about it for longer than we’d prefer. And like everything in its path, it has put a full stop on Cricket as well. 

Now that is something unacceptable! We’ve always had Cricket! Whether it be civil wars, terrorist attacks, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and heck, even attacks by Bees, Cricket always prevailed. Had a bad day in school or office? Got into a fight with the significant other? Got depressed after watching a sad movie? Relax, turn on the TV, lay back and watch Cricket. That was the only therapy for most cricket crazy fans. But now we’re left to stare at walls and wallow in our miseries. 

How life has changed due to COVID-19 – a letter from a first-class cricketer

Unfortunately, there is unanimous consensus that life will not be returning to normal any time soon. And even when the lockdowns end, events where people gather in large crowds like sporting events, will probably not be allowed. As fans travel from all over the country (and sometimes other parts of the world) for a Cricket match, it could result in entire nations getting infected within days. 

So, what is the solution to this dilemma? That’s the big question. It’s clear that even if the big cricketing nations manage to get through, some of the smaller cricket boards would not be able to survive if this situation continues. Administrations will be forced to downsize, and apart from players not being paid, the support staff, groundsmen, curators and many others will also be hit hard. Therefore, there definitely is an urgent necessity for swift action. 

Among all team sports, cricket is arguably the one which involves the least amount of physical contact between players. Usually, the only time significant contact is made is during celebrations! And we’ve already seen players take to the ground wearing face masks not too long ago in India. Hence, it definitely is possible to play Cricket in this situation as long as everyone allowed inside the playing area is tested and approved, but it’s not practical to implement that for the viewers. Hence, even if cricket is played, there won’t be any audience in the ground. 

The biggest problem in this scenario would be the lack of revenue from ticket sales. Cricket boards rely heavily on ticket sales to cover up their expenses, hence it’s unlikely that they will find it feasible to play international games without ticket revenue. Now even though this problem may be a daunting one, it may have a solution. 

Since cricket is faced with a novel problem, it might as well be needed to look for novel solutions. What if an alternative source of revenue can be set up to cover up for the loss of revenue from ticket sales? That would solve most of the problems which hinder cricket from continuing, hence any such ideas should not be discarded. We’re all aware of the streaming services taking over lifestyles of people by storm. Whether it be Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO or any such services, it’s pretty clear that the subscription-based streaming model is a very successful one. 

Cricket will come out of COVID-19 stronger – Mickey Arthur

Hence, wouldn’t it be a natural solution to have a streaming service dedicated to cricket? Even though many websites do offer live streaming of games, there’s no proper platform or app which offer all the matches for an affordable subscription in an easy to use interface. A platform managed by the ICC would add extra authority and reliability, and hence could attract more subscribers. At the moment, Netflix has around 182 million subscribers, whereas there are over 2.5 billion cricket fans all over the world. Hence, if the platform is designed effectively and if a nominal subscription fee is assigned, there won’t be a problem with attracting subscribers. Apart from covering up (and maybe even exceeding) the loss due to absence of tickets sales, this would be something which could be continued even after the situation returns to normal, thus adding an extra source of revenue to uplift cricket. Just like how some movies or TV shows are not available in some countries on Netflix, boundaries can be easily set based on location in accordance with broadcasting rights of the cricket boards. 

Analyzing the current situation of the world, it’s extremely difficult to find other solutions which would get cricket back on within a short period. Technological solutions being at the standard it is at now, developing such a platform would not take a long time and almost certainly far less time than any other solution available at the moment. 

At the end of the day, what we all want is to sink into our couches, throw our feet on the table and just enjoy some cricket. That’s not too much to ask by any stretch of the imagination, we cricket fans have been starved for far too long. We deserve Cricket. Soon.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ThePapare.com.