BEEFY... scrap IPL

His comments in full:


The former England captain says the IPL provides the "perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing" and believes "players are slaves to it".
"I'm worried about the IPL - in fact, I fear it shouldn't be there at all," he said.

"It is changing the priorities of world cricket."

Botham added: "How on earth did the IPL own the best players in the world for two months a year and not pay a penny to the boards who brought these players into the game?
"Corruption is enough of a problem in itself, but the IPL compounds that problem given it provides the perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing."
Addressing the International Cricket Council's efforts to rid the game of corruption, Botham added: "We have seen a few players exposed, but does throwing the odd second XI player into jail solve it?
"To kill the serpent, you must cut off its head. The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit must pursue the root of the problem and if necessary expose the big names."

He's absolutely spot on in my view.

What a load of rubbish.
Just stinks of jealousy

there is enough international cricket anyway. how much more do people want? ok scrap the ipl and add another 5 tests for India. thats a good idea no?

can someone answer this? why did australia not play any cricket after SA series? they have rested for like 6 months? please dont blame that to IPL as well or maybe people will find a way to blame it?

The reason why tests are even played in India is because t20 is helping earn the money to BCCI. SL these days are leaving gates open for public to come and watch tests being played for free. how long will they afford to do that? even then people cant care less.

times have changed and people dont care about tests. Im keen to see how many people will go watch tests in Eng vs NZ matches next year.

Cant blame that to IPL can you? Yes IPL might have detrmental effect on players technique but thats a completely different argument. here we are talking about a completely different thing altogether.

Look at the WI. their t20 league have had good attendances. better than what their national team gets. cant blame that to ipl.

take county cricket. the first class cricket has empty grounds. their t20 blast gets full houses. same country where they like the real form of the game. cant blame ipl for that can you?

tests are dead in every single country. aus and eng are the only countries that get full houses and that also when its the ashes or when say eng play india or india play aus. even then indian fans barely go watch those matches.

SA vs Eng in 2012 was poorly attended. and that was no.1 vs no.2. and then came the ashes. no.2 vs no.5.

Eng fans dont care about the quality of the cricket. they only care about their rivalries. If aus was ranked no.10 and eng ranked no.5 they would still get full houses, but if a top team came to eng, like SA you would get empty grounds.

yes I know many people like tests, but its not shown by the attendances and thats what will decide how long tests will be played for.

People don't go because of the cost. I just couldn't justify paying £80 (ish) to watch a full day. I'm sure the tv viewing figures are still high though and test matches always will be the pinnacle of the sport, and the trust test of whether a player is truly great

I know for fact that Beefy has no time for 20/20 cricket and feels it is a waste of time and killing the longer forms of the game which I would tend to agree with.

If I want to get a cheap quick hit of excitement from sport I will watch the premiership not cricket

Success breeds hatred. Despite being riddled with corruption and franchise disputes between teams the competition has generally been a massive success since its inception. Botham talks out of his own backside when he says the players shouldn't be playing. It is the Australian and South African off season so their players are usually available whereas the English County season restricts many English players from playing which has meant their lack of exposure to T20 cricket over the years.

Would "Beefy" really be saying the same if the English players regularly and picking up the large cheques that the competition pays. I would hazard a guess at no. Jealous comments, nothing else.

Its quite enjoyable seeing some domestic cricket on TV, regularly, add to that the cricketers who play, get paid the same as some of the top sportsmen around.

Beefy talking out his rear end.

Also England fans sayig 20\20 cricket is bad for cricket, its rounders etc.... its bad for the game.

Well thats the format, NOT just the IPL, you are talking about the big bash league, T20 county cricket, the BPL etc etc....

Counties in England have struggled for decades financially, T20 is their main source of income. You want to take that away??

also, if all these England fans who hate 20\20 turned up regularly for 20 over cricket, filling the stadiums, they might have a case.

There is barely a Stand full at the ground for this format.

*turned up for 40 over cricket