White shirt black shirt white flag
February 2nd, 2008, 4:16 am Hobbies News
Im not one to harp back to the past frequently, and Im also prepared to acknowledge the benefits of change when its needed.
But sport, at the top level, is suffering a slow death in this country — with money the diagnosed disease.
Week in, week out during last years rugby season we heard news of yet another leading New Zealand rugby player turning their back on the dream of playing for the All Blacks to join overseas clubs.
It was tough going, and many sports followers were eager for the start of New Zealands summer game, its pinnacle clearly the international stage.
It was where players aspired to the maximum financial reward but not to the detriment of playing for their own country.
How wrong was I? Just like the the New Zealand Rugby Union, New Zealand Cricket now finds itself in an almost unwinnable position of battling private investors trying to claim a piece of the cricketing pie.
New Zealanders Daryl Tuffey, Chris Harris, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns and Hamish Marshall have already joined a rebel Twenty20 league, which is funded by an Indian television network.
Leading New Zealand paceman Shane Bond is now set to join them.
Bonds decision will almost certainly see New Zealand Cricket strip him of his Black Caps status as the rebel league is not an International Cricket Council sanctioned tournament.
Dont think though for one minute that Bond will be the last of New Zealands contracted players to jump ship and cash in, with names like Lou Vincent and Scott Styris ideal candidates to soon join him.
New Zealand Cricket can go one of two ways from here.
It could, like the NZRU, let the player drain continue or it could think outside the square and try to rescue the game from sinking.
In my opinion New Zealand Cricket boss Justin Vaughan needs to quickly start lobbying the ICC to begin working with the rebel league organisers, rather than against them.
Private investors wanting to pump money into the sport should be eyed as a benefit to cricket rather than a hindrance.
If the ICC can negotiate a way to allow the multi million-dollar rebel league to go ahead while also sustaining the international game, everyone from the players to the administrators and fans surely must win.
Its already been shown, with the most notable example rugby, that New Zealand sporting organisations are vulnerable because of their limited bank balances compared to overseas organisations.
But we cant continue to wave the white flag and let our sporting talent be wooed overseas.
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