Following a discussion instigated by one of our members, this weeks Beyond The Boundary piece focuses on the impact of T20 Leagues around the world, and whether or not the format can produce a test quality player.

Just last week, the West Indies were crowned World T20 Champions following an excellent performance against hosts Sri Lanka in Colombo. The Caribbean side was fancied from the start as it possessed players such as Chris Gayle, Keiron Pollard and Sunil Narine, all renowned for their exploits in the shortest form of the game. For the last decade, the West Indies have struggled to compete in tests and ODIs, and have proved to be a shadow of the side that dominated World cricket for such an extended period. The franchise based T20 leagues that have cropped up around the world do get their fair share of criticism, but there’s no doubt that these leagues have played a small part in helping revive “Calypso” cricket. The experience the players have gained was clearly vital during the final, as some cool heads allowed the West Indians to seal victory and “Gangnam style” long into the night.

As we all know, these leagues have given more cricketers the opportunity to showcase their skills all over the world whilst earning big money, and also those that are “past it” at international level to extend their careers. Azhar Mahmood, Scott Styris and Rana Naved are examples of players that have benefitted from the introduction of domestic leagues, as the standard is generally lower than what they have played before, and it isn’t as physically draining as say, a test match. As a result, they can still produce the goods and with no central contract with their international side, they are in high demand. Clearly it’s a huge bonus for these individuals to have an opportunity they would not otherwise have.

The currently ongoing Champions League goes a step further, and gives a further incentive to players and teams in their own domestic T20 competition. A spot in the tournament not only provides a financial bonus to the team, but it is perhaps the only chance for many players to compete on what is effectively a world stage. The competition is obviously very heavily skewed in favour of certain sides, but nonetheless it gives all domestic sides just that little bit extra to aim for, and increased competition can only be a good thing. Trinidad and Tobago is a team that has experienced Champions League cricket, and the West Indies’ recent success could perhaps be put down to the added incentive that teams and players from the Caribbean have had.

Can T20 produce a “test quality” player though? Many have suggested that Chris Gayle is an example of a man that has proved himself both at T20 and Test level. However, it is often forgotten that Gayle scored the first of his two test triple centuries in 2005, well before the first T20 World Cup or the IPL. The likes of Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene have adapted their immense test match batting to the shortest format successfully, but we have yet to see a player inaugurated with T20 cricket to succeed at test level. With an average of 42 after 9 tests, having already played 42 T20 internationals, David Warner might just be the first.

These domestic T20 leagues are here to stay, regardless of their effect on test cricket or whether or not the players the format produces can hack it at test level. Even if the only thing going for them is that they helped revive West Indies cricket, anyone that has watched ‘Fire In Babylon’ will agree that it was well worth it.

Discuss!