Back to the future

Nine years on and it ain’t a joke anymore. On April 1, 2001, Cricinfo published a spoof article that unveiled plans for an Asian Cricket League, a subcontinental inter-city tournament based on the European football leagues. It would comprise various city teams playing against each other, with each team set up as a “commercial franchise owned by a single owner or group”, with games in the off season between April and September. Cricinfo's “sources” said the matches would be day-night one-dayers staged in stadiums hired from their owners.

There’s more: “Each player will be a free agent, and able to contract with any team he desires. Salary caps will apply to ensure that no team is able to dominate by hiring the top players only. Every year there will be a draft system which will enable weaker teams to pick up talent which otherwise would not be available to them.”

Much of that has come to pass, of course, but the article – under the byline “Loof Lirpa” - is outdated on several counts. One, it expresses the hope that it “would promote increased interaction between players across the subcontinent, thereby reducing tensions". Two, it suggests that the scheduling would be around County cricket – enough said! And three, it makes no mention of Twenty20.

Cricinfo’s always been a step ahead of the rest but that would have been a step too far!