What is the Secret of Cricket Success?

Dr.K.ThirugnanaSambanthan, Asst.Professor, Department of MBA, Sankara College of Science and Commerce.

During this Covid time test match cricket between England and West indies was played.   Many cricket lovers all over the world watched this test match. Many fans who don’t belong to these two countries were keenly watching the match.  What is the bond that connects people with cricket?

Cricket is played in more than 105 countries.  There are 12 countries which have been recognized for playing Test Match cricket as per ICC.  They are Australia, New Zealand, India, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Ireland. There are 20 other countries which have been recognized for playing One Day Match (50 Overs) as per ICC.  They are England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, SriLanka, WestIndies, Afghanistan, Ireland, Netherlands, Oman, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Namibia, United States, Papua New Guinea.  One Day Cricket is also known as Limited Over  International. (LOI).  There are many countries playing International T20. They are West Indies, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, England, Australia, SouthAfrica, NewZealand, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Scotland, HongKong, Nepal, Oman, Kenya and United Arab Emirates.  Other than this may countries are hosting local t20 matches like IPL in India PSL etc, Five over cricket matches are played in HongKong ,

Book Cricket is played by students. Street cricket are played by children where they set their own rules and regulations.  A ball and a bat is only needed to play cricket, even stumps are drawn on the wall, with a paper ball and test pad, students starts playing cricket with their own rules.  The success of cricket lies in the way it is marketed.  Cricket was originated from South-East England and has transformed and has grown to this height because of the way it is promoted.  Although the official game of India is Hockey, there are very less companies which are sponsoring it whereas many companies are ready to sponsor for cricket. Large amount of money are spent by the sponsor help in developing the infrastructure.  The ICC is very innovative and flexible organization which is the pioneer behind the success.  In olden days one day cricket was played as a Day Match.  ICC found that people who were working in offices were not able to watch the match so they started organizing Day & Night match which has become a big success.  Nowadays test cricket are also played as Day & Night Match.  . The usage of DRS, HAWKEYE, and other technologies in decision making has made it much more interesting. The new rule of concussion substitute will bring in new dimensions to the game. The field restrictions implemented in a one day game had made it more delightful.  The two ball rule which has made this game batsman friendly, the fans love their favorites’ to hit more boundaries.  There are many management lessons to be learnt from the game, they are strategizing, Innovation, Creativity, Collaboration, Diversification, Segmentation, Time Management, Changing according to the environment etc.  Although there are several issues like Betting and Match Fixing which were tarnishing the image of the game, Cricket is able to polymorphise it and has become a successful event.