International cricket as a whole, has its own flaws and challenges. From players preferring to focus their careers on domestic leagues and competitions across countries over donning the jersey of the national team, to stars retiring early from international duty, the current scenario is far from ideal. In an earnest discussion about the current state of the sport, cricket legends Brian Lara, Alastair Cook, David Lloyd, Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan debated what could potentially fix the current predicament.Speaking on the “Stick to Cricket” podcast, the legends mulled over what the most ‘annoying’ thing in the modern game is at the moment, with all of them taking turns. “That playing for your country isn’t the biggest thing,” said Cook, eliciting sharp reactions from the rest of the legends. Brian Lara sided with the former England skipper.In a long rant about how the money is not shared equally between the various cricket boards across the world, Vaughan said, “I think the thing that annoys me most about the game is the pie’s not split right. There’s so much money in the ICC. Seriously, that’s wrong. That is my biggest frustration. If we want to get to a stage—and it might be two tiers of cricket—the only way that’s going to be fair is if the pie’s—I’m not saying it has to be exactly the same—but the likes of the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand—they’ve got to get more of the pie.”The legend argued that paying players better will directly result in them playing for their countries for a longer period of time. A recent instance of the same could be seen in the retirement of Nicholas Pooran, aged 29 from international cricket.
“So you can pay your players a nicer sum of money that they will stay playing for their country for longer. That’s my biggest bugbear,” exclaimed Vaughan.
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On the same, Lara said, “The truth is, I don’t think the West Indies Cricket Board or the administration has done anything meaningful to keep players loyal to West Indies cricket, unlike what boards in countries like England, Australia, or even India have done.”
