Test cricket could change to a once-a-year event, says Rajasthan Royals owner

• Test cricket needs to be more of an event, says Badale
• The 55-year-old believes that there are too many formats
• IPL franchises will become bigger entities and play in more leagues

Indian Premier League (IPL) Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale reckons Test cricket could become a short, annual event like the Wimbledon tennis Grand Slam.

Speaking on the BBC Tailenders podcast, Badale said cricket’s longest format needed to be more of an event to attract fans who still prefer the game’s shorter offerings, particularly Twenty20.

Badale, co-founder and managing director of private equity firm Blenheim Chalcot, also referred to a full calendar, estimating that top players can play 220-230 days of cricket a year in T20s, one-dayers and Tests.

We can make Test cricket work if we make it more of an event, Badale said.

We should have it at the same time every year, playing between the small number of nations that can actually afford it and the Lords. [Cricket Ground] will be like Wimbledon, an event that is a diary.

How many times do I hear arguments like Ben Stokes [the England mens Test captain] wants to play Test cricket, which is important, but what really matters is what the fans of the future want to watch and what they intend to spend their hard-earned money on.

We have to think creatively about Test cricket if we want it to work.

Badale added that he believes there are too many formats and one-day internationals (ODIs) may be under threat.

Discussing the growing impact of the IPL, Badale said he expects franchises to grow as bigger entities and play in more leagues.

I truly believe that in the next 3 to 5 years, administrators will make a number of choices that are going to be really game-defining, he said.

We are currently the second most popular sport in the world, but our real competition is other forms of entertainment.

We have too many franchise leagues now, so you can have an IPL hierarchy, some big leagues and then some minor leagues.

IPL team owners have already bought T20 teams from the Caribbean, United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa and the United States. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has reacted by allowing the introduction of multi-year core contracts for its men’s cricketers, as international players can commit to franchise contracts in domestic T20 competitions.

Badale also shared his thoughts on The Hundred, which the ECB will introduce in 2021. The 100-ball format was introduced to attract a wider audience to cricket. However, last week it was reported that the competition could be scrapped and turned into a T20 league after it made a loss of UK9 million ($11.3 million) in its first two years.

I don’t think the real question is what do you lose, but where are you willing to invest?, Badale said.

People talk about the IPL now, but in the first five or seven years, hundreds of millions of dollars were invested. Everyone forgets that it was losing money for years.

I saw an article that The Hundred lost nine million dollars, which is irrelevant to me. If there is a financial model that works, it can be huge.

Nevertheless, Badale stated that he was not convinced by the 100-ball format, which has yet to be adopted in other countries.

I generally agree that T20 works, why do we need another format?, he said.

I think admins tend to prioritize trying to appear different than what we should be prioritizing.

The problem they were trying to solve with The Hundred is that T20 games were too long, and I think four and a half hours is too long, but you don’t have to solve that by changing the format.

A key factor in the world of cricket in the coming years seems to be the financial power of Saudi Arabia, as the country has recently been linked with a deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for another new T20 league. Now the English county club Yorkshire is negotiating with Saudi investors to buy a stake.

By Daily MailYorkshire have held talks with Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud, a Saudi prince and government official, to buy the £15m ($18.9m) debt the club owes former chairman Colin Graves.

Under Prince Badr’s offer, he would assume Graves’ debt without investing capital in Yorkshire. Badr is also believed to be willing to charge the club less than the four percent interest it currently pays to the Colin Graves Trust, which has agreed to delay repayment of the UK$5 million ($6.3 million) it is owed until October to allow Yorkshire to finish the season.

The Daily Mail adds that Badr may be given additional money to Yorkshire at a later date.