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ICL and IPL can co-exist
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Craig McMillan says it would be great for the fans to watch the best of ICL and IPL
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Photo: G. Krishnaswamy
Flamboyant New Zealander Craig McMillan
His fitness level and amazing ability to cart the ball to different parts of the ground with ease are still an indication that Craig McMillan, at 31, can even now walk into the national side. Proof of this was evident during his sparkling knock for Kolkata Tigers against Chennai Superstars under lights in the Edelweiss 20s Challenge cricket championship held at the floodlit Lal Bahadur Stadium.
This hard-hitting batsman doesn’t really have any regrets for joining the ICL. This Kiwi, dynamo scored 3116 runs from 55 Tests with six centuries.“Any cricketer will love to play the game at any given opportunity. I thought it would be ahuge privilege to be in a sport which gave us so many things in life,” he remarked. He is also dejected at the way the bans have been slapped by the Boards of respective cricketing nations on those playing in the ICL. “I think there is no option but to seek justice in the court of law. If you look at players like fast bowler Shane Bond, it will be a pity that he will not be playing for his country or any first-class cricket back home. ,” McMillan explained to a query.
It may be recalled that the then national selection committee dished out indifferent treatment to the trio of McMillan, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns with the much-publicised philosophy of “making them less comfortable for ensuring more hunger”. “I played pretty good cricket, but looked unstable because of that policy and started losing confidence,” says the attacking batsman, who last played for New Zealand in a ODI in April 2007 against Sri Lanka. For the record, his one-day career record is: 197 ODIs, 4707 runs, 3 x 100s and 28 fifties. On the future of New Zealand cricket, McMillan says that the retirement of Stephen Flemming, the most experienced cricketer ever from his country, should be a big loss. “The problem is we don’t find too many good young players. There is a very small pool (talent) of players and New Zealand cricket cannot afford to lose players at an early age because of this. How does he look at the future of ICL after the emergence of Indian Premier League, an official counter to it from the BCCI? “The ICL concept is exciting, giving a great opportunity for the domestic players here (India) a chance to play with some of the best in the world. So, why can’t both co-exist. It will be great for the fans to see the best of ICL vs the IPL,” McMillan hoped.
There is no disputing the Hyderabadis are really enjoying McMillan’s flamboyance with the willow.
V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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