‘This is what cricket has come to’: David Warner dismissed for 12 in unknown Cayman Islands T10 tournament
An uncomfortable image of David Warner trodding back to the sheds in another new uniform has perfectly summed up cricket’s biggest fear.
A visibly fuming David Warner has been dismissed for 12 runs while opening for the Boca Raton Trailblazers via a sharp caught-and-bowled from Big Bash spinner Ben Manenti.
You’d be forgiven for being surprised that the 37-year-old, who recently stepped away from international cricket, had been signed to yet another one of cricket’s ambitious franchise leagues.
But the Australian cricketer has made an unexpected return to the field this week in a new tournament set against the backdrop of the Cayman Islands.
Warner, like dozens of other modern cricket players, has shifted his focus to franchise cricket leagues, but his inclusion in this particular new venture still caught many by surprise.
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The Cayman Islands, a self-governing British territory nestled between Jamaica and Mexico in the Caribbean, is playing host to the Max60 Caribbean League T10 tournament.
The slow but steady rise of 100-ball and T10 cricket plays on the assumption that cricket needs even more shortening. In the era of Instagram reels and Netflix, it appears cricket’s big wigs are scrambling to generate interest by putting forth new formats that take less time to watch than an Adam Sandler movie.
The league, which kicked off on August 18, will see Warner appear alongside other cricketing heavyweights like Dwayne Bravo and Alex Hales. The six-team competition is set to unfold over just eight days, with each match featuring a grand total of 120 deliveries.
Warner’s stature in both international and franchise cricket makes him a marquee player for the league, which appears to have followed the lead of the Big Bash and IPL’s push for international talent over nurturing homegrown youngsters.
“David Warner is a huge signing and association for this league. I mean, he has done all there is to do in T20 cricket, and we are blessed to have him endorse this league and display his talent for the people of the Cayman Islands and the world,” the league’s CEO said in a statement.
“The Cayman Islands actually has quite a rich cricketing culture, both among locals and the expatriate community. Everywhere you go, people tell you about the days when all the big West Indies players used to visit.”
But to some cricket tragics, the scene is a little sad.
What could better encapsulate the slow but sure death of Test cricket than a commercial eight-day tournament set in a tax haven?
“David Warner was caught and bowled for 12 by Ben Manenti overnight. In a T10 League in the Cayman Islands. Warner is playing for a team called the Boca Raton Trailblazers. Yes, this is what cricket has come to,” Justin Edwards from Fox Sports News wrote on X.
Warner was actually one of the best examples of a player getting their name on the board through T20 cricket. Back in 2009, the stocky opener made an immediate splash with an incredible innings for Australia. At that time, he was the first man to play international cricket before appearing in a first class match.
He then focused on refining his technique and fitness to become one of the most revered openers to play for Australia, finishing with over 100 Test caps to his name.
But the same can’t be said for the majority.
Franchise T20 cricket has filled a hole that Test cricket couldn’t in the sport’s growing market, giving young fans some immediate excitement while also giving advertisers some more uniform real estate.
But the most ardent of purists still believe the two formats are completely different sports.
Nevertheless, the quality of red-ball cricket is in free fall, especially in nations like South Africa who were once on top of the world. You only need to take a quick look at the last series between the Proteas and Australia to see how much the modern player is encouraged to reach Test level.
Steve Waugh took a swipe at the ICC earlier this year over South Africa’s dead-in-the-water tour of Australia and New Zealand, accusing the sport’s governing body of “not caring” about the future of the game’s traditional format.
The former Aussie skipper said it was disrespectful to see a nation who once gave us Dale Steyn, Graeme Pollock and Jacques Kallis field a squad with seven uncapped players because so many others chose to focus on T20.
“It’s going to happen if the South African Cricket Board are any indication of the future, keeping their best players at home,” he said via Nine Newspapers.
“If I was New Zealand I wouldn’t even play the series. I don’t know why they’re even playing. Why would you when it shows a lack of respect for New Zealand cricket?
“It’s pretty obvious what the problem is. The West Indies aren’t sending their full-strength side [to Austalia this summer]. They haven’t picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now.”
There is very real talk of limiting Test cricket to just Australia, India and England to make sure the sport’s greatest rivalries, and arguably best on-field contests, survive.
But if the Cayman Island’s league is anything to go by, we’re destined to watch auctions for pinch hitters, yorker specialists and spinners who don’t spin until the end of time.
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