Roy, Burns and more speak out: how have franchises affected cricket today?
By Aneesh Agrawal
In recent years, cricket has drastically changed and evolved. With the season starting in a couple of months, it remains a question to me as to how we play cricket, and how the T20 and franchise circuit has affected how we all play cricket today and how teams have been affected.
Cricket is a global sport, one of the most popular in the world. International cricket has always been the pinnacle of the whole game – getting to represent your country at the highest level is simply exhilarating. Only eleven step out onto the field out of the millions of players in a country.
Newly implemented technology such as the stump-mic, DRS and ball-tracking has given new edges to teams as well as an enhanced officiating and viewer experience.
This article explores how professional cricket has evolved for the better and for the worse, as well as how it has affected younger generations – like those at Hampton.
What is T20 cricket?
T20 (a format where each team bats for a maximum of 20 overs) is still relatively new, being introduced to the world in 2003, and is often used in schools for a quicker game. It was created to make money and was presented as a fun way to play cricket, with big hitting and lots of fun for the viewer.
Where do franchises come in?
The most famous T20 games and tournaments have come from franchise cricket, such as the IPL (Indian Premier League). There is no doubt that franchise cricket has helped for globalisation of the sport, with cricket spreading to the UAE through the ILT20 and the USA through the MLC (Major League Cricket) with the assistance of IPL franchises.
For example, the Mumbai Indians franchises have been ingrained into many other countries such as South Africa with the SA20 (MI Cape Town), The Hundred in England (MI London), MLC in the USA (MI New York) and the ILT20 in the UAE (MI Emirates). Reliance Industries (the owners of the Mumbai Indians) have played a big part in globalising cricket.
The IPL, which was originally a cash grab, has turned cricket into a more renowned sport with over a billion people watching it worldwide.
Still, the IPL has generated lots of money for the BCCI, through big sponsors including DLF, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MRF, Byju’s , etc – with VIVO and TATA coming in with record sponsorships: the former being 2,660 crore rupees across 5 years and the latter 2,500 crore rupees across another 5 years. Furthermore, the IPL generates about $6.7 billion annually for the Indian economy, increasing tourism numbers and viewership for cricket.
The IPL net worth – as said by the Hindustan Times – has increased from 2 billion dollars in 2009 to 10.7 billion in 2024 (where data was available).
How it has affected International Cricket
Well, international cricket has changed – both for the better and for the worse.
Because of T20 and franchise cricket, we see more aggressive playstyles. England’s new BAZBALL style in test cricket has regained the trust and hearts of the English public, putting a new spin on the way we play in the five-day game. It is based on T20 batting, and as a result more people are starting to enjoy test cricket again – England have come a long way since the failures of the 2021-22 Ashes and the miserable campaign against the West Indies in early 2022.
However, it has also had many negative effects. England have failed miserably in the 2025-26 Ashes Series, folding in 11 days as Bazball failed in the land down under, with a final series score of 4-1 to Australia.
When South Africa played New Zealand in early 2024, South Africa basically sent a 2nd XI to play as to not damage the main core of the SA20 teams. This shows that people today are choosing money and franchise cricket over playing for their national team. This was shown again when the West Indies sent a 2nd XI to play against Australia and took away all hope of having a competitive series by not fielding a side with any key players like Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran as they were playing franchise cricket in the UAE. Earlier this year, England batsman Jacob Bethell was left out of the test squad for the game against Zimbabwe (considered a warm-up game) to let him play for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL.
Furthermore, it seems that the ODI game is slowly being erased. One-day international cricket used to be one of the pinnacles of game for players all over the world. Now, it seems to have been just tossed aside. For example, the 2025 Champions Trophy was called ‘just a tournament for money’ as it seemed quite rushed and poorly managed. A big example is the English ODI side. After a torrid 2015 ODI World cup in New Zealand and Australia, they played many games to improve, debuting new players like Jason Roy and recalling players like Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett – all of whom went on to be regulars over the four years to come. They played many series, crushing opponents in most of them, and notably scoring a world record 481-6 against Australia in 2018. In total, they played 81 games in preparation for the 2019 ODI World Cup, showing a new look side with plenty of determination and confidence. They ended up winning it.
If you then look at the preparation for the ODI World Cup in 2023, their record was poorer, playing only 30-45 games in the four-year period, and they ended up coming 7th. Since then, England have only won 7 out of 24 ODI games, including a poor Champions Trophy campaign this year where they remained winless. ODIs have clearly taken a heavy hit and have essentially been tossed aside. This is a truly negative effect of franchise and T20 cricket and it is a shame, as ODIs are one of the most exciting forms of cricket that have now unfortunately been dethroned.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) – The Official Website of the ECB
How have we changed the way we play?
Most of us have taken to a new way of playing cricket: using flashy scoops, reverse shots and even sweeping fast bowlers.
Many people just do this for the sake of it, often losing their wicket and harming their training, which means that they won’t get better.
Graeme Swann also said that spinners now aren’t prepared to turn the ball more and take more risks, as they’re afraid of being hit for multiple boundaries, and I’ve seen more young players – professional or not – being more defensive and beat themselves up after they’re hit for just one boundary in a over which didn’t go for many.
However, this aggressive style of cricket has brought players a new edge – almost forcing players to be a bit more fearless, to stay a bit stiller in order to launch the ball up and over for 4 or 6. This could help with technique, as many players use their strength to drive along the ground with pace and power, meaning that coaches could use the more modern techniques to help us learn how to play better.
What do they think?
Earlier in 2025, I managed to interview cricketers Rory Burns, Jason Roy, Tom Lawes, Cameron Steel and Ryan Patel, as well as former South African wicketkeeper-batter Dane Vilas.
Vilas said that franchise cricket has put a new spin on cricket with the shorter boundaries, shorter number of overs (e.g. Abu Dhabi T10 and The Hundred) and the larger amount of tournaments expanding through the IPL with mass globalisation. However, he went on to say that it has hurt international cricket as more players are retiring from internationals to play on the franchise circuit. Most of these players are key in their club or international sides, as shown earlier.
Rory Burns said that over the past few years the game has been more competitive and fun to play, but the numbers playing test cricket have been going down, with the bid to find players for the English test team becoming extremely hard. He also commented that many of the ‘requirements’ for the test side are based on the T20 game, which has heavy influence from franchise cricket, and that this hurts the national team.
Jason Roy says that franchise cricket is a good way for kids to see him play and a great way for cricket to be shown across the world. He wants more young kids to play and love cricket, and is happy that franchise cricket is attracting more viewers and more people to the game.
Ryan Patel went further – saying that franchise cricket has actually given a positive base for young players – meaning that there are more great talents in cricket today.
Cameron Steel and Tom Lawes had many of the same thoughts, as they explained how franchise cricket brings more money to the game, causes players to be more innovative and is overall great for all of cricket.
Conclusion
Franchise cricket has evolved the sport to more than just a game – it has touched the hearts of many and is the reason most of us play cricket today. I believe that its largest impact is on how and why we play.
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