May 4, 2006: The big news of course is that the 2011 World Cup has been allotted to the subcontinent. And, we know that subcontinent means mainly India.

Cricket Australia issued a press release expressing its disappointment that its bid was not entertained but also welcomed the decision to give it and New Zealand the right to host the 2015 World Cup. In the media statement, it stressed the point that it was not given the right to host the world cup despite the fact that its team had won the last two world cups.

Team performance has little, however, to do with the decision to award a World Cup to a particular country. What must have swung the decision in favour of India and the subcontinent is the presence of millions of cricket-crazy spectators, and therefore, the prospect of generating revenue from them.

In Australia or England, cricket is not the number one sport even though there is a good following. In India, it is the only sport but this aspect is too well known to be dwelled at length. It goes without saying also that the growth of cricket has been at the cost of other sports in this country. Not that people don’t want to follow any other game. There is no other game in which we have the capability to compete at an international level.

Buried beneath the hype and hoopla was the announcement that South Africa will be given the chance to host the 2007 World Championship for 20/20 cricket and England the next edition of the same event in 2009. All the 10 major cricketing nations will participate in these matches.

Most countries already have one-day specialists and from now onwards, they can nurture 20/20 specialists. India needs to do this fast since the country hasn’t been showing too much interest in this shortest variety of the game. In fact, India had some reservations about promoting this event. But what it means for cricketers is that they will get a lot of opportunities to play international cricket and earn money.

In earlier days, if a cricketer didn’t make it to the Indian team, he had to be satisfied with peanuts, playing Ranji Trophy. You may get a job in a company and play for its team, that’s all.

It’s definitely the golden age for cricketers in India. Money has been enhanced for Ranji Trophy matches and you can tour other nations and earn decent money by playing India A matches.

With such a crowded calendar, no cricketer will be able to play all matches and definitely not all the versions.

So, if your six-year-old son is already bowling a googly, don’t hesitate to take him to a cricket clinic. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t become a Murali or Tendulkar. He can still make some money out of the game. In fact, this is true of all those who are associated with the game, be it officials, umpires or journalists. Everyone can make merry, and money.