As cricket threatens to drift from international to T20 leagues, here are the players who have played the most franchise cricket since 2023.
Cricketers are not new to busy schedules. When WG Grace famously made 839 runs in eight days in the summer of 1876, he also bowled, fielded... and travelled more than 350 km using modes of transport that would certainly be called archaic today.
In the summer of 1948, the touring Australian “Invincibles” were scheduled to play 125 days of cricket in 144 days. There would certainly have been a plethora of injuries had Don Bradman not meticulously rotated his men throughout the large tour.
However, these were in the days before air travel became common, and travel was restricted to one country. Schedules took a toll from the 1960s. In 1961/62, Garry Sobers had 251, 3-51, and 6-72 in the same match for South Australia, took a “55-hour flight on three airlines” and barely made it before a Test match against India. There, he had 2-28, 40, and 4-22. Sobers flew from Adelaide to Port of Spain, one of the longest air routes in the world.
However, not everyone was as in-demand as Sobers, and cricketers largely confined themselves to spending a season in one country. There would be cases when cricketers would represent two teams within a short span. However, with international cricket being the highest level, the players often made it their priority.
Franchise-based T20 leagues changed that hierarchy. It is still a slow trickle, but more and more cricketers have been prioritising league cricket over the years. Since none of these tournaments lasts more than two months, the players often go from league to league around the world. It also means adjusting to new teams, managements, environments, coaching styles, and playing conditions.
For example, Mohammad Amir played in the T20 Blast, The Hundred, and the Global T20 in the span of seven days, between July 19 and 25. While not everyone has schedules this hectic, some cricketers have acquired enough air miles to make several trips around the Earth.
Note:
The Hundred is classified as T20, just like 40-over, 50-over, and 60-over matches were classified as List A or even ODI.
All data is between January 1, 2023, and July 29, 2024.
Most T20 teams represented between January 1, 2023 and July 29, 2024
Until he came out of retirement earlier this year, Imad Wasim was happy being a globetrotter. Luke Wood, who has played for one team fewer than Imad, is not a regular in the England side. Tied at nine teams with Wood is Dasun Shanaka, but four of them – including the national side – are Sri Lankan teams.
Of course, there is a catch here. Some cricketers might have represented a lot of sides, but some of the tournaments might not have been long enough to contribute significantly to their workload. Some players might have been part of the squads, but might not have been regulars in the XI. For them, we need other parameters.
Most T20 matches played between January 1, 2023 and July 29, 2024
Tim David, one of the most sought-after T20 cricketers in the world, tops the list here, while Imad is at third place. Sam Curran (six teams) at second place and Jos Buttler (five) at fifth are curious cases: three of their teams are English sides.
In fact, Buttler’s two non-English teams – Rajasthan and Paarl – are part of the Royals franchise, providing a glimpse into the future. Sunil Narine and Andre Russell make this more evident: the Knight Riders franchise own four of the teams they have played for over this period.
Note: Arshdeep Singh has played 70 T20s, all of them for the geography he belongs to: India, Punjab, and Punjab Kings. Najmul Hossain Shanto (56) has played the most games among those who have represented two teams. He has played more T20 cricket than Fazalhaq Farooqi (eight teams, 55 games) in this period.
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