Brown and Fingleton were on that tour so you wouldn’t have seen them play shield cricket that season

What I’m saying about the 30’s was there was no international cricket in Australia. I don’t want to go back too that. I want to see England, South Africa and India each tour Australia every 4 years.

Ball: I’d just go back to using one at each end, 25 overs max. each….

We have all complained about the amount of nothing fixtures and how a 7-game series is ridiculous but I think we all agree that the market is open to it at the moment and as such the administrators will continue to cash in while they can, cricket has never been so healthy and it would be stupid and irresponsible for the overlords to not make hay now that the sun is shining.

So I am picturing one of two solutions for the future of ODI’s:

The first:

2 Leagues (ala the MLB) playing off for the “FoF Cup” – yes, humbly named after yours truly but take your pick of legends who have retired and deserve to have a trophy named after them.

Southern Hemisphere League (Aus, NZ, SAF, Zimb, 5th team, 6th team) – 5th & 6th teams to be decided via playoff between associate nations such as Kenya and Namibia but it could also involve the likes of Argentina or somehow we could twist an arm and get an Australia A side in there, we all know they’d wipe the floor with many countries.

Northern Hemisphere League (Eng, Ind, Pak, WI, Sri Lanka, 6th team) – Obviously more cricketing countries in the North, means only one play-off place but this could all be worked out via a points system for automatic qualification for the bigger nations and the others play off.

The Second:

Teams are ranked and get pooled into two groups, again 6 teams in each pool as proposed in the first idea only this way teams would be playing against different opposition in every tournament and not based on geography which is probably fairer but logistically, more difficult and the first proposal would contain more rivalry matches which are better for the game.

The way it works:

Format should be something like the WC qualification in European football but not played in the summer, the summer (both Southern and Northern) should be reserved for “regular cricket”, this is more a filler competition for Autumn and Spring but one, that with a proper structure will bring in a lot more sponsorship and be a lot more meaningful to both the players and the fans than the current one-off series’.

1)Each team plays every other team in their league three times at home, three times away = 30 games per country for the qualifying stages.

2)Each one of these “mini-series” is to be played like a “matchday” so Australia vs. NZ is 3 games, on Australian soil in a 7-10 day period while at the same time SAF is playing Zimb, 3 games during the same period on different days to capitalise on broadcasting and the same for 5th & 6th teams.

3)League One (whether that is the Southern Hemisphere League or simply Group A) plays their “matchday” period and the next week is for the League Two, this would obviously provide plenty of opportunities for TV coverage as only one match on any given day will keep up the numbers.

4)The League One sides then travel during the League Two matchday period and play their next matchday directly after the League Two period concludes, this should allow teams about 2 weeks in between which is more than they are currently offered on many occasions.

5) 3 Matchdays before the summer and 3 to windup the first season, 4 to start the second season with the semi’s and finals played at the end of the second season means the tournament would be run over 2 years (same length as European WC qualifying) before starting all over again.

6) Best two teams from each league play-off in a 3-game series as semi-finalists, the winners enter a final and play a 5-game series.

7) The final is played on neutral grounds and is decided like the WC so every team gets a chance to cash in.

Rules would be current 50 over format but no wash-outs, they must be replayed and just for the sake of it, something would be done about the ball.

ICC open to regular Test ‘final’

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, has said it is open to an annual or biennial Test final to make the longer form of the game more exciting and attractive. Lorgat agreed that it was important, to arrest the general dwindling interest in Tests, to build context around the format and infuse meaning for every series.

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/current/story/433913.html

So you dont have to worry about the National Team being away for the whole summer unless of course they happen to be on the Ocean Viking.

1930-31
1931-32
1932-33
1936-37

In1935/36 Australia toured South Africa from December to March

So, no I don’t want to return to the days when The national team was out of Australia the whole summer or weren’t playing International cricket at all.

Australia is a junior partner in the Champions League along with SAF. India holds 50%. It is too easy to take the money and run. I for one am not enthused with Gayle,Bravo Pollard and their ilk. They are cricketing “nobodies” in the context of a Greenidge,a Sobers or a Richards. Flintoff will have to get on the park first. The domestic game will be healthy when theres 5000 plus watching a Shield Game. The last one dayer at North Sydney had barely 3500 people. And it was a great day for watching. Why schedule a Shield Game starting on a Tuesday? Is the weekend a day of rest for State Cricketers? The last SCG game and the next also start on a Tuesday. That is a death wish.

If you think there are injuries caused by too much cricket he is a poor example to use.

A: Domestically, CA and Fox Sports have only just renewed their agreement at the start of this season. So as good as your idea is, it’s probably not a commercial reality.

That said, and I’ve mentioned this in the past, CA and the FFA both have a massive opportunity to capture the Friday night FTA timeslots vacant over spring and summer after the footy seasons conclude. The sooner this slot contains a live domestic T20 or A-League game, the better. And whoever wins the race will ensure a ratings winner, and increased revenues to boot. As both CA and FFA are tied to pay TV though, it’s not as simple as it sounds. But how good would that be?!?

B: If you look at the Shield teams now, most have several guys in that U23 bracket anyway. Also, with the old CA Cup (2nd XIs) converting to the Futures League for U23s (+ 3 overage), we will over time see an organic decrease in the average age of State squads anyway. As these U23 players graduate into the Shield side over time, the fringe players in their late 20s or early 30s will make way.

Ultimately, this will filter to the Australian side too, although just this year we’ve already seen Tim Paine, Phillip Hughes, Moises Henrigues – all under 23 – in Australian colours.

C: As I said below to Vinay, the SPL T20 is still a plan with franchise teams, but the IPL and CLT20 might also be the extent of these types of competitions. In the meantime, if it doesn’t get up, we’ll see more marquee players in the Big Bash, and I think that’s a good thing.

If the ECB’s move to 40 over one-dayers works, that could materialise down here too.

D: I think this has always been the case anyway. The current Powerplay system derived from a similar system used in DLO games here, which in turn derived from a second fielding restriction in the 16-30 over bracket. Kookaburra has led the way in ball research over the years, and will continue to do so. By the way (and Ben Conkey pointed this out in a piece I wrote back a while about the ECB move), 40 over one-dayers would eliminate the need to change the ball at 34. Or they could just use two balls like used to domestically at one stage..

I’m with you though, working for CA would be great. When you get the gig, I’ll be your No.2!!

And speaking of addresses, while I completely made up “PO Box 1, Dubai” as the ICCs address in the column, my curiosity made me look up the actual address:

International Cricket Council
PO Box 500 070
Dubai, UAE.

So close!!

I say this not to “hail fellow well met cosy up over a cuppa”, but as reality. Australian cricket has never been stronger than it is currently. Such is the over-performance, CA will pay hefty bonuses from additional revenue to players from the last three years. That means the likes of McGrath and Warne are still benefitting now. State players are better paid than ever because of the agreement between the ACA and CA.

The only thing that is missing from Shield cricket is spectators, but even they can’t be forced to attend!! This is why I say I think CA are doing everything they can for the game domestically. The Sheffield Shield will never be the focus of the summer, the Australian team will always have that mantle.

And India aren’t running Australian cricket anyway. Yes they have a big say on the game internationally, but what agenda are they forcing on the local front?? CA would love to establish a franchised Super 14-style T20 Southern Premier League with South Africa and New Zealand, but in the meantime, they’ve allowed states to sign marquee players. And look who we’ll see this summer in state shirts: Gayle, Bravo, Pollard, Afridi. Symonds will no doubt play for Qld, and perhaps we might see Flintoff too. This is great for the local game.

Perhaps it’s because of our differing generations that I can accept these things easier, I don’t know, but I do think there’s little point wishing for a return to the glory days, because in this instance, it just won’t happen.

The domestic game is quite healthy. It’s the international game where you need more done. And urgently.

CA,of all the Boards is concientious of the grassroots and there is a defined pathway. However the Shield needs to have a context and the focal point has to be the availability of players. The States in Australia are largely run by ex cricketers of standing and the recent appointment of John Dyson by Cricket NSW must be applauded. But I still want more to be done to make the Shield the focus of our summer.

A) getting some FTA broadcaster, like the ABC to broadcast one or two games a week (not a money making exercise, a “brand building” one). People love cricket enough that they will watch it in any form but when people see just how high the quality is in the Australian domestic leagues it might get a few people motivated to head down to the grounds.

B) Selections – Force teams to have X amount of under 21/23 players. That is what the sheffield shield has always been about, the next crop of young players, make sure they are getting their chances and when the papers write about the next wonderkid, they can tune into the ABC to check him out.

C) Keep the states for the Sheffield Shield but for the shorter formats bring in “franchises”. NSW is strong enough that they could field three teams without much of a problem and generally QLD and WA could field two, Victoria fluctuates too much perhaps but that is the way the game is moving anyway, why not move with it? Of course this would cause selection headaches but I’m sure if there’s a will, there’s a way.

D) Become trendsetters for the rules. Find ways to cut down the slow over rates. Finally get a ball that can hold its shape and seam etc.

For mine, being a CA Administrator would be a dream job, you’ve got a public who are split in the winter months but consider the cricket team as their “international team”, you’ve got buckets and buckets of talent, sponsors who would be climbing over one another to get themselves promoted, some of the most picturesque grounds in the world, the perfect climate…

Literally everything they could wish for is there, someone just needs to make something of it. Anyone got the phone number of Mr. Sutherland, I think I might apply myself.

A cricket lover in Sydney or Melbourne (or the other capitals) can see some outstanding First Class cricket for not much cost, or they can sit at home with their own beverages and snacks, in their own chair, and watch the national team playing which ever format it is this week in where ever it is we’re playing it.

And so it goes for the CA marketing dept. They can’t restore it to its former gloary without the international players, and the international players just aren’t available. You mention Ricky Ponting above – Cricinfo’s stats say he hasn’t played a Shield game in the last two years, and I’ve had to dig much further on the Tassie website to find that his last game was v SA in 2007/08. And that was his only Shield game for that season (did alright though, made 96 & 124!!)

So CA are on a hiding to nothing, essentially. That all said, I happen to think they’ve got it right. They don’t do a lot of promotion, but cricket fans know when there’s a game on, and who’s playing. They’ve done well to restore the Sheffield Shield name, and in securing the sponsorship of Weetbix, it’s not a complete drain on CA revenue. Fox Sports shows the Final each season, and have done for a few seasons now, whereas I can’t recall a Shield Final being broadcast since Michael Slater batted his way onto an Ashes tour in ’93.

In all honesty, I really don’t know what more CA can do. Restoring the eminence of the Shield might be harder than resolving the interntaional schedule AND overhauling the ICC..

(btw, I wanted to put you at ease about your Weetbix Shield comment – the CA website seems to refer to it as the “Weetbix Sheffield Shield” AND the “Sheffield Shield Presented by Weetbix”, so it seems we can still call it the Sheffield Shield and be right. Thankfully, they’ve learned the lesson of the milk cup..)

We all lament the poor attendances in the Sheffield Shield (I refuse to call it the Weet Bix Shield). We all agree it is the breeding ground and the strongest domestic comp in the World. In that case why is it not promoted as such? Why is left to languish in the Dreamworld.? There was time when Fingleton and Brown had to jostle for the opening spot. Runs and wickets meant playing for Australia. It is rare for the Aussie elite to play in the Shield with the current schedules. In fact the next Shield game at the SCG may be the only time Ponting plays for Tasmania this year. I would pay to see Ponting face upto Lee,Bollinger and Cockley.

Why would a Broadcaster want to televise when the leading players dont play? It is time CA looked at restoring the eminence of the Shield. I would rather quality Shield matches than seeing a mediocre Windies.

*giggle* I’m still trying to find dates for the alleged Indian Tour of Bangladesh in January 2010.

I keep hearing rumours, but I dont think the Mighty Bangladesh Tigers will be seeing Test cricket till the English show up in March.

I used the example of Henriques only to highlight how ridiculous the injury situation had become, and didn’t actually suggest it was from too much cricket in his case. Even if he hadn’t played much cricket – which I don’t really agree with anyway, because he played all of NSW’s CLT20 games in the previous fortnight – the quick turnaround for his return to India wouldn’t exactly be the ideal preparation for making your ODI debut. If it wasn’t cricket that caused his injury (and he was injured while playing), it was just as likely the logistics of international cricket..

Greg Russell below also likened the ICC to the UN, which is reasonably accurate in my opinion, and again for this plan to happen, we’d need the ICC to become more like the MCC, that is, an actual governing body that would then be in the position to act as the global rights holder and seller.

Oh and Freud, just to be clear, I’ve no issue with your comments today. I appreciate your honesty in actual fact!!