Cricket Australia right to protect Warner from Big Bash
Columnist By Luke Doherty, 18 Jan 2012 Luke Doherty is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Australian Cricket, BBL, Chris Gayle, Cricket, David Warner, Test cricket
David Warner has saved Michael Clarke's blushes with his commanding century AAP Image/Tony McDonough
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It was there when his arm reached awkwardly towards the base of his back. It was there when a fast delivery smashed him on the elbow, and it was certainly plain to see when a ball cannoned into the side of his head. It was the look of a man in pain.
Even though David Warner continues to make the impossible look pedestrian, that grimace is exactly why Cricket Australia had every right to rest the star opener from the Thunder’s Big Bash League match against Brisbane last night.
West Indian blaster Chris Gayle didn’t see the logic behind the decision. He criticised Cricket Australia for not giving Warner a leave pass.
Gayle’s argument is a simple one. Warner is an excitement machine, so let him play and the crowds will stream through the turnstiles. The competition will continue to be a success and the Thunder’s chances of winning will also improve.
The only problem is that a whole world exists outside of the Twenty20 bubble.
It’s a world that involves rest, both physically and mentally, from the strains of one of the toughest tests of character in sport.
This format is what the name suggests, and Warner has been immersed since the start of December.
The crossover between the two doesn’t seem to pose a problem for the left-hander. If his dashing display against India in Perth is any guide then he seems quite content with using the same technique for T20 as for Tests. How sustainable that is remains to be seen.
The Thunder has every right to feel a little hard done by. Cricket Australia planted them in Sydney’s west and told them to make the Big Bash League a must-see event. The only problem is that while one hand was giving the other was taking their most important asset away.
Recruiting the poster boy of the competition – maybe even the face of the game in general – was always going to be a risky move. Given the fluctuating form of Phil Hughes and Warner’s increasingly attractive first-class form, a Test call-up was a growing possibility.
The gamble didn’t pay off.
If Warner was 100 percent fit then an argument could be made that a Big Bash ban between Tests may have been overly cautious, but given the grimaces at the WACA it seems entirely appropriate.
The beauty of the Big Bash is that it’s simple enough to stand on its own two feet.
The only thing that matters is a white ball flying over a fence. It doesn’t really matter who has connected blade with ball.
The amount of relatively unknown players making a name for themselves has proved that beyond doubt.
Life under a myrtle green cap that is slightly baggy, not a baseball cap coloured lime green, is what’s more important to Warner now. It’s nice to know that Cricket Australia sees it the same way.
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You can follow Luke Doherty on Twitter @Luke_Doherty and on Sky News Australia.
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The Crowd Says (20) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- Australian Cricket, BBL, Chris Gayle, Cricket, David Warner, Test cricket
January 18th 2012 @ 8:37am
Brett McKay said | January 18th 2012 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Luke, I comepletely agree that CA did the right thing by not releasing Warner, but it’s emerged now that Warner is still feeling the effects of being hit behind the ear, and on the elbow, and effectively ruled himself out anyway. one way or the other, common sense preveiled..
January 18th 2012 @ 9:46am
Red Kev said | January 18th 2012 @ 9:46am | Report comment
Also not even Dave Warner would have helped the Thunder last night.
January 18th 2012 @ 9:56am
Brett McKay said | January 18th 2012 @ 9:56am | Report comment
quite true Kev, Brisbane bowled superbly well to restrict them…
January 18th 2012 @ 10:05am
Matt F said | January 18th 2012 @ 10:05am | Report comment
The Thunder were simply woeful last night. The margin was so great that the Heat are now in 4th spot, for the time being anyway. If this were Pakistan there would be match fixing claims everywhere!
Speaking of Pakistan, Ajmal has absolutely destroyed the Poms on Day 1 of their test match! Terrible to see really
January 18th 2012 @ 8:47am
Chris said | January 18th 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment
And all it proves is the folly of running the BBL concurrantly with the Test series. While I’m sure CA will point to the excellent crowds and TV ratings, I still think the scheduling is a problem. Both series suffer from it to be honest.
I’ve suggested this before and I’ll put it forward again:
Nov – Sheffield Shield and interstate one-dayers start
Dec – Sheild and interstate one-dayers continue and Test matches start
Jan – Test series finishes mid month and the second half of the month is given over to ODIs/international T20s. Shield and interstate one-dayers conclude at the end of the month
Feb – BBL
Mar – BBL continues and finishes up in the middle of the month
Apr – football seasons start
If free to air networks are interested in the BBL (as they are rumored to), this schedule should work nicely, particularly if Ch 9 gets the rights as it provides regular sporting programming in what is currently a gap between the cricket and footbal seasons.
It also works for the cricketers – they can concentrate on one form of the game at a time. And for those playing in the IPL, they can move straight from the BBL into the IPL season.
January 18th 2012 @ 9:30am
jameswm said | January 18th 2012 @ 9:30am | Report comment
Chris
The problem with this is that the BBL is big for the kids, so scheduling it in the school holidays makes sense.
January 18th 2012 @ 9:50am
Matt F said | January 18th 2012 @ 9:50am | Report comment
Exactly. From a cricket point of view Chris’s schedule makes sense but from a crowd/attendance/commercial level it’s pretty much perfect where it is now.
January 18th 2012 @ 12:04pm
Chris said | January 18th 2012 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
I’m not sure that it is perfect right now – from the crowd/attenance/commercial perspective.
Whenever there is a conflict, one side or the other will end up dominating the clash. And right now there is a clash between Tests and the BBL – as evidenced by Warner’s unavailability for the Thunder’s game last night.
Let’s say the BBL continues to grow in popularity. More teams are added, allowing for more games to be played. Either the BBL season will expand, or more games will be played in the current amount of time. Which means teams won’t sign players who are (or who are in the mix for being) selected for the Test team as they won’t have access to them (e.g. I bet the Thunder would love to have their recruitment time all over again right now). You will then start to get players who will decide not to make themselves available for Test selection because they can make a fortune for themselve playing in T20 comps around the world (e.g. Chris Gayle). This will then devalue Test cricket because the vast majority of the talent will follow the money. It always does.
Whether it be next year, or at some point after that, I guarrantee either Test matches or the BBL will take precedence. And going on James Sutherland’s column in The Roar today, CA seems to be fixated on giving as much assistance to the BBL as they can. So either CA puts in place a format that protects its flagship product (the Australian Test team), or it loses it. And there go all the great attendances and ratings that have characterised the current series.
They can have both a successful BBL and a vibrant Test series, but scheduling is crucial to ensure that both can bring in enough revenue.
January 18th 2012 @ 1:28pm
Matt F said | January 18th 2012 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
All of the test players, or at least the players who were expected to be in the test team and hence miss most of the BBL, signed minimum wage contracts. Haddin and Watson for example would be 2 of the lowest paid players on the Sixers list because they were expected to play no more then 1 or 2 games. If however the Sixers qualify for the Champions League then Haddin/Watson will be available and will cash in there. The Thunder’s problem wasn’t that they signed Warner, but that they paid him top dollar as they thought he’d play almost all the games.Though the Thunder are probably a poor example as their strategy of paying averything to 2 players was doomed to failiure anyway.
CA pay their contracted players very well. They earn more money through their CA contracts then they ever will through their BBL contracts. The IPL is an exception but even then that’s only for the absoluted elite IPL players. Other nations such as the WIndies (you used Gayle as an example after all) unfortunately aren’t so lucky. Gayle’s income from the BBL, whilst substantial, is a fraction of what he earns from the IPL. It’s probably more then he earns from the WIndies (or used to earn) but it would be a fraction of what he would be earning if he was eligible for Australia.
If CA are giving as much assistance to the BBL as possible why aren’t all the test players available for this weeks BBL matches? The only players that CA have cleared to play are 2 batsmen who can’t buy a run right now, one bowler who didn’t play the last test and another bowler who probably won’t play the next one. For now at least Test cricket seems to be taking precedence.The fact that the BBL matches don’t start until after Test matches finish is another example of CA attempting not to detract from the test series (or the BBL.) It’s why there weren’t any BBL matches scheduled at the same time as the WACA test (time difference.)
January 18th 2012 @ 9:41am
The Cattery said | January 18th 2012 @ 9:41am | Report comment
Rest assured that CA is eyeing off the whole of December/January for the BBL. It’s obvious from their current pubic announcements, and from a commercial point of view, it’s a no brainer.
January 18th 2012 @ 11:12am
Gleeso said | January 18th 2012 @ 11:12am | Report comment
I can’t see why there should be tests played after the Sydney New Years Test. I’ve looked through all my Wisdens and tour books and tests have been played in late October, November, December with the series culminating in the first week in January in Sydney.
This way, most of the Shield can be played parallel to the tests…which is the problem now.
The school holidays is the optimum time for the Big Bash and test players would be freed-up to play more BBL games.
January 18th 2012 @ 2:45pm
Klinger said | January 18th 2012 @ 2:45pm | Report comment
Gleeso, not true about test series always finishing with the new years test in Sydney. I remember watching the test against the West Indies in Adelaide in 88/9 finishing on the Australia day weekend. Adelaide traditionally had a test coinciding with Australia day up until about then, but once ODI’s grew in popularity the old ACB was keen to wrap up the test series earlier so the WSC series could be played in January ala BBL. As a sop to Adelaide, they were granted a double header in the WSC over the long weekend.
January 18th 2012 @ 3:11pm
Gleeso said | January 18th 2012 @ 3:11pm | Report comment
Thanks mate, I realise that. I was just pointing out that test series running through late January is not set in stone like a lot of people think it is.
January 18th 2012 @ 8:48am
The Bush said | January 18th 2012 @ 8:48am | Report comment
Eh, if Chris Gayle isn’t enough for the average punter (though of course he did fail last night), then nothing will satisfy them…
January 18th 2012 @ 9:35am
Atawhai Drive said | January 18th 2012 @ 9:35am | Report comment
The likes of John Dyson and Chris Gayle need to be put back in their box and told to stay there.
Australia are in the middle of a Test series against India. The series has already been decided, but it’s not over yet. No member of the Test team should be dragged away to play cartoon cricket in the middle of a Test series.
I say that as someone who quite enjoys Twenty20, although I liked it better when the State teams were playing.
January 18th 2012 @ 10:10am
Matt F said | January 18th 2012 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Given his back niggles of late it was a very smart call. Keep in mind that it’s not just Warner who was rested either (though he’s obviously the big draw card right now.) Every player from the test squad apart from Clarke has a BBL contract and if you look at the 4 players who were released, Haddin and Marsh are horribly out of form, Lyon didn’t play the last test, and Starc probably won’t play the next test. Clearly these players were released for Test reasons rather than BBL reasons, which is good to see given the growing concern over which format CA sees as more important.
January 18th 2012 @ 11:51am
Chris said | January 18th 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
Actually there seems to be a growing sentiment that Starc WILL play in Adelaide, allowing Siddle or Hilfenhaus to be rested for what will probably be a much longer Test match than the last couple…
January 18th 2012 @ 12:05pm
jameswm said | January 18th 2012 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
Some merit in that, though I think Hilfy and Sid will have little if any role to play in the ODIs, whereas Starc is more of a ODI bowler than those two.
It’d be a good chance for the pressure to be on Starc to have a long a sustained test, in both senses of the word.
An issue is who picks up the extra overs, in potentially hot weather and on a flatter track. Could be some long sessions. Hussey and Clarke are the obvious two. They’ll miss Watto.
January 18th 2012 @ 1:31pm
Matt F said | January 18th 2012 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
There’s some media speculation on that but I have my doubts. Unless Siddle or Hilfenhaus are carrying some niggles (which may well be the case for all I know) I think they’ll play in Adelaide and be rested during the T20 and ODI series, which to me makes more sense, especially when you take both of their quite average ODI records into account.
January 18th 2012 @ 11:44am
jameswm said | January 18th 2012 @ 11:44am | Report comment
Look if the guy’s got injury niggles, then rest him for sure. It just looks odd when Haddin and Starc are playing.
Dyson and Gayle want him to play for his team, no surprises there. Not that it would have made much difference.