Sheffield Shield key for Australian cricket

 
GarethIan Roar Rookie

By , 31 Jan 2012 GarethIan is a Roar Rookie

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Throughout the summer there has been a lot of focus placed on the Big Bash League and its impact on the Sheffield Shield and in-turn Test cricket.

Australia’s four Test obliteration of an impotent Indian side prevented any significant discovery of the flaws in the current scheduling.

Had Australia not performed with such effect, the selection panel would have been pondering long and hard over how to choose viable replacements given the lack of four-day cricket to gauge upon.

Despite Australia’s success the ever-increasing commercialisation of domestic cricket is very much in need of addressing.

Over the past few years there have been a number of changes to the structure and scheduling of domestic cricket in Australia.

However, as a result of the demand created by accelerating lifestyles it has been the game’s shortest form being revolutionised much to the disadvantage of four-day cricket.

From a money making point of view this is a proven method, supplying what is in the most demand. Unfortunately for Cricket Australia, Shield cricket is the breeding ground for Test match cricketers and where the intricacies and technicalities are best taught.

Furthermore, four-day cricket is the only way to prepare a cricketers body for the rigours of Test cricket.

There are very few players who can, like David Warner has recently shown, make the transition from Twenty20 cricket to Test match cricket. Without a strong Sheffield Shield, Australia’s Test cricket will suffer.

As such, Australia’s domestic cricket needs yet another revamp to include four-day cricket throughout the summer whilst still maintaining a financially viable model.

This is best done by continuing the recent success of domestic Twenty20 cricket in Australia and stimulating interest in Shield cricket.

The first change necessary is to schedule the season in a way that enables Test match regulars to play for their state, especially at the start of the summer. This will have two major effects upon Shield cricket.

Firstly, it will attract more fans as it gives the public more opportunities to watch their cricketing heroes. Secondly, it will improve the quality of cricket being played at the domestic level providing a format which is even more conducive to generating Test cricketers than current Shield cricket.

The next step in increasing the interest for Shield cricket is to amplify its availability through introducing day-night Shield matches. This allows people to attend a session or two of the cricket after work or school.

The sceptics will claim that it can provide one team with an unfair advantage but the fact is cricket it not fair – pitches deteriorate, the weather changes. Not that this will be a great unfairness.

Starting the day’s cricket at midday will result in an 8pm finish, a time at which most cities of Australia where Shield cricket is played are still quite light due to daylight savings.

In fact, earlier this year the fourth day of a Shield match between Victoria and Queensland went well past 8pm at the MCG in search of a result.

To accompany the day-night Shield matches should be a Twenty20 or 50-over match either the day before or after in an effort to condition our country’s cricketers to five day cricket.

The injuries to young bowlers James Pattinson and Patrick Cummins this summer are indications that the domestic system isn’t priming athletes for test cricket well enough.

An example proposal would be to play a Twenty20 or 50 over game on a Friday night to attract the fans looking for a pleasant way to finish off the working week and then a Shield match starting on the Saturday.

Days one and two, those usually with the highest attendance, would fall on the weekend providing more opportunity for patrons to attend whilst days three and four could be attended after work as a social outing or means to unwind.

On the subject of 50-over cricket, the need for a strongly followed domestic competition is almost nonexistent.

There are no skills used in 50 over cricket that are not utilised more so in the longer or shorter forms of the game except for complicated captaincy due to fielding restrictions and powerplays which result in a contrived and supervised version of the sport.

Whilst it would be rash to cease the 50 over competition at the domestic level in the next few years it might be best played in a shortened competition played alongside other cricket rather than a six-month season.

Rather, the Twenty20 competition should be extended following the Big Bash’s recent success. Twenty20 cricket is the future of the short form of cricket and 50 over matches are currently trying to fill a void that for now does not need to be filled.

There are, of course, many other initiatives that need to be incorporated to create a model that is successful both from a business and sporting point of view but what is certainly needed is more importance being placed upon Shield cricket.

There is no arguing it is the environment in which future Test cricketers develop to become greats in the pinnacle of the sport.

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