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As has been well documented by now, the Big Bash League is currently experiencing a golden summer.
Record crowds, record ratings, there are records being broken at every turn.
Hell, as a long-time doubter and sceptic I’d never watched a ball of it before this season. Yet I’ve had it on the TV most nights over the last month and was even one of the 80,883 at the MCG for the record-busting Melbourne Derby clash.
There’s been a lot of talk in recent times about the parochialism of the home crowds in these BBL games, comparing the passion to that seen at AFL or NRL matches. People are embracing each side as their own.
It certainly seems to be the case in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Hobart, which are one-team towns, but I’m not sure it overly applies in Melbourne and Sydney just yet. There can be no doubt it’s building, though, and we’re likely only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to popular interest.
But there is a glaring problem facing the BBL, especially when it comes to comparing the game to the AFL or NRL – the best players are being taken away right as the competition is hotting up and heading into finals.
Hawthorn didn’t have Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell taken from them on the eve of September to get ready for the International Rules series against Ireland.
NRL players may miss a club game in order to better prepare for a crucial State of Origin bout, but followers of rugby league have as much passion for their state as they do their club. The NRL wisely doesn’t schedule Origin matches while finals are being played.
Yet Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner have been ripped out of the Melbourne Stars to prepare for a one-day series of questionable relevance, just as the Stars are fighting for a home final. Shaun Marsh was stripped from the Perth Scorchers over the weekend, only to be cooling his heels tonight instead of playing for Australia.
What hope have the Melbourne Renegades, struggling already, got now that captain Aaron Finch and keeper/opening batsman Matthew Wade have been called up for national service?
The recent World Cup aside, ODI crowds have been diminishing in recent seasons, and this can’t be a coincidence as the BBL has taken hold. There are only so many dollars to go around for the cricket fan in each state, and the people have decided where the value lies.
While Test cricket still has the marquee Boxing Day and New Year matches being played at the peak holiday time in this country, the five-day format has been ever more marginalised over the years.
The Melbourne and Sydney Tests used to be the centre-piece while now they are the last two Tests of the summer. Rarely is the Sydney Test a live rubber anymore.
Test cricket is still extremely popular in Australia though, and it will maintain its status for the foreseeable future.
But the BBL is the premium product in Australian cricket right now, and if the people following their sides are going to become as passionate as Cricket Australia wants them to be, it won’t be long before they start asking the obvious question – why should we be giving up our players for ODI games of no interest and even less context or meaning?
The fans have shown that the BBL is the most important thing to them in the Australian cricket summer. They’ve shown over the last few years, and will no doubt show over the next two weeks, that watching one-day internationals is the least important.
So how long are we going to go sacrificing the former for the latter? And more importantly, why should we?