Cricket Australia's 2011-12: the good, the bad and the brilliant

Gotta love an avenue to get these thoughts out that you can't print in your professional life eh? ;)

Seriously - thanks so much for the comment Vinay! It's always nice to be seen as "good" by a Roar pro! I'm currently a predominantly sports writer myself for a local newspaper. This site is a great outlet for the slightly more international-themed sports fan rant pieces I tend to think about!...

Ben'good piece. Just some inside information. there is a tug of war between Cricket NSW and CA with regard to the SCG and the Homebush precinct. I don't want to mention the bank involved with Homebush because it gives them viewage. CA is aligned to the CBA and naturally want to play most Internationals at the SCG. The other bank is obviously courting CNSW to play more at Homebush. Cricket will wither without its traditions. I am comfortable with Twenty20 at Homebush because this is not based on tradition. It may well develop one in 20 years but I doubt it. As cricket lovers it is beholden on us to pass the tradition on to our children. We cannot force tradition on the young but we can illuminate the way forward. And it is usually nothing to do with money.

Sheek, Brilliant response!! Rex Mossop... now that brings back memories.

Must say guys I loved the five-straight ODIs v SAF and NZ. Worked a treat - not too long, not too short. Seven, way too long. I seriously hope Cricket Australia at least keep the WS to nine matches and one final across no more than say 25 days, with a three-match series against NZ taking no more than another 6 days.

And to think most were bored by the World Series Cup prior to it being replaced by bilateral ODIs when South Africa were last here. Regardless of the format, too many ODIs are played.

If the teams in Sydney and Melbourne are on different sides of the river/harbour, allegiances will be formed soon enough. West Coast Eagles and Docker's emnity is almost entirely based on the traditional Freo v Perth nonsense.

Great post Sheek. We've seen, all but one, test series cut back to three tests from five. Is it conceivable that because of players bred on a fast food T20 diet, we could also see test matches cut back to three days? Not in the immediate future, obviously, but in a decade or two's time...

Whiteline, Yeah, I see where you're comin from - a Rex Mossop tautology. Mind you, many years ago at the Gold Coast theme park, there was this ride that shot you forward & up like you're going into outer space. But once you decelerated to zero, you hung suspended for a second or so (it seemed longer though) before you gained speed again coming backwards. So based on my experience from that ride, momentum can move both forwards & backwards. I've just realised the Italian tanks in WW2 practised backwards momentum exceptionally well..........

I'm a bit guarded about the return of the triseries. I think it needed to be rested, but the 7-ODI series we have just endured was ridiculous. But if the ODI series is shunted into February, as appears likely with the Indian Test series stretching through January, then it may not attract a high level of interest. The Australian public have a tendency to stop going to big cricket matches once school holidays end, and to stop watching them on TV once the footy pre-seasons start. It would also be interesting to see how the ODI schedule interacts with the Big Bash League. On the matter of the BBL, I agree that most that CA should have gone with Geelong as the second venue. Why have two teams in the heart of Melbourne, how will they be differentiated? And as for Sydney, why base their second team at ANZ Stadium, where a 20000 crowd will leave 60000 empty seats. Why not the new stadium at Blacktown, or even Kogarah Oval? The delay in announcing the nuts and bolts of the Big Bash League is ominous. I can't help thinking it will fall apart in a screaming heap after one season.

Hey Sheek, add Smith to your list of Warner and Christian...on another note, can momentum go back backwards?

Ok Russ. Then use Etihad Stadium for cricket t20, even though it is unfit for football due to a dangerous surface and overuse for other events. It would be interesting to see fielders skating around the substandard turf, breaking ankles and shinbones every now and then.

I agree with the article 100%

Plugger, who is talking nonsense? Bendigo is north of Melbourne, last I checked, and a lot closer to Melbourne than Geelong. It takes as long to drive to Geelong from Ballarat as it does to drive to Melbourne. God help you if you want to use a train. Few people want to drive for over an hour after 10pm anyway, so Geelong's crowds would be largely limited to people living in Geelong, and that means a catchment of about 200,000. De-centralisation may or may not be a good idea, but last I checked CA was interested in growing cricket, not urban planning. If they popped over to AFL head-quarters they could learn something from their foray into the latter. Sheek, I agree, the team should be West Melbourne, since that is clearly who it is aimed at. Alternatively, call them Macedon (Volcanos?) or Maribyrnong if the explicit Melbourne reference is to be avoided. As I said above, I'd like to see more Shield teams but population does matter, and Geelong just isn't very big.

Russ, I take your point. Although there's more that goes into this than mere population size. Reading between the lines, the big killer for Geelong was the lack of lighting at their cricket ground. Another minor point is having two Melbournes - like Victory & Heart in the A-league. What's wrong with East Melbourne, or North melbourne as the second team? Traditionally, the two big cricket centres after the 'big 6' are Newcastle & Canberra. Back in the 70s, Newcastle fielded some past, current & future test players in their comp. They would have been very competitive in Sheffield Shield. Canberra Comets of course, joined the one day comp back in the 90s for a short time.

Nonsense. There is the entire west of Victoria, including Bendigo and Ballarat with 100,000 people each, that could be incorporated in the Geelong zone. Furthermore, it would encourage expansion outside the claustrophic capital city of Melbourne, which has too many events centred on too few stadiums already. De-centralisation is the key to the future of Australia, in all aspects.

Sheek, Geelong (and surrounds) has 200,000 people, the target market of the second Melbourne team has 10 times that. With one team you get one home game every second round, with two you get a home game every round. That's important. Nor do they have to call it Melbourne, though they will, because CA has some weird city fetish. Geelong's bid is admirable, but they are well down the list of localities that could support a cricket team. For mine, Melbourne 2, Sydney 2, Newcastle, Canberra and Gold Coast would all be better bets.

I like the idea of a T20 league. I don't like this model for two reasons, the states retaining 51% of the franchises will not promote innovative development of the league. Secondly there should be no international cricket up against it. Only then will it be of value. Return of the world series is a dud. It was a tired format. The ICC should ban odi's on neutral territory it is a recipe for corruption. Ideally shield, tests, odi's over by mid Jan. T20 league in Jan - Feb.

World Series Cup is back! Hopefully the old uniforms too. We need the colours back. The new Big Bash League is a joke. Great idea C.A. alienate your cricket fans in the hope of gaining new ones just to sate the desire of stadium owners at Homebush and Docklands to get 'content'. It WILL FAIL.

Redb, I'm willing to give the city based teams a go, even if I'm not a fan of T20. I think that's the direction all Aussie sports are heading anyway - metropolitan based franachises. Cricket has held out longest with the state/provincial setup, followed by rugby union. But with something like 85% urbanisation (which I think means people living in 100,000 plus populated communities), the concept of states is old hat. I grew up with interstate comps, & would be sad to see them go, but that's the reality of Australia today. But I agree Geelong might have been better than a second Melbourne team. Geelong's basically an outer suburb of Melbourne anyway. In the summer hols, many people migrate to the coastal beaches, which would have made Geelong an attractive option.