By the time the 2015 cricket World Cup is played, it will have been 23 years since a major cricketing tournament has been held in Australia.
During that time, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh will have hosted at least one Champions Trophy, Twenty20 and ODI World Cup.
West Indies will have had a Twenty20 and an ODI World Cup. Pakistan co-hosted the 1996 World Cup, including the final, and Zimbabwe co-hosted the 2003 World Cup.
During that 23 years only Australia and New Zealand will not have held one of the three major tournaments (though the Champions Trophy has recently ceased in its current form).
Only Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Zimbabwe have not hosted either a Champions Trophy or T20 World Cup, and domestic problems can explain why Pakistan and Zimbabwe couldn’t and didn’t host either tournament.
The question is why Australia/New Zealand have not hosted these tournaments and what impact this has had in cricket’s popularity in Australia and New Zealand.
To put this into perspective, the South Asian subcontinent countries will have hosted a combination of nine Champions Trophies, T20 and ODI World Cups from 1987-2016.
During that time Australia/NZ will only have hosted 2 World Cups. It is also interesting to note that the next three T20 World Cups (2012, 2014, 2016) will be hosted on the Subcontinent.
As a young kid I remember watching the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket in 1985 (featuring all seven Test-playing nations) and the Benson & Hedges Challenge in 1986/87 (Australia, Pakistan, West Indies and England). Tournaments like this brought a fresh and exciting appeal to cricket from the regular year-to-year activities.
Whenever a major tournament is held, public awareness and interest is increased. One of the reasons there has been a decline in interest in cricket in recent years is because it’s the same thing year in year out.
Test match series, ODI series (and before that the triangular series), and a couple of T20’s. There has been nothing to excite or stimulate the wider sporting public about cricket. The only thing that was different was the failed World XI v Australia at the SCG a few years ago.
Why didn’t Australia host one of the six Champions Trophy tournaments held, or the three played and three scheduled Twenty20 World Cups? Is there a conspiracy by other countries to deny Australia cricketing tournaments? Or is Cricket Australia unwilling or unable to bid for these tournaments?
With cricket grounds being shared with AFL teams, is cricket being locked out by the AFL from holding tournaments that would go past the normal mid-March cricket season finish?
The World Cup in 1992 finished on the 26th of March, but a five-Test series against India and the regular triangular series had already been played that season.
Given that the Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup only last about two weeks, it should be easy to fit most of a regular season plus a T20 World Cup in without creating a clash with the AFL.
As people have pointed out, Australian cricket is becoming more reliant on Indian money, so wouldn’t hosting a Champions Trophy or T20 World Cup have been a good revenue raiser for CA? As it is, only the Ashes and Indian tours make a lot of money, and seasons like 2009/10 where Pakistan and New Zealand toured, CA lost millions of dollars.
Plus there are the intangible bonuses of hosting major tournaments. Increased media coverage and more public interest, and a chance to reach young fans, like the World Championship of Cricket and Benson & Hedges Challenge did when I was young.
There is only so much an Ashes series can do, and with the 2015 World Cup already tainted by being reducing to 10 teams, CA needs to find a way to cricket interesting and fresh to the public.
Slippery Pete
Guest
Does anyone have a general idea of how crowd numbers were for non-Australian games back in WC 92?
Johnno
Guest
Are we really missing out on cricket tournaments. we have the ashes, old world series matches or renamed tri angler tournaments. mAYBE THERE ARE NOT THAT MANY CRICKET TOURNAMents anyway.But also india is the real home of cricket now coz they got the population mumbers which equals the most money. Money talks in pro sports, its a business now cricket at the elite level.
Talisman
Guest
Cricket in Oz is facing a downturn because there's too much of it. As a teenager in the 60's, I couldn't wait for the poms every 4 years (listened thru the night on radio when we toured). It was an anticipation I no longer feel in general cricket, though the Ashes always gets me going. Big Bash cricket does nothing for a cricketer's development imo. These days all I see are young batsmen who haven't got a sound defensive technique - and some older ones (Clarke,Rogers). I see bowlers who struggle to get 2 balls in the same spot let alone 8 or 10 overs of tight stuff. It's a bit like the AFL - the players may be more athletic but they can't kick for nuts.
Brett McKay
Guest
thanks for the reply, Peter..
Brendon
Guest
Are you English? I dont think it did much for Australian cricket. Maybe the coffers for CA but I doubt young kids were rushing out to pickup cricket bats and balls in the hopes of emulating Ponting, Clarke and Johnson. Anyway, the Ashes is for the faithful - its preaching to the choir. Cricket needs more than just that. The old timers who hate T20 can ignore it. I'm personally not huge on T20 cricket but if a T20 world cup was held in Australia I know I'd be more interested.
Brendon
Guest
The 2015 will have to be played during our normal season so it can be done. India could be reluctant to allow a T20 world cup in Australia due to the IPL being held soon after the end of the Australian season. I'd say a lot of the drop off in interest in this years IPL is due to the world cup being played directly beforehand. If India is going to veto, or block, tournaments in Australia then its going to have impact here. Already many people are becoming disgruntled with the way the BCCI controls the game. While BCCI isn't at FIFA levels of corruption Australians are not going to blindly support cricket like the subcontinent countries do (or football countries support football). As it is cricket is starting to slip behind the AFL and NRL and with the $1.25 billion TV deal for AFL and an upcoming similar deal for the NRL cricket is going to be hard pressed to stay as a major sport in this country and will slip back to the pack with rugby, soccer and basketball fighting over whats left. From the 2006 Champions Trophy was held in October/November. I remember it was Australia's first win and it was only just a couple of weeks before the start of the Ashes. Theres no reason why Australia can't hold a T20 cup in November rather than Feb/March.
peter care
Guest
Q) Why is Australia missing out of international cricket tournaments? A) Money. 75% of all money generated by Cricket is generated in India, most of that via Television. Australia and New Zealand do not suit Indian TV audiences: we are in the wrong time zone. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri lanka, South Africa and England are better sells for Indian TV, so they get the tournaments. Cricket is now all about T.V in India.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Agreed -- I would rather not have taxpayers ripped off again to host a tourney of marginal interest. The decline in interest in cricket MAY be attributable to the same thing year after year, but could also be attributed to cynical changes to the game's laws, overinvolvement of the gambling industry,and to overexposure to too many matches in pointless forms of the game that are just bookie-fodder anyway.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I feel the same way about 20/20. As far as I'm concerned, India (and whomever hosted it last time) can keep the 20/20 World Cup.
juro
Guest
I would imagine this is the most likely answer. The subcontinent provides the vast bulk of tv rights income for the ICC. Since the ICC only get money from the tournaments they control (world cup, T20 world cup, champions league), they feel the need to maximise that income. So we have to take a back seat. The main thing I am angry about is that after waiting this last 20+ years for the world cup to come back, they stuff up the format and kick out the colourful teams like Ireland and Afghanistan.
formeropenside
Guest
Who cares about a pointless one-day trophy anyway?
Lolly
Guest
Has it got something to do with the timezones re India? That country's population makes up the bulk of the audience after all. You have to cater to your biggest tv rights/ad sales money or the competition will lose even more money than it already does.
Peter Young
Guest
Interesting chat. The ICC World Cup is held once every 4 years so theoretically it can take 40 years to come around the whole 10 ICC full member nations - we held it in '92 and bid but missed out on hosting in 2011. It will be in Aust-NZ in 2015 and an ICC 2015 World Cup CEO should be named soon. The 2015 WC is expected to draw big crowds. The ICC T20 is new and we are keen to host, as are all ICC members. We are due to host the Under 19 ICC World Cup in Qld next year and recently hosted the ICC Women's World Cup. The Sheffield Shield Final will be part of the 2011-12 interstate cricket program when it is announced in a few weeks. Regards, Peter Young, CA
Comep
Guest
Because Australian cricket fans only go to watch Australia play. Sure some visitors will come to watch a world cup but enough to fill a stadium bigger than the WACA without Australia playing? Nup. Added to this Australia has carved up for the last 20 years so I doubt the ICC would have wanted to give them anymore advtages with a homme ground WC
Daniels
Guest
Football United is right. The Ashes is the one event cricket has that captures the imagination of the entire public. It might be one reason to explain why the CA has not actively pursued any other event. Apart from that, timing of the tournaments does appear to be an issue, with all those 20 Twenty world cups, and champions trophy have all been held at times outside our season. (March and April, and September and October)
Football United
Guest
There has been nothing to excite or stimulate the wider sporting public about cricket. Pretty sure last season's Ashes series has done more for Australian Cricket than any other tour, world cup or gimmicky T20 competition in the last 10 years.
Brett McKay
Guest
Brendon, you raise some fair points, but I'd imagine the timing of these tournaments has a lot to do with Australia and NZ not hosting them. You mention the Champs Trophy is gone now, but it and the T20WC have almost always been held during the Australian off-season, a time when not only are some grounds otherwise busy but when it's literally just not cricket to play cricket at that time of year here. Also, you can't naturally assume that Australia has actually wanted to host anything in the timeframe you mention. It could well be that the 2015 CWC is the first major tournament Australia has actively sought..
Ben Carter
Roar Guru
The Shield final at this stage is still on. Last I heard CA was also considering moving some Shield matches to regional venues (surely a good idea) and I'd rather a cut back in the Ryobi Cup (30 games to 15) than lose Shield fixtures. And would rather we host a T20 World Cup than the Big Bash League (agree James, dreadful name!).
jamesb
Guest
The Bush and the Cattery playing shield cricket on test match grounds is all about developing the first class cricketers, not attracting big crowds I'll agree to disagree with you guys re the abandoning of the shiled final. Making room for the big bash league is a smokescreen anyway!. How many more weeks will the big bash league (the worst branding name of any comp) go for. CA could always halve the domestic one dayers comp to accommodate an expanded twenty/20. OK independent AFL fans, why haven't Australia hosted any international tournaments like twenty/20 world cup and champions trophy. Thats the topic here.
Ben Carter
Roar Guru
Hi Brendon - I agree totally. It's mystifying! It almost makes next summer's World Series return (Aust/Ind/SL) even more important. Almost. Must say a T20 World Cup in Australia (or even New Zealand, given the time zone) would be brilliant. Less convinced about the "Champions Trophy" (which will become defunct, surely, if the ICC persists with a 10-team World Cup). Why not a four-team Challenge series again? There's always a couple of teams available... Aust-Ind-SL-NZ for next summer across 13 games? Aust-Ind-SL-IRE? I don't know the answer, but yes, it's a pain!