Cricket, soccer/football and basketball are the three serious professional summer sports in 2011/12.
Others could emerge in a couple of decades, and everything from Wii to bikinis continue to compete for our attention on those long, hot days and nights.
But let’s assume the “top” sport will emerge from this trio.
My straw poll among friends suggests the reflex response is: cricket will still be number one.
Steeped in tradition, it is the very sound of summer. An Ashes Test can still stop a nation. Cricket remains one of the few things a Gen Y can discuss with a Grandparent in a nursing home.
Harry Kewell may be the greatest signing in Australian sporting history, but he’ll never have the name recognition of Don Bradman – a bloke who hasn’t picked up a bat in 50 years.
Cricket though, has problems.
The Argus Report is either the blood test the game needs to fix a range of illnesses or a fatal diagnosis.
It seems hard to imagine a tournament, a team or a time that could ever return the national affection back to what it was in the Steve Waugh era, let alone the Lillee or Bradman eras.
Sure, a test against Sri Lanka will trend on Twitter, but that’s only one more reason why you needn’t pay more than a hundred dollars for an arvo in the Brewongle.
Twenty20 is packing houses, I hear you say. And so it is. But as the sponsor suggests, this is a fast food fix.
It may well be the future of the game, but like any fast food diet, it is ultimately unsustainable.
Critically, the results don’t really matter. Tell me the defining moments of any Big Bash final of the last three years off the top of your head.
Hard to do.
Captains are quitting to be players, players are quitting to captain foreign “franchises”, one-dayers have lost their specialness, but perhaps most tellingly, cricket is not the childhood rite of passage it once was.
Cricket is not being hard-wired into the DNA of young Australians in the way it once was. Cricket doesn’t suit modern life.
When I quit playing in my mid-30s I, like all my mates, did so because we simply couldn’t justify committing the time it requires.
We’re no great loss but your average ten-year-old in 2011 isn’t wired for six hours at fine leg in the scorching summer sun, either.
Watching the game requires real commitment, too.
On the macro scale, Australia is in danger of becoming a bit part player in a far grander sub-continental political game.
Do not misunderstand me. Cricket is number one by a long way.
But the national game has some serious cracks in its veneer or invulnerability. The number one spot is its to lose. And there are some signs it could do just that.
So will the number 1 contender please stand up?
Could it be basketball? Ludicrous?
Cast your mind back 20 years rather than forward. In 1991, basketball was powering. Stadiums were selling out. I shelled out for a “standing” ticket to watch the Newcastle Falcons playoffs campaign on my tippy toes.
Players were household names.
Now, the game is in a sad state. How can you have a pro league that didn’t include Sydney or Brisbane?
There is not enough room here to discuss what is wrong with the NBL but …
Basketball remains highly-marketable. Big and bold and brash at its best, it is the contender perhaps most accessible to non-sports lovers – especially kids.
It boasts great gender equality.
Women are respected in basketball – both on and off and the court – in a way only tennis can rival and cricket can only imagine.
The WNBL is the number two women’s competition in the world. Yeah, you aren’t the only one who didn’t know that.
Perhaps its biggest strength and its biggest weakness is that it is indoors in air-conditioned stadiums in an Australian summer.
Basketball is weak and, frankly, is showing no signs of dunking in the face of cricket anytime soon. But it still has a lot going for it.
And so too football.
You do not need me to refresh to arguments here. The “sleeping giant”, the “world game”, the only game that delivers events every demographic cares about.
And yet, every day, I see football eat its own. In a world where sports players, administrators, ex-players and media savagely protect their product, football’s “friends” are happy to air their dirtiest laundry on their wedding day.
The game is consistently self-defeating.
I see it show glimpses of its true greatness before retreating to petty internal politics.
All this in an environment where its haters unite against it. Whether they see it as a threat or a joke worthy of ridicule, football’s haters are many and influential.
Want one fact that encapsulates football’s problem? It wants to be called ‘football’ and the national team are known as the Socceroos.
Its biggest strength and weakness? Its multi-cultural nature. It is the game that truly speaks to modern Australia but also the hardest to corral into a marketing campaign.
Oh, and did I mention it eats its own?
But perhaps Craig Norenbergs’ question was deceptively timely.
It came the week Harry Kewell signed for the Melbourne Victory and the Brett Emerton became the first Premier League player to sign down under. This time last year, the A-League had limped through an invisible first month of competition.
This time around, with AFL and NRL finals series being forced off the back pages by killer A-league recruitment, the start of the season is being counted down.
The internet talks of Central Coast’s great XI; billionaire Tinkler owns Newcastle.
The haters are quieter than usual. The doubters are talking about getting to a game: “Just to see Kewell before he breaks down, you understand.”
There is excitement. There is anticipation.
Is this the moment?
Could football actually be the sport to emerge to challenge cricket for the hearts and minds of Australians over summer?
Probably not.
Let’s get some fried chicken and head to cow corner.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Koutafides is of both Italian and Greek descent, and Christou didn't make the team (as he wasn't eligible.)
Matthew Skellett
Guest
I think there is enough room in Us Aussie hearts for ALL the sports we participate in globally , and certainly THIS SUMMER looks like a "Cornucopia of Aussie Male Sporting Delight "- what with all forms of the cricket going right through the season as is the A-League (with HK AND BE ) some Netball tests for the Girls (being very sexist here :-)), Four Nations Rugby League , the Aussie Open and end-of-year Rugby Tests on Fox and then the start of the 2012 Super Rugby Season Starts and we look forward to the "Quad-nations " Rugby -the sweet sweet "Torture" never stops !!:-)
Lorry
Guest
The problem with international cricket is that 95% of games are meaningless. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Alberto Rosso
Guest
You can watch lawn bowls on ABC 1 on a Satdee arvo too.
nordozzz
Roar Guru
gloria is more pro-cahill than pro-football tbf
Midfielder
Guest
Aaron Good article ... were will we be in 20 years.... My reading of the Tea Leafs is football & cricket will be the dominate players ... as Griffo said in his earlier post Cricket has the most to loose and Football the most to gain... I think Basketball & Baseball will improve but to become major sports i don't think so... There are a lot cricket & football have in common in that they both have a variety of products, both run domestic competitions and international teams... Me thinks the battle if that is the right word will be between new football and new cricket.... by new Football I refer to the current FFA management and New Cricket being 20 / 20 ... I think the five day test match will struggle to maintain its past status ... five day cricket is a slow but steady decline that started well before our fall from number one... ODI issues about match fixing have hurt but not in a totally destructive manner. However crowds and rating indicate the preference is heading to a smaller time match played at night... Football has the A & W leagues, plus numerous other competition in Europe & Asia taking place... International matches and the Australia Cup & Asian Champions league... There is a distinct difference in current access to the traditional media and marketing budgets....Cricket has a big advantage in these areas... I think [remember I said think] I read that the last few years of Football the cumulative attendances at Football has been more than at cricket ... further the averages at Football are higher than cricket.... this is certainly true if you compare the A-League to the Shield crowds... Socceroo averages would be higher than cricket as well I think... Meaning I guess is that cricket needs to reinvent itself in its domestic competition ... 20 / 20 seems to be the answer here as well .. as crowds at 20 / 20 matches and the revenue they bring through the gate and rating would indicate this is were cricket is heading... As I see it cricket 20 / 20 competitions will pull huge summer time crowds and TV ratings... and cricket with the change in field between overs is very TV and media friendly... Football has issues not the least in improving the technical level of the teams to a point were free to air matches could be played... close too but still not there is my candid comment ... Assuming and its a big assumption Football gets a sizeable media deal in its next media deal the marketing and traditional media exposure should increase for football ... In summary if I had too which would I say 20 / 20 cricket supported by ONI & Test cricket and Football with more exposure and I assume better marketed... huge gains for both 20 / 20 and a fall for Test credit & ODI... HHHHHMMMMMMMM football by a whisker ...
Evan Askew
Guest
Max Walker, Simon O'Donnell, Keith Miller and James Brayshaw for VFL? Can't think of any NSL players who played cricket while they were playing football. But I understand Robbie Zabica of Perth SC and Adelaide CIty and Australia played cricket for Western Australia. We have the example of Steve Waugh who played for Sydney Croatia reserves at the age of 16 or something before giving it away to play cricket. And a little know fact. Jeffrey Robert Thomson, Thommo, played for Parramatta Melita Eagles in the NSWPL before the NSL era. He actually got paid more for playing for Melitta than he did for NSW in cricket. He was suspended for life when a referee ran into his fist.
Evan Askew
Guest
Alan Jones if pro football isn't he? He stuck up for Timmy when R Wilson and her stooges were trying to throw mud at Cahill for being asked to leave a night club at closing time.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Perhaps that is a Melbourne or Sydney thing. If they (and I know I am tarring entire cities with the one brush here) are not fighting about which is the best city, it is who is the capital of what. I remember Kennet being pro-active with this and sporting events for Melbourne, which Sydney loathed except for the Olympics... ...don't worry, most of us get on with it, including those living in both cities
Griffo
Roar Guru
Still not sure what you were referring to The Cattery...who are dual internationals out of cricket, football and basketball? The Waugh twins were good football players before opting for cricket (Steve Waugh has been involved with the Socceroos previously as a mentor). From my recollection of Aussie Rules Football history (and I'm sure I will be corrected) is that Aussie Rules kept the cricketers occupied and fit during the winter on the oval... In terms of the topic, which sport will be 'rated' the top sport in 20 years time, looking at which kids are playing what sport this summer out of my son's team as a hint of what sport might be open for them as adults and cricket doesn't rate (what would the poll be for NSW or Australia wide?) One thing I will note though is that out of cricket, football and basketball, football and cricket are more open to kids regardless of height issues then what basketball is.
Bruce
Guest
I wonder if stabpass knows what a fact is.
punter
Guest
Elsye Perry played for Australia at both football & cricket. How many have represented Australia in both AFL & cricket? There are also many who have played Rugby League & cricket at a decent level, including Ray Lindwall, the great Australian fast bowler..
j binnie
Guest
As someone who was deeply involved with the concept of "summer soccer" I would like to point out to readers what was contained in the original idea as being beneficial to our code (1) At that time we had an embryo professional league trying to establish itself with a huge potential audience already tied up participating in the game every weekend. (2) Our international teams had to go to comps in the northern hemisphere where teams and players were in full training (3) At the time it was fashionable to invite overseas teams to come here on tour and give our "out of fitness" teams hidings match after match. (4) It was felt the winter calendar was already "packed "where potential fans had to make a choice between different sports (5) It was envisaged that "summer" was a good time to play football as weather conditions were better for players& fans. (6) Heat was noted as a potential problem but this was to be overcome by making it mandatory to play games under floodlight at centrally located grounds at a time to suit families on their way back from the beach or teens starting a night of entertainment in the city.(say 6.30pm) Some of these were adopted some ignored but there is little to condemn the idea if it had been adopted in total.JB
stabpass
Guest
@ Fusball, i am not going to scroll through your 3,300 + comments, but that was my recollection, so where were you born ?.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ stabpass I suggest you check your FACTS and get back to me when you have some evidence.
stabpass
Guest
Fussball ist unser leben "Since I’ve arrived in Australia in the early 70s". Thats very odd, that you would say that, because on another thread, you claimed that you were born in Australia. Are you confused about where you were born ?.
Eat some carbs Crouch
Guest
Lets just bring back Gladiator fighting rings, "win the crowd, win your freedom" :)
David Heidelberg
Guest
Good point, I left Australia v India (Test) at the SCG to wander next door to watch the Mariners v Jets Grand Final. A perfect day. As much as I hate to admit it he may have a point about kids and the future of cricket, but I can't see it. Cricket is too much a part of our culture.
Joe O'Sullivan
Guest
Aaron I'd like to think that baseball will have achieved a higher profile in 20 yrs time.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Yeah he is doing very nicely. I hope he is voted the Asian Footballer of the year. I reckon he will do it this year. Orgi and now Jesus.. Australian Football and Australian Footballers increasing their stocks in Asia.