2012/13 Domestic cricket fixture review

Perhaps we can invite the Canadians over to a 20-20? No wait, that might be risky.

"No its not. 550k people through the gates at a net $10 each is $5.5m." While good gate-takings are nothing to be sneezed at, TV rights deals are measured in the $100s of millions. While losing Coniglio and Smith is a shame, the previous year Meyrick Buchanan and Alex Keath chose cricket after being drafted into the AFL picking up Big Bash contracts. As the Big Bash expands with teams in Canberra, Gold Coast, Newcastle etc there will be a greater demand for rookie players.

Don Corl;eon said, "Then again, revenue from crowds is insignificant to television revenue " No its not. 550k people through the gates at a net $10 each is $5.5m. Remember, Cricket Australia just shafted the Shield-level players over $40k a year each, and has lost at least two very good young cricketers (Stephen Coniglio and Nick Smith) to Australian Rules because they pay their first year players more than Cricket Australia pay their Sheffield Shield players.

@Franko - To the contrary the Melbourne and Sydney local derbies with the expanded teams attracted 40,227 and 31,262 respectively. The aggregate crowd for the Big Bash was 550,220 (highest) at an average of 17,749 (second highest) consider also that a quarter of the homegrounds had a capacity of only 20,000. Then again, revenue from crowds is insignificant to television revenue and in that department the Big Bash was successful. Expanded teams means that cricket can attract more athletes who have previously turned away from it to play professional sport elsewhere ie (cricket max: 6 squads/AFL max: 18 squads). I don't see your point about Kerry Packer. How is his series any different to a current international ODI tri-series? While I have no interest in the IPL, I have an interest in the T20 World Cup as I envisage that it will be the true cricketing world cup in the future.

Just do not get the point of the new T20 teams. They are not increasing crowds, so what the hell is the point? They should have slashed the domestic one dayers to 3 plus a final and had the 20/20 games in it's place. It costs about 120 k a game to rent a stadium like Docklands in Melbourne, not to mention the installation of pitches etc.. They must be losing money hand over fist at Cricket Oz. You would not run a private business like they do. Kerry Packer would have had the best international teams out here every season with the finest players, not over-paid club players padding out teams like you see with t20. Does anyone pay any attention to the Indian PL or even the t/20 world cup? Not a great sign for it.

Sheek, I don't agree that the domestic cricket schedule is particularly intense. There aren't that many more first class games now than when the Shield was an semi-amateur competition and players working lives had to be catered for. They play nowhere near as many games as the counties, over a longer season - although they are both extending their season and trying to cull fixtures. As a supporter, 5 home fixtures in six months (two of them played entirely mid-week) isn't too many. Actually, I find it extremely difficult to build up a narrative of the Shield.season because the fixtures are so spaced out, more often than not they are half done by the time I realise there was a game to follow. I'd much rather see the Shield played in 10 (or 14 if it was expanded, and it should be) back to back fixtures from late September to early January, the final following the final test. If injuries are a problem, there is an easy solution: allow substitutes between the 2nd and 3rd innings so bowlers can be rotated. Having the end of the Shield season in the school holidays would do wonders for its popularity; the Big Bash is much better suited to an after-work, late-summer crowd.

Cricket Australia has invested in the T20 Big Bash and it will reap a sizable reward come the next TV rights deal. Like it or not, T20 is the format which will attract fans to the sport. With the Big Bash and T20Is I enjoyed coming home from work each night having dinner and watching an entire game of cricket. I didn't care that it wasn't 'serious' cricket, I didn't feel like that. When I want to watch serious cricket...I take a flexi or rec leave day and watch the test match. I think the days of a cricket watcher being satisfied with missing half a game due to work commitments and watching the other half are over. I think if anything needs to be contracted, it is the One Day cup. Perhaps reduce it to 40 overs and have each team play each other once. I like your idea about revamping the test/first class format...I'd like to see it happen to boost the popularity and profile of Sheffield Shield.

I'm not comfortable with cricket starting earlier, although I understand why. Many sports are extending their seasons. There's seems to be this attitude of being all things to all fans, which ultimately, is impossible. In my humble opinion, at some point, if indeed it's not already happening, quality will suffer because of quantity. At the moment, the loss in quality isn't overly apparent, as organizations & broadcasters chase 'content'. But the day will surely come when fans will notice they might have 24/7 wall-to-wall sports coverage, but most of it has become trite. Cricket has decided it needs a longer season to incorporate all its forms - test, first-class, one-dayers & now T20. Cricket Australia is investing heavily in T20 to woo a new generation of cricket fans. But I disagree with this. If they wish to make test cricket continually relevant, then they must make subtle changes to test cricket. Some of the small but significant changes they can make to test cricket include: 1. Reduce from 5 x 6 hour days (30 hours) to 4 x 7 hour days (28 days). That's a saving of one day, but only two net hours lost. 2. Obviously, this will mean day/night fixtures, national coloured clothing, & perhaps a different coloured ball. 3. Significantly, the change would bring test cricket more in line with people's lifestyles. Especially on the weekend, where an early afternoon test start allows families to get their morning chores & kids sports out of the way.