Ricky Ponting. Shane Warne. Chris Gayle. Brad Young. Scott Coyte… wait, who?
Roarers, here is the second edition of the city-based Big Bash League Twenty20 tournament, where you’ll see players collide in the form of geriatrics, mercenaries and Neville Nobodies.
Among the promotion and hype, the standard of cricket has been mediocre.
It began promisingly from a ratings point of view. Last year’s first-round BBL match, which featured Warne’s first appearance in five years on Australian soil, attracted ratings of 478,000, giving it the fifth-highest pay-TV ratings of all time.
This year’s first match, with Warne again the star attraction, dropped to 344,000.
Ratings have declined as the tournament continues. Last week the Sydney Thunder versus Adelaide Strikers attracted 219,000, while the Melbourne Renegades versus Hobart Hurricanes match got 197,000. A far cry from last year when matches were regularly watched by over 300,000.
The crowds have also been a talking point, highlighted by a dismal turn-out of 4,101 between Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers at the 83,000 seat ANZ stadium.
The average crowd this season has been 10,026. Last season’s was 17,750. The state based Twenty20 comp in season 2009/10 averaged 18,153, and had some crowds of well over 30,000 particularly when the Victorian Bushrangers were playing.
Cricket, like any sport needs new stars. Having the likes of Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Gibbs, and Simon Katich, are gone from international cricket. Then there’s Brad Young, a 39-year-old spinner who hasn’t played at a decent level for nearly a decade. The BBL looks like a retirement home.
At the same time you have guns for hire like Chris Gayle, who seems uninterested in playing for the Thunder.
There has been talk of some rivalry between the BBL and the A-league, given the BBL have convincingly beaten the A-league in the ratings. You can’t compare apples with oranges, where one tournament goes for six weeks and the other six months.
The rivalry between the BBL and the A-League is about as fake as a Kim Kardashian marriage. Kardashian and the BBL have things in common – they lack substance, seek attention and appeal to those people with short attention spans.
Is Cricket Australia really insulting the fans’ intelligence? Do you really want to see the Sydney Thunder (who haven’t won a game for over a year) send out the likes of Scott Coyte and Sean Abbott: grade cricketers who can’t make it in the Shield.
But enough criticism. Here are some things that CA could do to improve the BBL.
Have one team in Sydney and Melbourne. Two teams called Sydney and Melbourne makes no sense. Have our state players play for their home cities. NSW player Doug Bollinger playing for Hobart… please!
If it’s a city based competition, why don’t the BBL branch out to regional areas like Geelong, Newcastle, Illawarra or the capital itself.
If you bring big time cricket to these regional areas, it gives the sport good promotion and perhaps helps with grassroots cricket.
Reduce the BBL from six weeks to three of four. The smaller time frame you have, the more likely you’ll have Test players available for the whole BBL. As the BBL has shown, there is not enough talent to go around to fill eight teams. Have the BBL after the Tests in early January. Than in February have the international ODIs and Twenty20s.
With extra weeks available from a reduced BBL, our state teams would have a chance to play against the touring sides. NSW v South Africa, Victoria v Sri Lanka. Remember the days when our state sides gave the touring sides a walloping, and did the Australian Test side a favour by not allowing the touring side any good form leading into a series?
The Australian A and Chairman’s XI games were played over two days and were nothing but meaningless. So meaningless that Chairman’s XI captain Usman Khawaja had to leave on Day 3 of the match so that he could travel back to Sydney to play for Sydney Thunder.
At the end of the day, I don’t mind Twenty20 cricket. But when it takes over a good portion of the summer, and the cricket itself is of low quality, than it becomes a concern. Our Test team and Shield cricket should always take a higher priorty than the BBL.
To everyone here on the Roar, have a happy and prosperous new year!
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
The screw-up in Sydney/Melbourne was making both teams "whole-city" rather than making any effort to get a tangible grounding - the problem I've always felt Melbourne Heart had in the A-League (compare the progress of Heart with that of Wanderers). A return to state sides for the BBL would do nothing - the state sides still compete in the Shield and Ryobi and they are not exactly setting the world on fire with their ratings/crowds. Going to a national-level club competition to give players and officials greater opportunities was inevitable, but I'm not convinced its been well developed. The Sydney/Melbourne teams were basically indistinguishable from each other and offering a difference in colour is hardly a good rallying cry. And really it just doesn't last that long. Four home games is less than half that of any other code in Australia.
ojg1997
Roar Rookie
On a positive note for the BBL it has been great to see my team the Adelaide Strikers to be getting sell out crowds for all of their game so far. Hobart are also oing well with their crowds. Now that the Chritmas period is over the crowds should pick up. Not sure how the Sydney crowds will go because as usual they always get low sporting crowds and both teams are losing
Todd Johnson
Guest
T20 was invented by some marketing guys tied up with the English County Championship to provide some cash by providing a 'made for TV' product (hence innings times are set in stone to guarantee time slots for TV) It wasn't driven to make up for any short falls in test or ODI games
Football United
Guest
pull the other one. The aleague might be young but it's making an attempt to angle itself as a traditional style competition, unlike the BBL where the cricket is just a sideshow.
Steve from Sydney
Guest
I'm a long term A-League fan and thought I'd offer an outsiders view. It appears the success of the Big Bash League is linked to the format's success in general (ie. do the general punters find the type of game interesting and compelling enough to buy a ticket). The problem is that compared to the other formats like Test cricket and ODI's, T20 is still unproven in the long run. I can't seem to see the strategy in T20 compared to other forms of cricket. It just looks like every one is bashing it, hence the name. It reminds me of eating too much dessert, eventually you get sick of it perhaps? Maybe I'm wrong but what I'd hope for T20 is that the game quickly evolves into something that requires more thoughtful skill than just bashing a ball around.
mahonjt
Guest
If you don't agree with me - please point out the flashing balls, mocked up strikers and reduced time format changes in Aleague football. You can't because it is simply what it is the world over - one game, one set of laws....
mahonjt
Guest
It is a traditional league competition - it is just young. By any other measure the Aleague is a football league just like hundreds around the world. That is why it is able to generate the passionate and loyal following it does. There is a difference between the orthodoxy of a league structure and its age. The reason the Aleague is structured in such an orthodox fashion because FIFA regulations demand it and the Laws of The Game have barely changed in 140 years. By this measure the AFL is not a traditional league because no one understands the rules from year to year - it is literally unrecognisable from 30 years ago.
jamesb
Guest
great thoughtful commonsense response Sheek
RM
Guest
I'd say retain the state formats and add ACT Comets.....
Renegade
Guest
That i think is a fair comment that the whole T20 format is wearing off. That being said, i still believe it would have been a better product had it been left at state level. I've said all the reasons above which was just using NSW as an example. The last state based comp was achieving sell outs in Adelaide and Perth as well. The strikers last home game had 5k and the Scorchers last home game had a crowd of 4k. This never happened during the state version of the BBL. Had it stayed it may have reached unprecedented heights with all the exposure and coverage the current league gets.
Bondy.
Guest
Well said Sheek.
Matt F
Roar Guru
The Ryobi Cup (or whatever it was called at the time) was played around xmas and new year before the BBL started and it did have cheap prices (it still does) but the crowds were awful. I agree that the BBL shouldn't be considered when picking the test team but Marsh's call up wasn't really a result of BBL form. His previous form against SL and SA was. His one BBL form was just to show the selectors that he was fit again. The reason why Marsh failed against India is because he's never been a great first class player. Sure he can put together the odd good innings, as he did against Sri Lanka in his first test series, but he's not good enough to do so consistently. That's not the fault of the BBL.
Winter is Coming
Guest
I couldn't agree more with this post. I enjoy cricket, but the BBL makes me feel nothing.
David Heidelberg
Guest
I don't care about either of the Sydney sides, but a NSW team ith NSW players would have support. Play some games outside he capitals in big regional centres and the crowds will come.
Matt F
Roar Guru
None of that changes my point that NSW were getting 15k crowds in the last state based Big Bash. Why did NSW's crowds drop so much between 08-09 and 10-11? Whilst it took a little bit longer perhaps the novelty wore off there as well? The crowds for the last state based T20 competition were a fair bit lower than previous seasons. They only had two games with crowds above 20k. The first Victorian game (which then dropped to 18k and 13k for the next MCG games) and the final. If anything the new city based teams gave the BBL a new novelty factor which the previous competition had lost. I would guess that it's T20 as a format that's lost its format. The teams playing appear irrelevant
Renegade
Guest
I'm just talking about the T20 format here Matt F. I don't think any state has the passion to go watch Shield or Ryobi in big numbers although the Blues used to get decent crowds to the one-dayers prior to Twenty20 being introduced. I don't agree with your comments about the crowd simply being split either. Let's put it in perspective for a second. The Sixers are the reigning champions and also took out the champions league title. They are averaging around 12k this year and are currently second last. In the 2009/2010 season NSW were the reigning champions and also were coming into the season with a champions league title. They averaged 28,000 that year and finished second last. Their final game of the season was a meaningless game against South Australia in the wet that resulted in a crowd of 26k. That year the NSW blues attracted 56,000 people across their 2 home games. This year the Sixers have so far had 3 home games and the Thunder 2....the cumulative figure hasn't even reached 50k from the 5 sydney games. Based on the figures above, there has been a decline in interest and people have turned away because no one cares about the Sixers or Thunder. Even though last year's BBL was successful, i always thought they should have stayed with the State format. The competition could have turned into something really massive rather than the diluted product it is today. I still watch it if its on while im in front of the box because it's cricket and it's still entertaining however i don't have a vested interest in it.
Vas
Guest
Matt, I wonder what the crowds to a domestic one day game (I hate the McDonalds/FAI/Mercantile Mutual/ING/Ford Ranger/Ryobi Cup monikors) would be like if they curried CA's favour the way the BBL does. Place one of those games during the Xmas/New Year period for $10 seats, hire a few gun mercenaries, and then see the crowds come back. We have to accept Shield attendances will be low, as a result of being four day affairs. And people have lives and jobs to attend to. As for Shaun Marsh, he was injured. He regained his spot for the Indian series on the back of that one BBL performance. It was bad selection and even worse for the way Usman Khawaja was dudded. But that's ancient history. The real lesson of this proves how BBL is not and never should be the barometer for Test selection. Scoring hundreds and taking 5fers in front of tumbleweed Shield crowds is. But that can't happen if you schedule the BBL when the Test matches are on.
Matt F
Roar Guru
The lack of crowds, media coverage or any real public interest for the State sides in either the Shield or Ryobi Cup would suggest that, at least when it comes to the state cricket teams, the passion is indeed a myth Interesting that you mention the ARC as a good example. As far as I'm aware that only lasted one season...
Matt F
Roar Guru
Test cricket wasn't exactly in great shape before the T20 and the IPL. Crowds have been poor for test cricket for a long time with Australia and to an extent England, being the exceptions to this. Test cricket has always appeared to be more valued in these two nations than others, at least in regards to the general public. The lack of interest in the BBL compared to test cricket would indicate that thir has been no damage to test cricket's prestige in Australia. Why revert back to the states? Clearly people aren't that passionate about their state cricket teams. There are plenty of opportunities to watch the states play in the Shield and Ryobi Cup yet crowds, media coverage and general public interest are non-existent. It appears that this passion and loyalty only goes as far as people checking the scores online or in the paper. Shaun Marsh is a pretty poor example as he only played 1 game in the BBL last year before the India series. He had 3 main problems lasst summer 1. He was injured for a month or so between the SL/SA tours and the India series and was rushed back in 2. He lost confidence after a poor start against India 3. He's never been that great at the longer format of the game anyway. This is backed up by his career record
Vas
Guest
For all those trying to defend the BBL in terms of protecting the interests of Australian cricket, look no further than how the IPL has damaged the former prestige of Indian Test cricket. Is that really the future we want Australian cricket to aspire to? Solutions? Revert the competition back to states, where loyalty is cultivated and grown, not bought. Move the competition to January/February to a mere four week competition. Most importantly, coincide it with the international limited overs portion of the summer. Move the BBL to January/February to coincide with the Australian team playing limited overs cricket. If a player gets injured during the ODIs or T20s for Australia, the idea of a domestic player during the T20 season replacing him is plausible and can be achieved. But going from playing T20s for whichever franchise to harnessing your defensive technique on Boxing Day is a bridge too far? Look no further than Shaun Marsh last year if you need any convincing.