At the midpoint of the Ryobi Cup, many positives can be gained from the controversial changes in the tournament’s format.
The first nine of 18 round games have answered the main question heading into the tournament: can Sydney, or any major Australian city for that matter, host a month-long, six team tournament?
We now know they can.
The playing conditions at Bankstown Oval for the tournament’s first seven games have been far from ideal, with slow, low pitches meaning the batsmen have had to create all the pace.
Slow bowlers and quicks with good variations, such as Ben Laughlin, have dominated and it has been batsmen like Cameron White who tend to muscle the ball, rather than time it sweetly, who have enjoyed the most success.
It has not made for the greatest viewing, however, as the players have adapted to the conditions, the run scoring has increased and overall quality of cricket improved.
Other problems continue to exist, such as the lack of opportunity to blood younger players throughout the season, which Tasmanian skipper George Bailey highlighted following his side’s opening day loss to New South Wales.
This has left talented young players in their home states without their state cricketing structures around them.
Instead of taking part in the Ryobi Cup, promising South Australian duo Travis Head and Adam Zampa are stuck in Adelaide, relegated to squabbling over who does the dishes.
This issue can be resolved with the inclusion of a second XI tournament to be played alongside the main draw, with rules to mirror the current four-day Futures league.
A 25-man squad would be named by each state across the two teams and players would be able to train together and move fluidly between each side based on form.
With Cricket Australia now able to effectively condense our domestic one day fixtures to a one-month window going forward, there will be less conflict with Sheffield Shield and Test match cricket.
Bailey himself can be used as an example as to why this is a positive step, as last season his Sheffield Shield performances fell away dramatically as he began to shuffle between formats.
In 2013/14, as it was last season, there will be only three Sheffield Shield rounds before the first Test of the summer on November 21.
In 2011/12 there were five.
Getting the scheduling right will be very hard for 2014/15, given the cluttering of events in the lead up to the Cricket World Cup starting February 14, 2015.
In announcing the schedule for next summer, James Sutherland stated that, along with a four Test series against India, we will have, “South Africa tour in a limited over series in November as well as India and England competing in a tri-series in January”.
It is the busiest summer of cricket in recent memory and there will unfortunately be much switching between formats.
In setting the domestic schedule, CA must make clear its number one priority, presumably winning the World Cup, and position the Ryobi Cup accordingly.
2015/16 then provides the chance to have a more settled schedule for the first time in half a decade.
The Sheffield Shield can be held in two blocks, with the Big Bash League and Ryobi Cup wedged in between.
The first block can run from early October right through until Christmas, giving players up to six rounds of four-day cricket to prepare for the Test series starting in late November.
Three more Sheffield Shield rounds will take place between the first Test and Christmas.
At the conclusion of the block of Shield games, a squad is named for the Boxing Day Test.
The Big Bash League would be condensed to a three week tournament, starting on the night of Boxing Day and running until mid-January.
Double headers, utilising the three hour time difference in Perth during summer, would aid this cause. Triple headers on New Years Day and weekends would also be a welcome addition.
The Ryobi Cup would remain in its current format and run from mid-January until mid-February, alongside the ODI series of the summer.
This again ensures our domestic and international cricket is aligned.
The Shield would then continue from mid-February until the end of March, giving players plenty of time to prepare for an overseas Test tour, generally held around April.
It may not be pretty right now, but the true beauty of a condensed Ryobi Cup will soon shine through when Cricket Australia nails a summer schedule for the first time in the Twenty20 era.
George Ferguson Bowen
Guest
I also don't agree with the playing of all games in the already heavily over-privileged Sydney.
Tenash
Guest
rocco75 comparison of the 2 leagues between 7 Dec & 20 Jan when they overlapped & competed with each other - 7 Dec to 20 Jan : there were 35 BBL games while over the same period there were 40 A-league games. Crowd averages : BBL : 14,379 for 35 games Aleague : 11,449 for 40 games TV Ratings average BBL : 233k for 35 games Aleague : 68k for 40 games
davros
Guest
im only half joking sheek ...with the stuff he writes I would not be surprised
Rocco75
Guest
Tenash the BIg Bash League goes for 4 weeks right? the only way to compare with the A-League would be to have the Big Bash League go for 27 weeks + finals series. Imagine 27 weeks of T20 cricket........ You would enjoy that...... I'm a test cricket fan and to a lesser extent one-day cricket fan.
sheek
Roar Guru
Hi Davros, i did see your reply a day later & thought it eminently amusing!
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Playing it now is better than playing the Shield now with some of the best players away. The India series had to happen at some point, they are the limited overs games that weren't played as part of the Test tour earlier in the year.
davros
Guest
tenash my REdbacks team is playing tomorrow ...I cant watch it live and it is not televised ...how the hell is this good for 1 day cricket ...the new format was a hastily cobbled together format done on the cheap ...held to ransom by channel nine ...and I gotta make the point again ...George Bailey and Cam white both very respected cricketers have openly stated that we are heading in the wrong direction with Ryobi....coincidentally cricket oz tried to do a BCCI and muzzle them both but they bravely spoke up...the only good thing I can see is that some games are on free to air ...but not all ...if you were serious or even half baked good negotiators with the good of all 3 forms and the interests of the players at heart you would have negotiated all games shown live or you don't get tests and or the same with channel 10 ...no bbl without some sponsorship of the 1 dayers ....OR you take the big windfall u supposedly gained and you pay to have it televised ...prefereabaly from the home states so true fans can watch live ....I actually believe they are dumbing it down on purpose so as to cite the crowd figures and use that as an excuse to get rid of one day cricket altogether ...I am very concerned at the people who are running /ruining our game ....THEY KNOW THE PRICE OF EVRYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING
davros
Guest
I am very concerned with the direction we are heading sheek and I wouldn't take to much notice of Tenash Sutherland
davros
Guest
totally agree lawrie my beloved Redbacks play tomorrow ..it is not televised and I am no where near Sydney ..an they reckon this is good for 1 day cricket ...denying supporters the right to watch it live or televised ...PIG'S RING IT IS....its how you go about destroying it
Tenash
Guest
cricket has signed record media rights and sponsorship deals !!! so obviously that must mean cricket is a dying sport, silly me :D
62627
Guest
People like Tenash are dinosaurs. They can't accept Cricket is a slowly dying sport.
Tenash
Guest
SportsFanMelb if you think the Ryobi cup is a premier competition then clearly you’re the one who is delusional. as for me not giving stats, I did not make the first allegation/claim. it was Sheek. now the responsibility falls on the person who makes the first opinion to back it up with stats supporting his claim. Still I will give you the stats since you ask. Average Crowds : BBL : 14,379 A-league : 12,556 Average Pay TV Ratings : BBL : 233k A-league : 86k I will repeat once again my comments above aren't my actual views. they were just heat of the moment replies to Sheek. I have more comparisons but I’m busy today so might not get a chance to post them today
Tenash
Guest
SportsFanMelb if you think the Ryobi cup is a premier competition then clearly you're the one who is delusional. as for me not giving stats, I did not make the first allegation/claim. it was Sheek. now the responsibility falls on the person who makes the first opinion to back it up with stats supporting his claim. Still I will give you the stats since you ask. Average Crowds : BBL : 14,379 A-league : 12,556 Average Pay TV Ratings : BBL : 233k A-league : 86k I have more comparisons but I'm busy today so might not get a chance to post them today
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Tenash you say that you back up your opinions with facts/stats. In your whole back and forth with Sheek you did not mention ONE fact or stat to back your opinion that cricket is going much better than the A-League. If you think everything is going well with cricket in AUS you are clearly delusional. No other sport would confine one of their premier competitions (Ryobi Cup) to a month-long carnival played in Sydney at suburban grounds in front of absolutely no one. I watched the QLD VIC game on the weekend - would be surprised if there were more than 20 people there. The A-League is going from strength to strength and CA showed how nervous they are by placing the Big Bash at the front of the queue and making it the priority to spin cash for the game.
Rocco75
Guest
+1. I wonder why Cricket Australia had to pay Channel 9 to show the Ryobi Cup on their HD channel Gem? I am a test cricket fan. I also enjoy 50 over cricket. The way Cricket Australia is running the game is a big worry. Australia is not India where cricket rules the roost. The AFL are infringing on the cricket season more and more. The NRL starts in early March and then we have the A League which is garnering record crowds and has a match day experience that is very appealing. The fact that T20 was introduced to increase the viewership of the game, the same reason limited overs cricket was introduced, says to me that cricket is trying to evolve against a barrage of other sports. The problem is that in 10 years time when the novelty of T20 has worn off and what's left is the action on the field, is the game good enough to continue in the same format or will the administrators (ICC) make up a new game to try and expand the supporter base of cricket?? All I can say is that Cricket Australia needs to be careful..... The times they are a changing...
Rocco75
Guest
Tenash Can I ask, are you of Indian ancestry? Just trying to make sense of your disparaging comments about the A League.
Tenash
Guest
Sheek good to see you’ve calmed down a bit. now, I have always backed up my opinions with supporting stats if I have ever made controversial claims. This is an opinion site , so everyone’s entitled to their opinion. fair enough. normally I wouldn’t ask anyone to explain their opinion but whenever someone says something controversial like cricket will decline or cricket is scared of A-league without any rhyme or reason I expect them to back it up with facts (crowds, tv ratings, revenue etc) you’re absolutely right in that you don’t have to explain anything to me but I’ll keep asking questions and defending cricket when anyone (not just you) attacks it. Don’t take that personally.
Tenash
Guest
sheek
Roar Guru
Yes Tenash, Perhaps that was unnecessary. However, the point of quoting Peter Lalor's article was to demonstrate to people like you, that outside of The Roar, there are people concerned with cricket who are worried about the direction the game is heading. And if cricket isn't scared of football, then it has a funny way of reacting. You say you back up facts/stats with nothing more than opinion a lot of the time. Which is okay, because this is an opinion sight. I've often given plenty of facts/stats. i just don't feel the need to do it every time & especially not for you. Finally, it seems the younger generation totally fail to understand how my generation operates. Far from 'death-riding' the sports we love, we consider it necessary to criticise the things we love, constructively where we can, in order to make them better. Hopefully.
Tenash
Guest
"Are you totally, mentally destitute man???" Oh and Sheek , personally abusing others doesn't mean your going to win the discussion/debate but if it makes you feel good about yourself then go ahead, have fun.