The everlasting image of this summer, for me at least, will be a moustachioed, sleeve-tattooed Mitchell Johnson steaming in as an English batsman waits at the other end, wishing he was anywhere else.
Last summer? I love cricket but it wasn’t even on my radar. The image was Alessandro Del Piero, hovering over a free-kick in his wheelhouse zone outside the box at a crucial moment in a Sydney derby.
It’s funny how quickly things can change. In that is a lesson football, which not even five months ago looked set to become the undisputed king of summer sport, now has to heed.
A-League suits will say the competition is still building, attendances are up, it’s been good quality, the Asian Cup is coming, blah blah blah.
But a great mass of Australians have spoken through crowd figures, TV ratings and social media, the modern day watercooler. Cricket wins this round, folks. By a long, long way.
You know what – that’s completely fine. The last three A-League seasons have been unbelievable.
A trough was always going to come. Perhaps football wasn’t prepared for it to be such a harsh one, though.
The losses of Ange Postecoglou and Graham Arnold have hurt the broader on-field quality of the A-League, or at the very least the perception of its quality, which is arguably just as important when trying to attract neutral fans.
Recruiting, across the board, has been poor – a fact perhaps willingly swept under the carpet during the debate over whether the AFC U22 Championship was “degrading” the A-League by taking away its best young players.
And too many matches have been boring, usually all involving the same carousel of underperforming teams that can’t figure out if they’re Arthur, Martha or Barca.
The je ne sais quoi of season 2012-13 is gone. But that makes for an ideal time to take stock of everything, soak in a couple of tips from the winners and move on, bigger and better.
There are two main things football can take away. Lesson number one – star power is massive. Bigger than you think. Just ask Cricket Australia.
For the first time since the retirement of Warne, McGrath et al, there is now a full set of “characters”, if you will, in the national team. Characters in our summer sporting lives.
We know them well, their strengths and weaknesses, their tendencies and ticks. They feel a part of us. Nathan Lyon is the loveable goob, Peter Siddle eats like 25 bananas a day, et cetera.
There are few things more comforting than watching an Australian side you know intimately winning a Test match.
Compare with the A-League. The great Alessandro Del Piero is crocked, visibly frustrated and rumoured to be on the way out.
Shinji Ono is gone at the end of the season. Emile Heskey has barely been sighted, and when he has he’s been lumbering around in his own inimitable way to no real effect.
Harry Kewell, when not injured, has his hands full trying to fix the Heart. Fans are kind of over the remainder of the golden generation.
An ageing William Gallas spends more time talking about his Premier League successes on Fox Sports than he does trying to repeat them. Pablo Contreras, meanwhile, is flat out keeping his place in the Melbourne Victory team.
If it feels like the end of something, that’s because it could be – none of these names are likely to be in the competition next season. Even Besart Berisha and Youssouf Hersi might be overseas. Who’s left?
Big names got the ball rolling last season. With the current crop set to leave, the opportunity is there after the World Cup to bring in some fresh new marquees.
It’s an opportunity that has to be taken, if only to help mask the A-League’s nasty inconsistencies on field and stay relevant.
Which brings us to lesson number two – hype is great, but it has to be backed up.
For the non-committed sports fan, it could feel like the self-proclaimed “best A-League season ever” has promised the world and delivered Maps on iOS.
Too many coaches and clubs have flattered to deceive. They talk a big game but rarely produce.
Players on the rise are built up as potential internationals before they have even become a master at home, and inevitably stumble when taking the next step.
The A-League itself has clearly progressed over time but, as a spectacle, it is not quite as far along as some wish to claim.
The Ashes? It was everything it was billed to be and more. The Big Bash League? Once dismissed as novelty tripe, it seems marketing nailed the brief after all.
While it runs for only a fraction of the summer, it has taken the baton from the Ashes series and become a behemoth.
It is what it is, the BBL. It might be contrived and cheesy. But rarely does it fail to produce a mix of maverick cricket and guilty pleasure entertainment.
Can a similar claim be made about, say, any random Sunday afternoon game at Hunter Stadium this season? Of course not.
If a good game of football is Heston Blumenthal then, sure, the BBL is Huey’s Cooking Adventures.
But while the end product is smothered in oil and probably cooked incorrectly (bless you Huey), it feels really good when you’re eating it.
In reality that’s all that matters – that a whole bunch of people have been watching and talking about and enjoying cricket over football. It’s undeniably hampered the A-League’s mojo.
But here’s one last thing football can take from cricket. Things can change very quickly.
For instance, nobody expected a 5-0 Ashes whitewash. Nobody expected BBL03 to be this good, either.
The roles of football and cricket in this tale were essentially reversed little more than a year ago. WIth no Ashes in 2014-15, they could again.
It’s all on the FFA to see if it can do a Darren Lehmann and get the A-League back to the way it used to be.
Anton
Guest
I am not surprised about the success of Big Bash League. Its the best T20 franchise competition in the world, far better than the IPL, which for my liking has become too perverted, with too much razzmatazz and corruption. The BBL has cricket as it's focus but with a little bit of gimmick thrown in, an ideal combination. I have also liked the channel 10's commentary during the competition. I think it has now reached a stage where it can stand on its feet. Let's just hope they don't expand it too much. One month and a bit in duration (as it is now) is perfect. I am an English cricket fan in the UK and work from home and the live BBL coverage on Sky has become a nice companion, and a must watch. Lot of the matches are close finishes which adds to the spectacle. I am going to miss it when it's over in a week's time.
Beat My Whippet, Usain Bolt!
Guest
All the planets have aligned .. indeed they did, Tigranes. Life is full of "what if's." The big one here is "What if if the Ashes hadn't been moved forward one summer to make way for the Cricket WC? How would this summer have panned out? Would cricket have run as red hot has it has done this summer? There would not have seen the sizeable hype of this summer: wearing KFC buckets must be the height of absurdness. A lot of Aussies may see some sort of national reassurance in flogging "the poms" just so as to put one over our colonial overlords, but who honestly would've given much of a toss about flogging India, NZ, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe. South Africa, maybe yes. The old antipodean colonial cringe lives on! BBL. The old market saying of being wary of red hot stocks applies - they all cool sooner or later. Thanks to the BBL, I've watched more cricket this summer than in the past 15: the BBL certainly is pop corn cricket at its best. But is ongoing growth on this sort of trajectory sustainable? At what point do you tire of pre-game motorbike stunts and people bounding on trampolines? And what is the demographic driving it? Is it simply a case that the one day audience of 1-1.5 million has simply added BBL to it's menu? Has T20 actually grown the sport itself or simply syphoned sustenance from a pre-existing market for short forms of the game? It will be another very tough season for football next season. The Cricket WC coverage will be front and centre. As for the Asian Cup, apart from the S'croos, I can't see their being much interest from Joe Average - especially with the CWC looming. But to put it all into historical perspective. Futbol has been played in Oz for about 130 years. Cricket was here almost from day one and was the choice of the elites. Consider this: the Australian cricket team played its first test against England even before the nation of Australia came into being! That's an amazing thing. What other country in the world can lay claim to this feat? You simply can't surmount that sort of history. Futbol is kicking against history itself in Oz. As for talk about the damage done to futbol in Oz by the whipping of England, this is typically introspective of Australians. There has been little talk about the harm done to cricket in England. After the 2005 ashes campaign, the media was full of stories about *first-time interest amongst kids in cricket on the back of England's win*. You'd expect this drubbing will have precisely the opposite effect. But for the English, the national XI fro them is football, not cricket.
bryan
Guest
It pretty much did when I was there last! :) I wasn't really interested in Football back then,so I didn't make it a priority to find out how long the season lasted! Maybe it was shorter then!
mahonjt
Guest
Heart were just handed and identity that it needs to build and flourish. The A-League is a genuine league run over 8 months and one of its clubs just had a existential crisis resolved. I would argue that this 'Heart disease' has afflicted all of world cricket and, over time, it will suffer the consequences. There is no Manchester City big enough to cure crickets ills. It's only a matter of time.
mahonjt
Guest
Christ the FFV (Victorian football association) turned 137 recently didn't it - and this in AFL heartland.
mahonjt
Guest
Exactly right. It's entertainment - pure and simple. I watch A-League for sport and V8 Supercars for entertainment. We all get our entertainment from different sources, but I would never confuse V8 Supercars with a sports league. I hate the AFL and have drifted away from rugby league and never understood union, but I can at least acknowledge these as legitimate, credible sports leagues with players, clubs and cultures that people genuinely treasure and would fight for. They are pure sport (AFL fixture aside).
Ash
Guest
Uncle Junior they weren't record numbers for just GEM. they were record nos. for any Multi-channel i.e all secondary channels of ch.9,7,10,ABC or SBS The highest rating was over 800k which is the record. what you're conveniently ignoring is the Ashes were simulcast on GEM & Fox Sports. so not only did they get record ratings on GEM but also smoked Fox Sports ratings for 2013. Check out the Foxtel Top 10 programs for 2013. dominated by the Ashes
Beny Iniesta
Guest
Are you going to pay for this? Presumably you'll be happy for your membership fees to be tripled?
Australian Rules
Guest
Agreed. Love the sport across summer.
Australian Rules
Guest
Allan, given the number of times you mention them, you surely must be the baby Giants' biggest fan. I'm sure you're across all of this already, but here are some "off field" tid bits you can share with your friends: - Despite their woeful onfield results, the baby Giants' average crowd last season was 9,701. That's more than AU, PG, MH & Nix. - The Giants have 12,681 paid members. That's more than every ALeague club, bar MV & WSW. - The Giants' training facilities at Tom Wills Oval is almost complete and sits next door to their match stadium, Skoda. - The club has a full book of corporate sponsors, including brands like Virgin, Skoda, Coca Cola etc. Feel free to continue to keep up to date with the Giants at http://www.gwsgiants.com.au/ go Giants!
Bondy
Guest
Manchester City have officially purchased the Melbourne Heart . (http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/exclusive-english-premier-league-giants-manchester-city-are-the-new-owners-of-melbourne-heart/story-e6frf423-1226808309021)..
Uncle Junior
Guest
Australian Rules, you are absolutely right. From what the Roy Morgan research found, OzTAM meters are focused in houses that watch a lot of Tv and watch a lot of commercial tv. If you don't fall within this group, OzTAM filters you out and won't place a meter in your house. Hence, it's not difficult to understand that OzTAM will grossly under-estimate the viewing of major events that capture the eyes of people, who don't watch a lot of TV and don't watch a lot of commercial TV. I'd be surprised if SBS (or even Foxtel) placed any emphasis on OzTAM numbers when selling advertising. SBS should commission its own viewer analysis from reputable organisations, whom advertisers respect. Roy Morgan is such an agency, which is used by major brands to understand customer behaviour.
Beny Iniesta
Guest
Yes - and who is going to pay for this nationwide relegation and promotion? How would teams like Melbourne Heart, Wellington Phoenix, Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets do financially if they were relegated to the 2nd DIvision away from prime-time?
Australian Rules
Guest
Uncle, according to the Roy Morgan survey, OzTam understated its own (Ch.7's) audience for the 2005 Melb Cup by a whopping 60%. So all I'm saying, is that the bias/inaccuracy which you say exists in the OzTam figures, probably *also* exists in the Roy Morgan figures. I don't know which one is *more* accurate, but only one of them is the accepted industry body by which all advertising rates are based.
Beny Iniesta
Guest
Heard of a little Cricket competition called the World Cup? Yep, there will be a big build up to that next year - 2015 going on right now, dovetailing with the Australian Open Tennis to be exact. To be fair - it is a very competitive sporting landscape out there. The biggest victim isn't the A-League - it is the NBL. The what?
Uncle Junior
Guest
Ash, the opening session on Day 1 of the 1st Test (10 July) achieved ratings of 627000. Of course, viewing numbers dropped significantly during each test when Australia looked like losing. Remember Australia vs Iraq, which was broadcast around the same time of the evening around the same time of year, but was broadcast on 1 hour delay on SBS acheived 5-city viewing numbers of 1.118 million. Australia v England in the Ashes is the biggest event in Australia test cricket. Iraq was the 98th ranked nation in the world when Australia played them. But, you're right - the figures for the Ashes in England were record highs for GEM. Just as A-League created record highs for SBS2 earlier this year. But, it would be ridiculous for me to trumpet the numbers for A-League on SBS2 simply because they achieved record highs, over a previously low base.
Uncle Junior
Guest
Ash, I'm just relying on data that appears on the ICC website. I have to assume the ICC have a reasonable grasp of what's happening in the world of cricket - of course, I'm sure people on this forum may regard themselves as being more knowledgable about cricket than the ICC? The ICC only ranks T20 nations if "teams have completed at least eight T20 international matches since 1st August between three and four years ago". http://www.icc-cricket.com/team-rankings/t20i But, you're right, T20 cricket seems to be the future - the outlook is more bleak for ODI cricket, with the ICC only ranking 13 nations; and Test cricket seems doomed with only 10 nations being ranked by the ICC.
Uncle Junior
Guest
Ash, Roy Morgan Data is an independent agency, whereas OzTAM is owned by Ch 7, 9 and 10. I'm sure everyone within the advertising industry knows that Ch 7, 9 and 10 have every reason to direct their own data gathering company to place OzTAM meters in houses which are likely to inflate their own figures to boost their advertising appeal. SBS, ABC and Foxtel do not rely totally on advertising revenue and, for this reason, it would be silly for advertisers to place any business significance on OzTAM numbers for content broadcast on these networks. Rather, these stations will commission their own surveys (just like Ch 7, 9 and 10 commission their own surveys by using their own company, OzTAM) to gather more accurate data.
Post_hoc
Guest
Your last line irks me no end, wtf is a 'traditional australian sport'? Football has been played here as long as AFL, nearly as long as Union and longer than NRL. Cricket beats all the others, so does that mean cricket is the only traditional sport? I say this with no respect at all, pull your head in
Paul
Guest
Judging by the amounts of coverage dedicated to Besart Berisha's move south, I'd argue football isn't don't with yet.