Do you smell that? Cricket season is back, officially getting under way on Monday with the launch of the Matador Cup.
Maybe it’s the warmer days or the grass clippings, but it just feels right.
However, why should you care about the Australian domestic one-day competition?
For one, it’s the first time in many years that squads have full access to their list, including Australian-contracted players after the tour of Bangladesh was cancelled.
Over the next 24 months we are going to see a big turnover of players representing Australia, with the Ashes defeat being a sign that change is required.
Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris and Chris Rogers are the big names who have retired, but who will be the next generation stars that the selectors decide to gamble on?
The Matador Cup is the first place that we can see these players flourish and stake their claim, players like Andrew Fekete, Travis Head, Jakes Doran and Jason Behrendorff. Who you ask? Exactly.
Josh Lalor is a New South Wales listed player who was in the initial squad for the Blues before he was bumped when the Test team returned from Bangladesh.
After a promising start to the season, he admits his October will now be made up of playing PlayStation and mowing the lawns.
“(I’ll be) putting my feet up after being replaced by big Mitch Starc,” Lalor said.
“The entire squad is looking forward to the tournament.”
Not since the Canberra Comets at the turn of the millennium have we had seven teams in the domestic one-day competition.
But a special Cricket Australia XI will join the fray this season, featuring some of the country’s best young talent.
Not everyone is convinced it’s on the move however.
“The playing group as a whole is uncertain as to how it will play out but there is no doubt the team will have a lot of talent,” Lalor said.
“Their inclusion no doubt diminishes the integrity of the competition but Cricket Australia sees it as a great opportunity to form part of the Talent Pathway. We will see how it plays out.”
All the games will again be in Sydney’s suburbs from October 5 to the final on October on 25.
“I think players, from NSW and interstate, are still getting accustomed to it,” Lalor said.
“I think the players appreciate playing the full one-day format all at the one time and this tournament presents that.”
The main contenders look to be Victoria and Western Australia as usual, with NSW fancying their chances as well.
“Victoria have put together a squad full of international experience and talent,” Lalor said.
“They are perennial contenders in the one-day domestic competition and know how to play together and win.”
“The Western Australian squad boasts a quality group of good young bowlers and they’ll also be boasted by the inclusion of the Marsh brothers, which should give them plenty of fire power.”
“The recent inclusion of our Test players from Bangladesh has given us a phenomenal squad for the tournament. The expectation will be for us to win,” Lalor said.
Many of the matches will be broadcast live on Channel Nine’s secondary channel GEM, including the finals. Check your local guide for details.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Me too.
davros
Guest
Lucky you ...I am denied the chance to watch and support my team !
E-Meter
Guest
Spot on with the coverage aspect. What other professional sport on this planet would not have their opening matches on TV? It is truly staggering.
JoM
Roar Rookie
Both Head and Bancroft's were good, but Head had by far the harder bowling attack to bat against and was awesome. We went and watched them today and he was brilliant. The CAXI need some older heads in there as well. It is totally unfair for these kids to be smashed like this game after game. Even get some of the guys that were state players that are now playing 1st grade from the last couple of years. It's all well and good for them to see where they need to be to be an international player, but if they get hammered like this again and again it isn't going to help them at all. Hopefully a couple of them can step up.
13th Man
Guest
Bancroft, Head. Geez someones going to be unlucky to miss out on NZ games
davros
Guest
Ill say it again ...WAFJ !!! Go to the cricket oz website and there is this gushing article about Bancroft and Marsh and their supposed record partnership v Redbacks and how they are in line for Australian honours and training camps etc ??? It was so good they didn't even come close to winning the game !!! Travis Head came out and blazed a double ton in double quick time for the Redbacks 6 wicket win !!! So how do you assess record innings played on roads and tiny grounds with fringe oz batsman ? The answer is you can't !!! Gee I feel for the bowlers...total domination of bat over ball ! Just gotta put it in the right areas and hope you don't go for too many !
Nudge
Guest
Pretty sad Johnno, and seems your in the minority. Television viewing was huge last year and cricket participation is at an all time high and going mental. Shame you're missing out mate
Rellum
Roar Guru
No live score I see. Well the CAXI was an abject failure. WA and SA only ones putting on a bit of a game. QLD's batting again let us down and to be honest the bowlers following suit. Oh and Travis Head has obviously gone mental.
davros
Guest
I agree with you Josh ... I think the current format is a joke ! what we had a couple of seasons back and what we have been fed now is garbage !
davros
Guest
I think Cricket Australia are deliberately trying to get rid of 50 over cricket ! It is the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense ! It's like they have decided that there is only room for 2 formats and we will dumb the one dayer game down so much and so badly that we will kill it off. Look at the facts they don't lie ! Until channel nine and cricket oz got there way the games were a true contest played on proper sporting arena with the traditional cricket wickets...ie waca, Adelaide oval , scg ,gabba etc Now we get postage stamp grounds with flat suburban wickets in one city ! Totally favouring batsman for a slog fest !! Too bad for the other state fans who used to like going along and supporting their side watching live...that option has been completely removed ! Also every game used to be televised live so if you couldnt make the ground or your team was playing away you could watch it with reasonably informed commentary live on tele. that option gone except for a handful of games ! Also is it just me but is the new CA website really ..... ? I just tried to follow WA playing SA...what a really bad untactile usr friendly not delivery on the net . If you want to follow a live feed there is no vision and you are reduced to watching a 2 inch x 2inch square in the bottom right corner of your screen ! I actually found the app on my ph delivered a more tactile user friendly experience ...but even then some of the balls from several overs were missing and it completely missed (didn't report a wicket ) Yep im convinced if you wanted to destroy 1 day cricket in this country ..this is how you would go about it !!!
Don Freo
Guest
I'm talking about mainstream Australia. Who cares about elsewhere? If the rest of the world lacks taste or class, that's not going to impact on the joy we get from the game here. You don't experience such enjoyment, Johnno?
Johnno
Guest
Don Freo Wow 2 countries mate out of 200 countries get sell out crowds on a consistent basis,and you saying it's not a niche sport globally. Even within the 10-test nations. India/SA don't consistently sell out tests,far from it.
Joshua Butler
Guest
If teams don't get the opportunity to host games, what about the travel arrangements to get to the grounds (that is money that NSW gets that no one else has the opportunity to get). Also, with not hosting any games, how are the other five state sides going to introduce supporters to cricket & to their teams (this again affects the bottom line of the other state teams, & drive potential spectators/fans to more stable sports such as the various football codes & even other more niche sports which at least try to increase visibility to their respective sports) Doing so this way means more of the same grounds year in, year out which will eventually wreck the competitiveness of the national team (especially away from home)
Don Freo
Guest
While Test cricket continues to sell out every game in Australia, it is a smidgeon more than Niche, Johnno. Aussies love it. We can't even get a test in Perth and it would sell out immediately if one was allocated.
Don Freo
Guest
I'm always bemused, Johnno, by people who care enough to blog that they don't care. Why read a cricket blog if you have fallen out of love with cricket? I don't believe you. I reckon you still love it. Watch the Marsh boys. That will rekindle the joy.
Josh
Roar Pro
Craig you're spot on, there will only be one round of Shield before the first test at the Gabba. Far from ideal preparation, although no-one would've predicted the cancellation of the Deshi tour.
Josh
Roar Pro
Rellum I totally agree, sadly enough. The Shield doesn't have the same lure as it used to and now the 50 over comp is used as a trial for new formats, experimental rules and thrown all over the cricketing calendar. Thankfully in the last few years there's been some stability. I hate not being able to buy state merchandise though, very frustrating.
Johnno
Guest
But Zim Zam It may not die out altogether, but being a niche sport like horse polo playn in front of crowds of 2000, is the definition of death or not a mainstream sport, but a niche sport. Horse polo is not mainstream it's a niche sport, Test cricket may have to accept it's status as a niche sport. Sheffield sheild is just that a niche competition only watched by a few die hards.
Zim Zam
Roar Rookie
True, but I also fall into the die-hard optimist category. Test Cricket's got something no other format - indeed, no other sport - has got. Have you already forgotten world record crowd at the MCG on Boxing Day only one home season ago? Besides, I defy any generation to be so fundamentally incapable of following Test cricket that it dies out altogether.
Johnno
Guest
Zim Zam You are not a represntation of most fans. You fall into the anaytical or passionate or die-hard fan. A proper fan of the game, most band-wagon fans don't go into the analysis as much as you do, in other words they want "dumbed-down" cricket the bandwagon fans and masses. And Test-cricket is not appealing enough to bandwagon casual fans, and unless Test-cricket buckles and dumbs itself down like T20, I can't see it surviing and haveing wider audience appeal anymore. Test-cricket is intellectual and niche-market like chess, and we know popular chess is? Not very.