The average crowd at Big Bash League game in 15-16 was 29,443 including a monster crowd of 80,833 for the Melbourne derby between the Stars and the Renegades.
That was just over 2000 more people per game than attended One Day International fixtures in the same season.
It’s no surprise really, when you think about the type of cricket fans in Australia, you can categorise them in one of two categories – the purists and the easily bored.
The purists, like me, prefer watching Test cricket. They like well-timed cover drives, good patient line and length and full slips cordon.
The others are much more inclined to bright colours, fireworks and actually being able to plan daytime activities without it clashing with the cricket.
That’s not to say all purists hate T20, or all T20 fans won’t occasionally check how Adam Voges is going, but point is ODI cricket kind of sits awkwardly in the middle.
Which kind of begs the question, should we start caring about T20 cricket?
It’s become more apparent with Australia’s departure from the World T20 that CA, The selectors, the media and the fans are really missing out by not placing some importance and bringing some attention to the Australian T20 team
The state of the team at the moment is not idea. Most of time playing at home, they’ll pick Aaron Finch, Dave Warner, Glenn Maxwell and a group of young players that performed well in the BBL.
When playing away, they tend to pick the worst nine or ten of the touring party and fly in an overachieving youngster or two.
When the world T20s come around they sprinkle in a few additional Test players in with the kids, such as Steve Smith and Peter Neville this time around. But the problem this causes is those players don’t play a lot of T20, and the team doesn’t have enough time together to develop the strong team culture that the Test team appears to possess.
The perfect example is when they replaced Finch with Smith as captain of the team, which would have been fine at the start of the Australian summer rather than a month out from the tournament.
You don’t hear as much about Australia’s tilt at the World T20s as the World Cup. This might be because Cricket Australia knows that T20 cricket is Australia’s lowest priority behind Test and 50-over cricket.
And the media picks up on this too. Up until a few weeks out from the tournament starting. a deal still hadn’t been signed with an Australian TV network to show the world T20.
In the end Channel Nine and Foxtel came to the party but initially they thought the price was too high.
There’s too much cricket to have the best players playing all three forms of the game. That’s a fact, it’s been proven by many sides in the past.
India and Pakistan are obvious examples, but more recently the West Indies tour of Australia showed perfectly that a number of their players couldn’t balance Test and T20 commitments at the same time. These players chose the latter option leading to an truly embarrassing series for the Windies.
Now the Windies have qualified for their final and will face England looking to be the only two-time champions of the competition. England will be looking to do the same thing.
The Windies obviously have Twenty20 at the top of their list of priorities. Should Australia do the same?
PeterD
Guest
My pleasure mate!
PeterD
Guest
Get it right its Queen and country snd your reply is not addressing the question I asked. Yes I've said a few insulting things but stop getting precious about it! I gave a bit back in response to the utter rubbish that continually gets posted on here about the British. It seems that a lot of Aussies love dishing it out but can't take it when they get it back. Tell you what I'll stop the insults you lot stop. Fair enough?
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Same here, Jez. I watch a few minutes of T20 here and there while channel surfing and that is it. I don't watch the BBL. To me it is too much like what we played in the school yard, tip and run. Much as I not a fan, I can easily see where it will replace the ODI. In a couple of years, it wouldn't surprise to see a tri nation T20 series over January in place of the current ODI series we have now. But I'll stick to the tests.
Josh
Guest
Thanks Pottsy. I agree with you. That is the whole point. Usually the headline is just there to grab attention. I always read the whole article before looking at the comments. You would be right in believing that people skip the story. It is better on The Roar than a lot of other sites though. So I don't blame the Roar. I am just saying the heading and article might have differing content. Have a good one
aussikiwi
Guest
Just wanted to thank you PeterD taking the trouble to make so many posts pointing out our many character flaws. I understand your need to repeat yourself, because we may not understand your subtle arguments first, second or third time. Let me try to summarise your points, as made on the rugby and cricket pages: 1. All Australians are "throw backs" to the British. 2. Australians are all ignorant of their history. 3. Australians are always unfairly "slagging off" the poms. 4. Australians collectively have a massive inferiority complex in relation to the poms. 5. Australians are only interested in sports when they are winning. 6. The poms are superior to Aus in sports generally - see Commonwealth games, olympics, boxing, etc, etc. Probably superior in every respect actually. Please let me know if you have missed anything. If not, you can give it a rest, you have done your duty for King and country.
PeterD
Guest
I think youve hit the nail on the head Chris!
PeterD
Guest
Other countries seem to care who have the same multiple choices!
PeterD
Guest
However Craig Swanson your not the lead nation in the Commonwealth Games anymore and you certainly haven't been in the last 2 Olympics and to be frank your not going to be again anytime soon. The point I'm making is why would someone from Australia put a story out on this site saying they don't care about the Commonwealth Games anymore? Is it because it became clear during the last games that Australia is no longer top dog? It seems to be a recurring theme on here when Australia is no longer the best or not very good at something that these articles are posted.
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
To be fair to NCN, he is normally a very good T20 cricketer. It's just that they rushed him back too early, methinks.
Paul Potter
Roar Guru
Josh, when you submit articles on the Roar, you're asked to submit the title, but if and when the Roar feels that an edited or changed headline is necessary, then that's what happens. Certainly the Roar can't be blamed if people just read the title, ignore the article, and go straight down to the comments section.
blanco
Guest
I would not say Aussies don't care about it. But it surely is low on their priority list. For me, I love cricket but I don't pay much attention to twenty twenty. Is it entertaining? Yes it is. But I'm not convince the better team always wins in this format. To me this format depends to much on luck. Its entertainment, it should be viewed as just entertainment nothing more.
english twizz
Guest
Going to have to care for next world cup its in Australia can you imagine England vs new Zealand in the final at the MCG
Josh
Guest
I think that the writers of the articles may not supply the Title. It seems like this in a lot of stories. The title is ill-placed. Maybe something like "How does Cricket Australia rate T20 compared to the other forms". Because the title makes us sound a bit like we are whinging. Most Aussies I have spoken to would have loved us to go further but certainly did not complain that we did not go on in the tournament. Seems they were quite happy to see England and the Windies get through. Just because you get a few angry Aussies spitting the dummy in social media does not mean that is an accurate reflection of all Aussies. Of course there are some that embarrass themselves but it should be in perspective.
Josh
Guest
I agree, we certainly can be poor losers. Very much like little kids. However, before this tournament, I was not so fussed whether we won the T20 or not. That was before the tournament. I would have liked them to win but I was not crushed. Everybody is different. I prefer Tests and One Dayers. I am happy for all the teams that have won. It is awesome that England and Windies have made it through. They could both use a lift. But because it does not mean so much to me.....does that mean I am a bad loser. I don't feel as much.
Republican
Guest
Perhaps purists don't care too much for T20 here but I sense that contemporary Australia does care about it in respect of entertainment value. T20 appeals to and reflects a culture that lacks substance which we certainly do. It is a game very much of and compatible with the age of instant gratification I reckon. Considering that sport and media are a symbiosis I would expect T20 gleans high exposure and ratings throughout this nation while the young people I speak with who play Cricket today, seem to prefer this version of the game to any other.
Dirk
Guest
Thanks for telling us what we care about. What would we do with the Poms and kiwis telling us what we like, how we think? Too scary to even think about
danno
Guest
BBL performances should form the basis of selecting your national T20 team as the Shield is with Tests. Seems ridiculous the likes of Lynn, Head, Paine, Boyce etc were not selected but gut choices such as Agar, NCN were. The West Indies disparity between how they perform in tests compared to T20 should show Australia how they need to change their way of thinking when it comes to their view on T20.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Our preparation and player selection was all wrong for this tournament. We should have been playing far more T20 games leading into this year. What only one T20 played in 2015? A joke. Josh Hazlewood had not played a T20 for two years before the one just before the tournament. Not enough of the best performers in the BBL were chosen. They should also have taken a third specialist spinner.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Not all pal. I admit I am a purist and a test cricket nut. But T20 is three hours of entertainment. It does not require much from the little grey cells to watch it or understand it. Pure entertainment as I said. The simple fact is Australia has the best T20 tournament after IPL but for some unknown reason has never come to grips with the format at international level. I take issue over our Olympic and Comm Games performances. Australia is usually the leading nation at Comm Games and we are the most prolific (or maybe the second) Olympic Games medal winning country (per capita) in the history of the tournament. We are also among a handful of countries that has attended every major modern Olympics.
Chris
Guest
'Nearly ever kid' do you have any stats for this or is just nudge facts? Cause this would be huge for cricket.