It seems to me no coincidence that the principal sponsor of the Big Bash League is KFC. KFC is Colonel Sanders’ famous brand that promises chicken in a bucket containing 11 secret herbs and spices.
T20 rarely offers us more than a single flavour. On rare occasions the spotty teenage boy on the fryer may sprinkle on a few extra variables for our delectation, but these rarely extend beyond the crash, the bang and the wallop.
No complex flavours or nuance here. Just, up and down bowling and meaty one dimensional heaves. Everyone can dine out on it. We are all free to kick back, relax and enjoy the limited and unchallenging fare. Big, brash, bold and wrapped in a sterile cardboard box.
Kids love it. They would gorge on it every day if they could. Maybe one day they will become tired of consuming the same manufactured, packaged and limited offering over and over again. It will become dull and unstimulated. The empty bucket or box tossed away and crushed under the feet of the departing crowd.
The Big Bash currently stands mightily as a commercial success. Packed crowds and television audiences mark it as an exemplar of cricket’s future. The undeniable saviour of the game. A plastic hybrid of cricket perfectly pitched for today’s consumerist society. It unfolds like a game of chess on a reduced board with all the interesting pieces removed.
With the boundaries moved in the ball endlessly sails over the ropes from the miss hit edges of cudgel like bats. It quickly becomes boxing with just the knock outs and everything else discarded from view. Stick and move, fly-weight technicians can stay at home.
Lumbering one-punch heavyweights need only apply. In fact no build up is required at all. Just the garish ring walk followed by a haymaker to the face.
The count out on the canvas and a ten second clip to post all over social media. Everything else is a waste of time. A distraction from the main event and its vital, naked action. It plays out in an endless staccato like a picture with no background. A connected hybrid of Cricket but with the back story and context omitted.
Viewed in moderation let’s not kid ourselves that it isn’t fun. The fast-paced action can be exhilarating and entertaining. The difficulty is that it comfortably falls into a routine formula.
One that can be every bit as dull as a Test match played on a flat and lifeless track, but without the regular final day twists that now so often occur. It is has encouraged the development of new strokes and super charged batting but has confined some others to the pavilion or dugout. Power hitting is the undeniable mantra.
Bowling has evolved into a disappointing concoction of wide half trackers and slow bouncers. Taking pace off the ball and grim defence the routine aim when all the benefits are retained by the batsman. Who would chose to be a bowler with the game locked into this format?
It is hard though not to enjoy the late renaissance of the two Brads: Hogg and Hodge. Two forty-somethings plying their trade is evocative of another bygone era when elder statesman like Bert ‘Dainty’ Ironmonger bestrode the field of play. Perhaps, if it wasn’t for fielding, the Brads could carry on all the way into a civilian style 60+ retirement. Collecting a gold plated carriage clock, pension scheme and all.
I will also concede that it is better than the IPL. The teams feel less manufactured and more tethered to the locations that they purport to represent. A strong element of franchise exists but with an overriding local presence that acts as an acceptable counterbalance to the usual mercenary guns for hire emptiness.
The standard is raised while retaining the integrity and honesty of a genuine team competition. The IPL in contrast is a glorified exhibition featuring big name stars representing identikit brands that are cynically bolted on to centres of population.
The bright lights and razzamatazz merely there to mask the emptiness that is hidden in its core. A cold and cynical machine oiled and greased by vast piles of money. The supporters are unflinchingly loyal to their brand while the players migrate to the highest bidder.
Without the reservoir of money the competition would collapse. Behind the outward façade this remains its only reason for being. And this is where we can turn our faces back to the Sheffield Shield and know that we can trust its purity.
Based on longevity and the total lack of financial incentive, its status and aims can only be sincere. But, our game needs money and exposure that the Shield can’t deliver. I can therefore hold my nose with the best of them.
It staggers me though how many people fall for the IPL and accept it. But, probably I am being overly harsh and this is just the way of all modern sport. Or more accurately the contemporary world in which we exist.
Sport merely holds up a mirror to modern life. The picture is frustrating and unflattering but the only one that the mirror has within its power to give.
Fast food can be fun for all the family. Let’s dig in and enjoy it but take care not to forget that other more complex and satisfying options exist.
Collect a bucket and sit down but take care not to stay too long. As you may soon find that like the Hotel California, you can never leave – even if you could there is no longer anywhere else to go.
Garry White
Roar Pro
Ha.. Not really a classical music fan, but deinitely a fan of that "jungle music" that followed. I don't think anywhere I said that T20 was rubbish or watched by philistines. But, I can understand the intimation. I even went as far as to say it was entertaining and enthralling. It absolutely has its place as a 10 or 20% version of the game. However, it is not inconceivable that it could become the premier version of the game. The agenda driven by money and the best players naturally following the money train. I don't see that as a positive. It is consumerist and easy to market but that doesn't make it better or even on a par with other versions..
Bakkies
Guest
50 overs at least gives the bowlers a chance and the batsmen learn the skill of hitting the ball in to gaps/manipulate the field.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
ChrisB Interestingly, the T20 is precisely how we played cricket when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s. We didn't call it T20, we just called it cricket.
At work
Roar Rookie
The bats are pretty ridiculously large, no doubt about that.
The Bush
Roar Guru
"you can build an innings with the bat and play sensible" You can build an innings and play sensible in T20 as well. It's just a shorter innings and there is less need for it (like ODIs are compared to Tests). Just because something takes longer, doesn't always mean it was "measured" and it certainly doesn't necessarily mean it was more skilful or enjoyable. As for the bowlers business, a good bowler is still more valuable than a good batsman in T20 cricket (as they are in all versions of cricket). The reasons why it's a batsman's game is not the format of T20 itself, it's the joke that is modern bats and fields. If these guys are trying to tonk it on proper sized fields with bats of yesteryear, they'd all get out second ball.
Rob
Guest
PS. If the ingredients (players) are good people will keep coming back. I lost interest when the good players stopped playing.
BrainsTrust
Guest
if cricket steps away from the representative model then the winner is the IPL, if they expand they have to expand to eat up the AUstralian summer., because the monsoon stops them going the other way. England can dump county cricket and play in the monsoon period and they can eat up the early part of the Australian summer. I would think given the previous IPL ratings , relative lack of Australian players and timeslot here in Australia it has no chance of taking over from the BIg Bash.The question will people still be as interested in the BIG Bash , maybe they can compensate for that in keeping the famous older guys around for even longer
Rob
Guest
Great spin on the T/20 Garry. I like to have a chew on Kentucky Duck from time to time but I must admit to feeling a little sick if I eat to much. Coming from a more meat and 3 veg era I still enjoy a home cooked meal far more on a regular basis. Probably because it won't give me a heart attack as quickly. I'm wondering if a first class chef (Blumenthal) would enjoy working at KFC on twice the money as The Fat duck? Seriously the shorter the game is the more chance the unskilled player has of winning. In saying that there is still some skill in the shortened version I wish had of been able to experience back in my era.
bigbaz
Roar Guru
I, for one , reckon it is worth its existance just to watch St Baz setting his fields.
Matth
Guest
Rage against the dying of the light my friend. Did you copy this article from a classical music lover when confronted with 'jungle music' in the 50's. There is definitely a place for both the BBL and test cricket. I enjoy them both for what they are, as does my son. In T20, Tactics are starting to become more sophisticated and tailored and more detailed metrics are being produced about the game than ever before. The game attracts a different audience that are becoming tribal and enjoying the regular games. There,are,cross town rivalries for the fans. The games are,targeted as more family friendly, which is a great change compared to the beer swilling, abusive yobbo element found at ODI's and even tests. The game is played after work and you don't have to be retired or take annual leave to watch an entire game. Leg spinners are critical players. Innovation has leaked into ODI's and tests. How many draws do we see these days. You may prefer one form of the game over another but that does not mean you are justified in branding everyone who enjoys T20 as phillistines. It smacks of 'I'm a great supporter of democracy, as long as you all agree with me'. It appears that BBL is the first step for cricket away from the representative model as the driver for the sport (like for example rugby, super 12 is blurring the representative vs franchise lines). It is heading towards professional club competitions, like rugby league and football. It's possible that over time (and I mean decades) that international cricket will be scheduled less and be more special for it.
At work
Roar Rookie
@The Bush, I don't think the people who aren't fans of T20 share that view of ODI cricket because in ODI's you can build an innings with the bat and play sensible. You don't have to go out all guns blazing from the 1st ball. Bowlers can actually play a part and not be secondary entertainment. We're seeing bigger and bigger scores in ODI's, but it's still a lot more measured batting than what we see in T20.
lenaclint
Guest
if one day cricket wasn't Sheeks Idea he would of hated it Trust me, Hes complained for years on Rugby treads that the ARU need a National comp, and when they start one he refuses to watch cos its not his Idea.
The Bush
Roar Guru
This is what I want to know, do the people who dislike T20 cricket hold the same opinion over ODI cricket? Do they continue to maintain that Test cricket was better before ODI cricket was invented?
BrainsTrust
Guest
Its the sixth year, and this is the fourth year of the 20 million a year deal. I would say they have invested a couple of hundred million, the first 2 years were the worst because Channel 9 sold them down the river, and they didn;t have the round the clock advertising support from Channel 10. I would say the first 2 years cost them 50 million each. From then on its probably gone from 30 million a year to 20 million loss. If they invested all the money they would have half a billion sitting in a back account. With the rise in international cricket TV rights where has that extra money gone, they then went from 40 million a year from nine to 90 million +20 million for the Big Bash. It seems whatever Cricket Australia earns more they then spend it on the BIG Bash. Everyone is happy about the Big Bash because its the biggest source of junkets in Australian sport. No one has asked what exactly an organsation that was on a 100 million budget which is balooning to 300 million has done with the money.
Matth
Guest
Over the first five years, CA have 'invested' (I.e. Lost) $33 million. Given the expected tripling of tv rights next time, they will see this as a very sound investment
Matth
Guest
Sheer, just curious, what did you think when one day cricket was introduced or when World Series cricket occurred. Did you hold the same opinion of those changes? Do you still hold those opinions?
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
Superior fielding, great running between the wickets, immediate field changes to limit/suit each batsman/woman, playing each ball,(sometimes badly) and plenty of pure cricket shots.Performance metrics for the top fifty or so players aren't too shabby Added to which is better commentary,varied around the grounds, a compressed schedule and a genuine and developing healthy parochialism. As a Scorchers supporter, I would include a world -class coach overseeing proceedings After all it's not supposed to be the equivalent of anything else.Entertainment, an additional opportunity to see players,the absence of sport betting or liquor ads and a convenient timeframe are also positives for me Negatives are bats too big, ropes too close, in-house noise too loud and post-dismissal interviews too banal,but I can live with them
Matth
Guest
Peter Z you may have lived as a blue collar worker in middle America, whose jobs have disappeared while California and New York run the show, but I haven't, so I won't presume to understand their motivations.
Matth
Guest
Test cricket would survive, like lawn tennis
bigbaz
Roar Guru
So you only want to go back so far , 1981? 1969? 1993? 1938? whatever it is it is the 20th century and as you point our we are in the 21st. I wasn't being sarcastic really , I was being factual.