The negotiations between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association continued over the last week in the same farcical way that they started.
The ACA maintained its position around the sharing of revenue to support domestic cricket, i.e. where the players and supporters come from).
In response, CA took a line out of the parental road-trip handbook and threatened to turn the bloody car around. I really hope they followed this up with an aggressive: “And I will!”.
CA’s threat to the ACA that it will send cricket into the doldrums that Australian rugby is facing can’t be discounted. Pat Howard is an ex-union international and is now the Team Performance General Manager for CA, so not only has the handbook on how to remove interest and credibility of a sport, but a cold Wallaby carcass to prove it.
The approach to kill the sport locally is an odd one though; particularly given that Cricket Australia needs the players more than the players need CA.
Chris Lynn, one of Australia’s most exciting batsmen has already indicated that he would rather focus on short-form cricket over Tests to prolong and maximise value from his career, and he likely isn’t alone in that tent.
It has also been reported that many currently-contracted Australian players are looking at international short-form tournaments, or even ready to host their own.
To put it mildly, if Cricket Australia are threatening to pack up their bat and ball and go home, the players are swiping right and getting plenty of likes.
When viewed in a local context, the negotiations and their disastrously public displays have played out badly for CA, particularly in contrast to the AFL which has just signed a massive revenue sharing arrangement with its players (who don’t have an international market to ply their trade in).
(AAP Image/SNPA, Ross Setford)
AFL and other local sports are not only showing Cricket Australia how sports can be administered and marketed better, although not perfectly, and are threatening to take more relevance and resources away from cricket.
Young sports people are increasingly looking to AFL, football and other sports that have better administration than cricket.
These other sports are also taking up more of the calendar, meaning crickets place as the only summer sport is under threat for attention and also resources. There are only so many weekends and grounds available for people and they are going to put them towards a sport that has more relevance than Sam Newman.
So what can be done to turn the good ship Cricket Australia around?
The Big Bash League is only a few years old but has ignited an interest in club-based T20 cricket, with huge ratings and attendances, even if no-one can tell you what happened in last weeks game.
This shows that a club cricket competition, rather than a national one, can be successful and assist in marketing and bringing people to the game.
Taking this approach to the next level, there is no reason that the best Australian players from this national competition couldn’t form an XI to take on the best national team from other Test nations. They certainly have their licenses and don’t need their parents to drive them to games, or drive the game into the ground.
Test cricket is a beautiful game in that it rewards those that endeavour and apply themselves over all other things. It is a game of resilience and application. It is a loved game that can overcome poor administration, but needs a fresh start to take it forward.
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