When the very first season of World Series Cricket launched in the summer of 1977-78, I was two years of age.
And growing up in country New South Wales, with only one commercial television station and the ABC, not only can I not remember anything about WSC, but I don’t even know if we were able to see it.
I have very early memories of the early days of the post-Packer-wars World Series Cup one-day series, and even a vague recollection that there might have been one season where Test cricket in Australia was shown on both the ABC and the Nine network and all its country affiliates.
But essentially, as long as I’ve watched cricket, it’s been on Nine, and with Richie Benaud out front, looking resplendent as always in the cream, the bone, the white, the off-white, the ivory, or the beige.
Richie Benaud: Resplendent (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
With all this said, and with everything that’s plagued Australian cricket on the field and in the boardrooms over the last twelve months, the new cricket summer truly does loom like no others in my memory.
A rumble of discontent when the news was first announced back in April became delayed outrage on Sunday when the penny finally dropped – no pun intended – that the Australian team would be playing an international on Australian soil and not on free-to-air television. The first match between Australia and South Africa was the first time an ODI played at home wasn’t on standard terrestrial TV.
The logical comparison – even if I can’t knowingly make it – is that cricket in Australia hasn’t seen such a broadcast revolution since World Series Cricket forty years ago.
And so on that front, and given the dismal showing of the Australian batsmen, it’s hard to know who has the hardest job this summer. Is it the Cricket Australia marketing department, who need to convince the Australian cricket public that the national men’s team is still worth following (and who aren’t off to a great start themselves, with the whole ‘elite honesty’ debacle within the Australian dressing room in Perth), or batting coach Graeme Hick?
Hick became the Australian men’s team batting coach in 2016, after former Tasmanian batsman Michael di Venuto departed to take up the head coaching role at English county Surrey.
In just 2018 alone, the Australian team have been dismissed for under 250 nine times in their last 13 Test innings.
In ODIs, Sunday’s loss was Australia’s 14th in the last 16 matches going back to September 2017, including the last seven straight. Of those seven losses, they’ve been bowled out six times, and five of them for less than 250. 152 all out is Australia’s lowest ten-wicket total in more than two years.
If Justin Langer has a job on his hands rebuilding this Australian side, Hick’s is arguably even bigger.
Having fallen in successive heaps in the UAE against Pakistan, by doing it again on home soil we can at least say the Australian top order is finding some consistency.
But it really feels like the batting rebuild is a bit trial-and-error at the moment.
For one thing, it feels like there are too many one-speed openers in the side, and with no possible way for them all to play the same role. That’s not to mention middle order batsmen who would be well-suited to the 20-to-40 over accumulating role being thrown in up the top.
When not battling a buttock abscess, Shaun Marsh probably is the ideal foil for Aaron Finch and whichever dashers are listed to follow him. With generational change well under way within the Australian side, there is a nice symmetry in Marsh playing the same anchor role that his father built a career on.
But when Marsh was ruled out on Sunday, the Australian order really needed Travis Head down the order more than they needed him at the top.
Instead, when Head’s costly waft outside off needed a bit of pragmatism to follow, Darcy Short came in at first drop with the only method he really knows and proceed to play the same shot to follow soon after.
Another disappointing batting display from Australia. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images)
At two for not many, this is where Head would’ve been of more use. Instead, with no signs of looking for anything less than top gear, yet another opener in Chris Lynn came to the wicket. And left soon after having played a pretty ordinary shot when a cool head and even just a glance at the scoreboard were needed.
Glenn Maxwell’s shot wasn’t much better, but I’d argue that Marcus Stoinis’ get-out shot was worst of all, having just seen his two most immediate middle order colleagues fall to lazy shot selection.
It’s one thing to want to play attacking cricket, and there’s no doubt that fours and sixes are what people want to see. But people also want to see smart batting, and the Australian’s showed none of it in slumping to 6/66 on Sunday to effectively kill of the contest just after lunch in the west.
Hick knows all about patience and playing the right shot at the right ball. Indeed, he and Justin Langer made careers of it as well.
Justin Langer doesn’t exactly have the cream of the crop at his disposal right now. (AAP Image/Luis Ascui)
So why then, is the Australian focus all about boundaries and power? Boundaries and power might win you a World Cup on the night, but losing your entire top order well before time to fundamental errors definitely will not.
On Sunday’s evidence, and a whole string of failures before that, it’s patently clear that the Australian one-day batting needs an urgent injection of patience and balance. At 36 years of age, George Bailey probably isn’t the answer himself, but a George Bailey-type player in the middle order is desperately needed.
Whether that’s Head, or even Peter Handscomb, I don’t really mind. I just want the confidence to know that the Australian middle order walking out to bat don’t think getting themselves out of a hole involves digging further.
This is Hick’s responsibility to find, and Langer’s to implement. ASAP.
And of course, should the Australian batting and batting coaches do their job, then the workload of the Cricket Australia marketing staff becomes significantly easier.
With only two more ODIs and one T20I against South Africa to come, and then three T20Is against India before the Tests – of which my understanding is ticket sales are unsurprisingly solid – perhaps the marketing team believe this is the calm before the storm, when Tests and the BBL will be all over FTA TV through to February.
Regardless, batsmen or marketers, it will be interesting to see who can cope with the sudden change the best, and the quickest.
El Loco
Roar Rookie
Yeah not lies Paul, go back to the early 80s and that's how it was.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Lynn's record is better than Agar's in all metrics battingwise T20, although both are pretty ordinary From 2 ODI's Lynn doesn't have as good a record as Agar from 9 ODI's. Not much of a sample size. Lynn's first class batting average - 71 innings, avg 43 Agar - 75 innings, avg 25 Do you have some other numbers you'd like to discuss?
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Where does the $29/month come from? Looking at Foxtel's website it looks like to sign up for the sport pack required to watch cricket is actually $68/month.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Just going by my own distant memory, but I'm pretty sure El Loco is right. There was a time when they still only showed the first couple of hours and still stopped at that point even when it was sold out and you couldn't come to the ground. Then after some time they decided (probably because people complained) to start showing the whole game in the event of a sellout.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I think you underestimate how much top level players continue to significantly change their game even after they get to the top level. Sure there are things that it's good to get drilled in at a young age, but compare Steve Smith's batting now with when he first entered international cricket, or George Bailey, or Simon Katich from start to end. Those are just ones where it's dramatically visible. Gilly had the World Cup Final Century with the squash ball in his glove. At this level players are always analysing strengths and weaknesses and putting in massive workloads trying to tinker with technique to make themselves better. So to that extent, quality batting coaching that can help with identifying where issues are and things to work on to improve in those areas should be able to make a massive difference.
Ryan Ranger
Roar Rookie
OK.
CricGuru
Guest
You guys don't understand, the games aren't on FTA for a reason.,And tte ACB isn't gonna give us the side we need to compete. There is bad blood between the board and the players and that is why we are seeing Oz players walk off the field without competing. I say strip their salary's. There have been countless cheating accusations against Oz overhe last 20 years, from Warne to Bancroft. Piss the bad guys off and build a side around decent guys like the (Marsh Bros) . Haha.
Rellum
Roar Guru
"The odd fuddy-duddy talkback radio caller?" I get the feeling I can work out your mental image of a cricket person. There was a lot of interest in the WIsden live radio call, which was organised because the guys behind it were sick of the lack of coverage of overseas tours. Combined that with just my own social circles - all the guys in my cricket team, mates, people at work even an American asked me why it wasn't covered. Complaining on this site, sports sites. It is not as loud as it was because we all realize now the CA is only interested in tours that provide instant monetary value and will cheap out as much as they can.
Ryan Ranger
Roar Rookie
May I ask who? The odd fuddy-duddy talkback radio caller? Where was the outrage that the Tests and T20’s against Pakistan weren’t on FTA? Ditto that controversial series in South Africa? If they weren’t complaining then, why complain now? If they don’t care about not seeing Test series’ on foreign soil that do count for something, why be outraged at not seeing 3 ODI’s that count for little? Forgive me for finding it bemusing.
Rellum
Roar Guru
"You don’t hear anyone complaining when games involving the Australian cricket team played on foreign soil aren’t shown on FTA, do you?" Yes I do.
Ryan Ranger
Roar Rookie
There are a lot of complaints - particularly on social media - that this ODI series is not being shown on FTA. Those complaining are largely the same people who haven’t watched ODI’s for the past few years anyway, either because One Dayers are no longer as enticing thanks to T20, it was on AFTER a long test series, they were over the cricket and couldn’t wait for the footy season to start, or they quite simply couldn’t stand the Channel Nine coverage. Or all of the above. It’s whinging for the sake of whinging. You don’t hear anyone complaining when games involving the Australian cricket team played on foreign soil aren’t shown on FTA, do you?
Rellum
Roar Guru
This is the future I see for T20 in 20-30 years. The exact same trajectory as one day cricket.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Why would they be intentional? You communicate with no one then. Mind you, you seem more intent on abuse than communication. It's the wrong site for that.
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
Some "mistakes" are intentional,some are not. It does not matter. A good pal just told that you come out of some western Australian cave seasonally when your golden boys marshes make some cheap runs. I guess that settles it. :-D
Alex Wallach
Roar Rookie
Interesting stat. Foxtel $125 million per year for ODI/T20 rights. $29 per month for cricket channel. Over 12 months $348 (plus expense to user for other Foxtel services). That equates to a required subscription base of 359,195 individuals for the whole 12 months to break even (Technically. There are additonal costs for Foxtel in undertaking the Broadcast, plus extra revenue from advertising. But lets face it, Warnie wouldn't come cheap). Rating for Foxtel for Perth ODI: 205,000. 154,000 short of breakeven. An operating loss of $4.4 million for foxtel for that one game. How many games will that last for? Foxtel could easily be $30-$40 million in the hole by the end of the summer season. Expect Channel 7 to buy out Foxtel rights for the 2019-2020 season at a cut rate bargain price! It's Optus and the World Cup all over again...
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Any chance you could type properly? I can't understand you. There are conventions of English. Use them.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
His numbers in ODI are better than Lynn's. His numbers in International T20 are probably better too. Lynn has not yet been able to perform at the next level. Agar has and Agar does. Prove me wrong. Numbers?
Ben
Guest
Are you that loony that you're seriously suggesting Agar is a better batsman than Chris Lynn!?! hahah gtfo out of here, stupid old man.
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
"Either play Agar or let him play Shield cricket." That is probably the most correct cricketing statement (from those i have read) you have made. congo :-D Regards Staunch Marsh hater :-D
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
Well i have got to say, i am confused about aussie selector's selection fundamentals now a days. Brah,i just wanted to say that, 3 out of 5 top most run scorers in JLT(One day) is Lynn,Short,McDermott. I think now you have seen at least 2 of them in action against quality opposition in same format they scored most runs. :-D Anyway, Patterson was just a suggestion. I believe bailey should make a come back,he has still got cricket left in him.