I know talking about scheduling can be dry as sandpaper, but we’ll keep it short and to the point.
Sheffield Shield needs to get back to being the premier top-level competition in Australia, otherwise Aussie cricket will stay in the doldrums.
The status quo is not working. The Big Bash League is here to stay and its funds are crucial, but here is a proposal for future fixtures that can hopefully work for the long-term benefit of all stakeholders.
The Sheffield Shield is to run for all ten matches in an 11-week period, with a one-week break for a representative or hosting tour match. The dates will run from the start of October to mid-December, but there’s no time for a final, unfortunately.
The second five weeks of the Shield will run concurrently with the first four or five Tests of the summer.
The BBL will start in mid-December, but the final two Tests of the summer series, the Boxing Day and New Year matches, will remain unchanged.
All Australian players are released to the BBL until the completion of the series at end of January or very early February. This would require the BBL to be shortened by about two weeks. There wouldn’t need to be any reduction in the number of games – although sometimes less is more – only a tightening of the schedule, which can be easily done by playing more games on weekends.
The IPL schedule is 51 days compared to the BBL’s 61, so it’s certainly doable if there is a will.
This leaves the majority of February and the start of March for short-form internationals and, under that, the states playing in a one-day competition.
Each state’s first-grade competition’s scheduling shouldn’t be touched, as this will give players the ability to play most forms of cricket all year round at a good level in summer in Australia.
This block scheduling does somewhat create an issue of continuity, but Australia A tours outside of the season proper will hopefully address this with any identified talent or returning aspirant.
However, another possible remedy to this is adding state tours to other provinces around the world – say, Victoria and Tasmania one year, then New South Wales and Queensland the next and South Australia and Western Australia in the third year.
A couple of first-class matches and three one-dayers against the likes of some Ranji Trophy teams or tier-two nations in their backyards could be exactly what is needed to identify who will thrive at the top level.
Cost is what would probably scupper that last proposal, but if you don’t have bloated support staff numbers and if you ensure a tight schedule with adequate rather than palatial accommodation, you could afford both tours with the loss of just one unneeded Cricket Australia executive’s pay-packet.
Scott Hoban
Roar Rookie
The scheduling of cricket is an annoyance to many... Im am hating right now, that the the Stikers are missing Carey and Siddle for their campaign, and later Head will be gone too (after missing the first part of the season to test playing)... although the teams we play are also missing players, so its a bit of a what if scenario when we lose, but a good scenario when we win :P There is no schedule that will ultimately mean all players can play for each of their teams, however... The majority of the shield season should be played prior to Xmas and concurrently with the first few test matches. Come 1 week before Xmas, the BBL starts and finished prior to the end of January. none of this mid Feb finals crap... Teams that travel to Aus for the test, ODI and T20 series are encouraged to make their players available to the BBL franchises (max 2 players per club) to get them ready and in the country for the ODI and T20 internationals that will take place. BBL does not have to occur every night of the week! If there is a ODI or T20 international on the 15th of January, the 14th and 16th can be cricket free so teams don't lose their players (teams in the BBL have played 2 games in 3days, so CA obviously have no issues with it being overload... as they shouldn't since atm our bowlers seem to bowl for 4 days in test cricket) ... hell I would vote for the WBBL to be shown in prime time instead! and possibly schedule the WBBL final series to fit around these dates. The BBL will only the successful in the best players are always available and cricket in Australia will only be successful is the national side is successful. Playing the right cricket at the right time is crucial for this to occur. After the BBL season I would then play the remainder of shield season... and the domestic One day Cup (although I would rather One Day cricket be scrapped in its current format).
Mick Jeffrey
Roar Rookie
Biggest issue running into Feb/March is football. The drop in pitches at half the venues used in the BBL generally go out in February to give the football centre time to bed in and be "safe" for the players.
Jeff
Guest
So no FC cricket after first week of January? What about selecting Test squads to tours to India, South Africa or West Indies in March, April or May? Also, Australian cricket can't live in a bubble; there are other countries whose schedules/seasons need to be accommodated, so never scheduling ODIs in October/November won't work. Note, we are already locked in to the ICC's FTP for a few years to come. I don't like the split Shield season, but I think we have to live with it and perhaps come up with some other FC/red ball to fill in the 2 month Shield hiatus. Perhaps a series of 3 or 4 four-day matches between two "best-of-the-rest" teams made up of non-BBL playing Shield players - e.g. WA/SA/VIC vs QLD/NSW/TAS. There's plenty of non-BBL Shield players to put together two competitive teams.
Rodney Ellis
Guest
You've got it backwards. We keep being told that test cricket is the pinnacle … yet come the second week of January it's all over. The test series should start on Boxing Day, and run though January. More people are at home, away from their offices during this time and able to watch it. At the moment, with the tests being on in December, I can't watch them because I'm at work. And a lot of times, by the time we get to Melbourne and Sydney … the "big" venues … the series is over. Play the meaningless ODIs and T20s in December to build interest, and use them to lead into the tests.
Bob
Guest
Test cricket should return to being played in January, like it used to. Too cold to play tests in Vic, Tas or SA before December anyway. Australia Day Adelaide day night test would be a huge winner. Finish the shield just before Christmas and shove the 50 over stuff, which is basically a dying ember of a by gone era ( the Tv ratings and crowds will confirm this) back to Feb and March. BBL can start as soon as the shield finishes.
Paul
Roar Guru
Sheek, there's no reason why you can't have both because they are interdependent. I think players would be happy to play Tests in June or July to spread the workload and lets face it, Darwin and Cairns are great places to visit at that time of year BUT the revenue these Test would generate is not great. Similarly, CA probably wants only the Sydney & Melbourne Tests as well as a bunch of T20 cricket, BUT this will ultimately result in the complete decline of player skills. It surely can't be that hard to reach a compromise so Australian players keep developing while keeping the sponsors happy?
Timmuh
Roar Guru
They decided on revenue long ago. BBL just reinforced that.
Brian
Guest
Don't think its realistic. 1. Is a 10 game Shield season in 10-11 weeks a good idea or are you just going to end up with average batsman plundering runs against tired overworked bowlers. Don't think first-class paceman can really play 10 weeks in a row withoout a serious drop off in standards. 2. Everyone wants to end the Test season in early Jan and then play Internationl limited overs cricket in Feb after the BBL but what are you expecting touring teams to do wait until mid Feb, watch the Aus Open maybe? In truth the money comes fmo Tests and the BBL so in reality those two need to be scheduled to the optiaml level and everything else follows. I would start the Shield in September have the final the week before xmas and then play the ODI cup in March
Ben
Roar Rookie
Maxwell and finch won’t play another shield game as they are off to India to prepare for the World Cup straight after the big Bash. Ca has to fix the scheduling ASAP.
Big Daddy
Guest
In this modern day of cricket T20 BBL is the main revenue stream for CA. Once it used to be test matches and ODI s and Sheffield shield unfortunately is the one that is suffering. Trouble is you can't have one without the other and the only way it seems to work.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
I like it BarnabusXI but we better check with the BCCI first. Afterall, they (not CA) are running cricket in this country!
BarnabusXI
Roar Rookie
Paul, agree with having a flexible approach. Any years with a WC in the antipodes as an example you can tweak for sure. Totally agree with your gripes about the current scheduling mistakes CA have made like the UAE ODIs. Not to mention the selection blunders that occur because of these thoughtless short term cash grabs.
AREH
Roar Guru
I quite like this, the key for mine is that the running of the Shield aligns with the home tests, allowing for selections on actual red-ball form. Where that leaves the domestic OD Cup I'm not sure, but perhaps that could line up with the International short-form stuff in Feb.
Larry1950
Guest
You can't sell your soul to a media conglomerate & then say you don't really like the way they're using it. Kerry Packer bought Australian cricket lock, stock & barrel then channel 7 finally prised it out of their hands so you are guaranteed that they'll squeeze every ounce of juice out of the broadcasts while they can. Re the players, even those on state rookie contracts, who earn a fortune complaining? Think Steve Smith who has allegedly lost estimates from $3-7m would play any schedule now.
Extra Short Leg
Roar Rookie
Don't have a solution regarding BBL, nor do I have any interest in it. Hope CA restores prestige and value to the Shield. Yes it loses money but it used to crank out hardened, quality cricketers. Many top notch overseas players could be found honing their skills in the state comp in years past.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think you're missing some key details from your proposal Barnabus. Cricket scheduling should not be a fixed beast, but MUST maintain some degree of flexibility. I think there should be 3 issues CA takes into account when working out it's schedule; 1) how do they get players ready for the upcoming Australian season 2) how do they get best bang for buck throughout the Australian cricket season; and 3) how do they best prepare Australian cricket for upcoming events All 3 of thee points can be equally important. For example, soon after our season finishes, we head off to play in the WC, so common sense would dictate we try and get as many ODI games into the back half of our domestic season as possible a) to pick the WC squad and b) to give the guys some match practice. What did CA do; squeezed a tournament into the first few weeks of the season with nothing after that. This year, Shield cricket should have started in September and continued throughout the season with a 4 week break over the school holidays in January. The Test were scheduled okay but we should now be looking to play both T20 and ODI cricket in the back half of the season. I like to old method of playing a Shield game which finishes in time to allow the same two sides to play an ODI on a Saturday. Scheduling this year should have been about getting ready to play India, then getting ready for the WC and the Ashes. In fairness CA got the first part almost right, (except for those stupid international ODIs in the UAE which robbed guys like Maxwell a chance to press for Test selection), but they haven't thought ahead, so the rest of the scheduling is a dogsbody.
BarnabusXI
Roar Rookie
Yeah, i'd say they'll reduce back to 10 games. Won't be until the current TV deal expires though unless there can be a huge reassessment by all the stakeholders. It would also require WBBL to be seen as a profitable substitute for loss of content. Hopefully that can happen.
BarnabusXI
Roar Rookie
Morning sheek, I agree with all that. Couldn't tell you who won last week. I do like having cricket on every night though. I think BBL will stay although probably not in current format. I'd say its very likely it'll go back to 10 games each rather than 14. More importantly though i think its here to stay in the school holiday period. Which makes it annoyingly hard to get a good schedule for the Shield. I think CA have totally given up on one-dayers.
sheek
Roar Guru
From memory, the WSC tri-series ran from mid-January to end of February or thereabouts. No reason why Bbl can't follow same time slot. Sooner or later (bets, anyone?) CA has to decide whether optimum revenue or optimum scheduling for players is more important. The former is a short-term gain, the latter is a long-term gain.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
The number of BBL games needs to be reduced/reviewed. I hear crowds are down. You can't plunder and overcook an idea to rake in the dollars without a loss of appetite through over supply. Christo has a good draft.