It’s the tournament that used to be a central point in the Australian cricketing summer.
But in the past few years, the Australian domestic 50-over competition – now known as the Marsh One-Day Cup – has fallen quite dramatically. What used to be an eye-catching and crowd-drawing month-long block showcasing the best of Australia’s domestic talent has endured a lack of talent, exposure and excitement in the past few years.
The scheduling of matches can partly be blamed, with games last year crammed into a tight four-week block during a period already filled with AFL and NRL finals, around various grounds that people would’ve barely heard of, let alone attended.
What once was a tournament many people were passionate about, where the next generation of Australian cricketing talent flourished and where state-versus-state rivalries were on full show, became a non-event.
It consisted of a gimmicky series of matches after which teams who finished as low as sixth in the group stage could still go on to claim the title. Cricket Australia fixtured the tournament so early into the cricketing-summer that by November people had forgotten who’d been crowned champions. And as international squads were chosen later in the summer, form in the domestic limited-overs competition was meaningless.
Instead, players were picked based on a few impressive cameos for their respective Big Bash League franchises, more often than not those stepping up to international duties underprepared and simply not good enough.
It came as a shock to CA powerbrokers that last summer’s performances of Australia’s 50-over team declined significantly, in turn suffering 2-1 losses to South Africa and India. Of course, since then, the team has enjoyed varying successes, highlighted by the overseas victories over Pakistan and India earlier this year before crashing out of the World Cup semi-finals at the hands of eventual champs England.
(Photo by Andy Kearns/Getty Images)
After this tournament, a stark reality was revealed to all of us back home in Australia. We needed to find a way to recapture the talent, quality and depth of our national 50-overs that has won us five World Cups, and this task started at the domestic level.
That shouldn’t surprise many people. It’s clear that the significance of the domestic one-day tournament has diminished over the past few years. That’s why following outcry by past players, commentators and the wider public following last summer’s abomination, a change of tournament structure has been welcomed by the Australian cricketing community.
Instead of more knock-out matches than group-stage ones, each state will now play a total of seven regular fixtures, playing most opponents once, and some others twice. The top two teams will deservedly face off in a final on November 26.
Another major change to the competition is the breaks between blocks of games for the commencement of the Sheffield Shield first-class competition, both in mid-October and early-November. Not only will this replicate the change of formats that those selected will have to face later on in the international summer, but will more importantly give players a chance to find form and impress selectors closer to the actual call-up dates.
However, perhaps the most large-scale and encouraging change for this season is the scheduling of more meaningful games at locations that will draw greater crowds and deliver greater exposure to the cricketing public. Fixtures will now be held at iconic cricketing grounds around the country such as the MCG, SCG and the Gabba, giving greater scope for fans to attend and players to perform at their best.
Importantly, though, responsibility ultimately falls with us – the general cricketing public – to help reinvigorate what should be known as the number one domestic 50-over competition in the world. By attending games, watching them on television and ultimately increasing exposure, we hold the key to making this tournament thrive once again.
This change should benefit all players in the domestic cricketing landscape. It makes their dreams one step closer to reality.
This competition can prosper, as long as we embrace it.
Rellum
Roar Guru
They are retro strips, and you can buy them!!!That is a first for a long time. Well done the Bulls and the Bulls Masters
Rellum
Roar Guru
As long as the pitches offer something for the bowlers then 50 over cricket has a future. The first two games have averaged 340 already on the first innings.
anon
Roar Pro
50 over looked on its knees a few years back, but there's still life especially at international level. I actually think T20 cricket is the format that's become predictable. Many teams seem content to push it around to get 160 on the board rather than take risks and set 200. Back when it was the ING Cup it was a great, high quality series. Probably the best domestic series in the world at the time.
Rellum
Roar Guru
from the CA website Why is it called the Marsh One-Day Cup? "No, it’s not a reference to brothers Shaun and Mitchell Marsh, or their dad and ex-opener Geoff Marsh, or the unrelated former wicketkeeper and selector Rod Marsh, or even his son, the former Tassie captain Dan Marsh! The insurance company previously known as JLT was acquired by an American firm, Marsh & McClennan Companies, in the off-season. So the competitions that were last season known as the JLT One-Day Cup and the JLT Sheffield Shield are now called the Marsh One-Day Cup and the Marsh Sheffield Shield. Same company, different name."
ChrisH
Roar Rookie
Can someone explain why it's called "Marsh Ond Day Cup"? Who is sponsoring it? Rod? Geoff? Shaun and Mitch?
Rellum
Roar Guru
What the hell has QLD done to our uniforms???
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Good stuff.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
If the 50 over game isn’t going to die what was thought to be a natural death, then this change could be a step in the right direction. Especially, if CA’s selection brains trust don’t fall for the recent fallacy that runs in any format count as valid for test selection.
AREH
Roar Guru
True. At least there's some gradual improvement though - the tournament runs alongside ODI cricket to some extent, and isn't restricted to one month and only a handful of local venues. It's still not where it could be, but greater focus and exposure than say three or four seasons back.
Tomas Cooling
Roar Rookie
I think I was referring mainly to last year’s competition, but yes you’re right as to before that.
Tomas Cooling
Roar Rookie
Thanks Paul. That’s a good point - flat tracks at Hurstville and Townsville aren’t the ideal preparation for a World Cup in England!
Rellum
Roar Guru
CA has a video series going from some of the old finals Note the crowds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkYYY82CZo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuIO-JPLSog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkjBlRtcnFo
Rellum
Roar Guru
Players used to play a lot more days of cricket
Rellum
Roar Guru
Agree with everything in this article. People need to support the State comps to make cricket as a whole better. Just to be pedantic, the comp used to run over the whole season. I assume that was a typo.
Gee
Roar Rookie
The changes are better than nothing. The schedule is tight now but maybe teams playing each other twice could be jammed in to give our players more experience. I was reading awhile back how little we play compared to English & Indian players and that might be affected our performances. Of course that has always been the case and we used to pound those teams back in the day but those days are long gone so a change could be good.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think the direction of the previous CA Board had much to do with that Bob. Peever and co were all about making money and they wanted nothing to interfere with their cash cows - the BBL and the Boxing Day & New Years Tests. They seemed to think an abbreviated domestic series and a bunch of ODIs in places like the UAE & India, were going to be enough to get us across the line in England? Thankfully, they're gone and maybe we can go back to focusing on being good at all three cricket formats, while still making enough money to cover the needs of the game in Australia.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Tomas, its great to read a pretty positive piece from a new author and I agree, CA has certainly improved the scheduling this year. The issue which I think needs to be sorted out isn't the venues where these games are played but the pitches. The temptation is to create absolute roads, so both sides have a chance to make 350 plus and hit a swag of 6's. That's great for the broadcaster, but does it help develop guys capable of playing in World Cup conditions? The ICC is responsible for the WC pitches in 2023 and they aren't likely to be roads, so our guys need to get used to playing on competitive surfaces now. I'm not suggesting we try and create Indian style wickets, but have pitches that give the bowlers something while encouraging batman to play shots, if they're good enough. I'd much rather watch an ODI game where one side makes 230 and the other is 9 down in the chase, than watch another where one side is 2 for 350 and the other is all out for 275. One game's close and exciting while the other is simply boring.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
We got what we deserved at the WC. When you treat a format as poorly as we treated the 50 over game it should be no surprise when you crash and burn out of the biggest tournament. Blind Freddy could see it coming but apparently CA couldn't. .. This new deal is better but it's at least a year too late. Oh well, better late than never I suppose.
James
Guest
I understand why this needs to happen, but I actually loved the old format. As someone who lived near hurstville oval, I could duck in to many games for free, and get a $5 beer! I agree with Tomas, we do need to be showing our support and attending games, but I can’t see myself making the trek into the SCG as much this season.