The potential fixturing clash between cricket’s T20 World Cup and the AFL season prompted by the coronavirus outbreak is a perfect chance for the AFL to ditch an outdated tradition by hosting its grand final outside of Victoria.
The AFL is expected today to announce amended plans for its 2020 season, which was meant to begin tomorrow but now could be postponed for more than a month, pushing its finals into the cricket season.
Complicating this matter is the fact Australia is hosting this year’s T20 World Cup, a huge 16-nation event which begins on October 18 in Geelong.
This four-week tournament will be held at seven grounds across Australia – the SCG, MCG, Gabba, Perth Stadium, Adelaide Oval, Simonds Stadium and Bellerive Oval – each of which are also AFL venues.
The hugely powerful International Cricket Council already has contracts with these venues and with the various State Governments, which leaves the AFL in a weak position if it decides to extend its season beyond the original closing date of September 26 to go deep into October.
(Ryan Pierse/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
The AFL could be forced to make a request for generosity from the ICC, who would have minimal motivation to free up grounds. Or the AFL could try to strong-arm some of these venues, who make so much money out of their competition. How that will play out I can’t possibly predict.
Of course, all this speculation could be moot should the coronavirus outbreak fail to be contained in the coming months. There are now almost 200,000 confirmed cases across the world, with more than 10,000 new infections announced yesterday.
Australia has so far been spared a heavy outbreak but the future offers no guarantees. Cricket Australia has been wise to cancel its remaining matches this season and the AFL really should follow its lead and postpone the season.
The rampant spread of the coronavirus through Europe in the past fortnight should be sufficient evidence Australia needs to do everything possible to protect its people, including cancelling all sports events.
Hopefully, the AFL can still host a shortened season that would offer some satisfaction to fans. If that involves pushing the finals deep into October or even November, then the league will, in some ways, be at the mercy of the ICC.
(Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
A flashpoint would likely emerge about the venue for the grand final. In the AFL/VFL’s 124-year history, the grand final has always been played in Melbourne, and in the last 75 years all but one grand final has been played at the MCG.
The same way Lord’s is considered the home of cricket, the MCG is the undisputed home of Aussie rules. For years now the AFL has rejected calls for the decider to be played outside of Victoria.
This tradition is unfair to interstate teams who finish higher on the ladder than their opponents, yet still have to play the grand final away from home. The game remains too Melbourne-centric.
If the AFL finds a way to schedule its grand final well before the first T20 World Cup match at the MCG on October 25, then it will be able to continue its antiquated tradition. If not, the AFL will have to play the grand final somewhere else, hopefully outside of Victoria, which would be great for the competition in the long term.
I cannot imagine the ICC will shift the World Cup schedule to allow the AFL access to the MCG between late October and mid-November. There are regular World Cup matches at the MCG from October 25 and November 15, when the tournament final will be held there.
Hopefully this won’t turn into a messy situation that pits Aussie rules against cricket. Many Aussie rules supporters are cricket fans and vice versa. They’re my two favourite sports and always have been.
The best-case scenario is that the Australia-wide measures currently in place to halt the spread of the coronavirus will be successful and the AFL season will be able to finish before the T20 World Cup.
An AFL finals series immediately followed by a World Cup sounds like heaven to me. Enough to ward off the coronavirus blues.
Bobbo7
Guest
Axemaster... you do realise cricket is massive right? I love footy too but it is a piss-ant to cricket. I grew up in NZ and follow sport and can honestly say I had never heard of Collingwood until I got to Australia. Every T20 WC game will have a bigger tv audience than the AFL Grand Final.
Monkey Fist
Roar Rookie
There is no way the cricket will still go ahead. Teams from all over the world travelling to and then around Australia would be concerning. Particularly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which are going to be very much impacted by COVID-19 over the coming 6 months considering their populations and health care systems.
JamesH
Roar Guru
They could just play the GF at Docklands if that happens. It's not a World Cup venue and it has the third biggest capacity in the country after the MCG and Perth Stadium (56k). Won't have to worry about rain, either.
MarkD
Guest
Gday Paul2 , This would make it practical impossible for the Afl to honour it's promise of greater access to the G for interstate teams as some sort of compensation for screwing them with the mcg GF deal. Also explains why the interstate teams end up playing hawthorn in tassie.
RT
Roar Rookie
We are all just thinking best case scenario.
redbackfan
Roar Rookie
this troubling thread just shows how people are not being told the complete truth, or just don't understand. there is no way in this world there will be an international t20 competition this year. there is going to be mayhem. look after yourselves and your families, (and yes, unlike sport perhaps) I know what I am talking about here
Nick
Roar Guru
It actually has a lot to do with CA, Chris. A country association doesn't bid for the tournament and then just walks away and lets the ICC run it. The CA are the 'stewards' so to speak of running the tournament. A similar analogy can be made for the Olympics. It's run under the IOC banner, but the chief operators and centre for all contract negotiations is the country based organising committee. CA are running the tournament under the auspices of the ICC. I would have thought that was obvious - evidently not. Please inform yourself of the facts before saying it has nothing to do with X body. And no the AFL wouldn't be so petty. But is is ridiculous for Kevin Roberts to come out in the middle of a national emergency and say there will be no flexibility given. Especially since in other countries you can see the significant changes that are going to take place, and the concessions already given to accommodate such changes. I.e postponing Euro 2020 to 2021, or Copaamerica. These aren't just tournaments that change dates on a page. THINK about everything that will need to take place, indeed all concessions that have already taken place to allow such flexibility. But our chief of cricket instead chooses to just dig the heals in?
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
My guess is that part of that scheduling is based around the ICC requiring to have the grounds available for a period of time after football has ceased on them in order to make sure the grounds and pitches are in the required condition for matches to start.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
As pointed out, it's got nothing to do with CA. It's the ICC. Do you really think the AFL would be so petty as to lock out the Renegades from a ground that's otherwise not being used because the ICC didn't decide to complete rearrange a major international competition to suit them? Clearly you have a very low opinion of the AFL if you think they'd do that. Certainly contracts can be renegotiated. But when you have a major international tournament with grounds booked a long way out, it's hard to really think it's remotely reasonable for the AFL to be able to reschedule their season and think they can just push them out.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Oh yeah, that's right. A week's delay from memory.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
They did for the 2015 ODI WC
The real SC
Roar Rookie
If the finals are pushed into October or November this will impact on other sports like Bledisloe cup and the t20 World Cup. The Bledisloe cup being scheduled to be held in Suncorp on 17/10/2020 could be moved or cancelled. A scenario would be the Rugby union match to be played in NZ or in Asia. The t20 World Cup May have to delay up to 2 weeks after the Grand Final to get the cricket pitches sorted.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
It's possible l could catch Coronavirus but l am fully innoculated against ever becoming a Victorian.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
6 nations trophy you say. Maybe that's why you are outside the cricket world because I can think of at least 8 countries in with a genuine chance. Also, 15 of those countries have absolutely no interest in AFL but of course the footy is the only thing that matters isn't it?
DB
Guest
They can start their 17 week H&A season late in May and still finish the 4 week finals before the World Cup starts
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
I wonder if the situation was reversed, would the AFL be willing to move their competition for cricket needs?
Paul2
Guest
@ Jeff The contract is out there - I stumbled across it (heavily redacted) on bigfooty a while back, but wouldn't like my chances of re-finding it. (I think it was "Wookie" who posted the link; he sometimes frequents these boards, so perhaps he can re-link if he reads this). Anyway, it made for some interesting reading. One less well-known features of the contract is the obligation for the AFL to schedule 10 of the 12 games played in Victoria with the highest expected attendance at the MCG per season (as well as 43 home and away matches at the venue in total). That's a significant level of influence over the fixture given to an arm of the State Government.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
Some random thoughts in no particular order. .. All this assumes the CV19 pandemic will be well and truly over by Nov. If not, there won't be any world cup and there shouldn't be any AFL g/f either but there probably will .. If the T20 final is between, say, WI and Pakistan the ICC will be lucky to fill Allan Border Oval .. What's with these footy codes? See point 1.
Roger
Guest
This assumes that the T20 WC is still going to on? If the idea is to smooth the peak of the infections who is to say it’s over by then. The AFL potentially could get grounds by default if the WC is cancelled. International travel is more worrisome.
Nick
Roar Guru
Never known a contract that wasn't able to be renegotiated. CA talk big now, but it can come to bite them later on if they aren't prepared at least be a bit charitable. AFL - not cricket - built the other grounds to the state they are today. AFL owns Marvel. They can absolutely punish CA later if they wanted with it by locking out the renegades. No one is suggesting the ICC/CA should hand the keys over, but equally it's just recalcitrant to say right now that it's not up for debate.