Former AFL player Kane Cornes has sparked debate about concerns over criticising women’s sport with Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry among the many to respond to his polarising viewpoints.
Cornes, who played for Port Adelaide in the AFL and hosts a breakfast show on SEN Radio, has raised concerns in a column entitled The elephant in the Room with women’s sport which states “the media and supporters are scared to objectively analyse what they are watching for fear it will come across as being critical which will create fierce backlash from an overly sensitive cohort”.
He then said on radio that people were “petrified” to criticise sportswomen.
The basis of his article stemmed from a tweet by English journalist Isabelle Westbury, a commentator for Seven and Triple M and former first-class cricketer, who posted a message of support for Australian captain Meg Lanning as last week’s Ashes Test in Canberra headed towards what turned out to be a thrilling finish which ended in a draw.
“Whatever happens, lay off the players, lay off Lanning, & lay off telling ’em what they should & shouldn’t be doing. ‘Cos whatever it is, it’s brilliant. Always against the odds, alway surprising. Oh, & this will finish as the fastest scoring Test.”
Cornes believed that Westbury’s fellow commentator Brad Hodge was reluctant to be too negative about Lanning’s tactics.
He argued she had “a shocker”.
“Her field placements were overly defensive against an opposition requiring around five runs an over and her reluctance to bowl her match winning quicks when the game was at a critical juncture deserves close assessment.
“Had this been the poor captaincy choices of former male skippers Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting or god forbid Michael Clarke, it would’ve been headline news.”
Perry, who was part of the Australian team which went one wicket away from winning the Test, has responded to Cornes via social media by agreeing with some of his sentiment but rejecting his assertion that the strident commentary of spin king Shane Warne of the men’s team is “must-watch TV”.
“It’s absolutely necessary for the evolution of women’s sport that objective analysis and criticism is given,” she tweeted.
“I think most female athletes truly welcome this as it validates their or their teams performance and efforts.
“However I think it’s a poor reflection on our viewing population if we think ‘a warpath of criticism’ and overt negativity towards teams or athletes is much watch television.”
Westbury has also responded via social media to say she with Cornes’ assessment that women’s sport needs to be analysed and criticised when warranted but said her particular “contribution has been misunderstood” in reference to the initial tweet.
“If we can’t criticise women’s sport, it’ll never progress. 100%. What is lost is that we often hold women to an impossible standard. Espec. in Tests re declarations, risk taking etc.
“Women declare more, & are way more attacking w/ tactics. But we often blame them for draws. Which is utter rubbish. So yeh, my contrib was in a v particular scenario. Otherwise, thank gawd for likes of Hodge, Copeland, Ferling et al. on 7’s coverage. Critical analysis = key.”
Lanning’s declaration turned out to be spot on. She closed the Australian second innings at 7-216 to set England a record target of 257 from 48 overs to win the one-off Test.
Despite needing 5.35, the tourists looked on track to win before a late collapse of 6-27 meant last pair Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone blocked out the last couple of overs to avoid defeat.
When compared to Pat Cummins’ late declaration on day four of the men’s fourth Test at the SCG, Lanning’s decision was much better – all four results were on the cards down to the final ball whereas Cummins effectively batted England out of their match and they were able to occupy the crease to force a draw rather than chase a win and potentially offer up more wicket-taking chances.
Cornes also raised questions about the coverage of AFLW by stating he believes “there have been some really poor team performances and games in general”.
“I’m acutely aware that the players are part-time and are juggling work and football, but six seasons in we should expect all players to be able to execute a standard drop punt and teams should certainly be capable of entering the forward 50 zone more than 10 times in a game.
“The players are desperate to grow the game and become full-time. The only way for that to happen is for the media coverage to be a lot more interesting which will increase the engagement in the sport.”
He also called for tennis to increase women’s matches to five sets, pointing to the fact that Ash Barty’s final lasted four hours less than Rafael Nadal’s epic but each player “collected over $2.8 million for their respective wins”.
Quite reasonably, he pointed out that women have been “competing and thriving in one of the world’s most gruelling events – the marathon at the Olympics – since 1984” so tennis cannot claim the disparity is based on physical differences.
He summed up his view by contending that the divide between praise and criticism of women’s sport is “awfully lopsided” which is doing more harm than good and that “the women’s codes will thrive at a rapid rate when this eventually balances out”.
Skipper
Roar Rookie
It would appear no one read the article! The question is asked can we be openly critical of women’s sport as we are of men’s sport? I would say the answer currently is NO. This hopefully will change as all areas of sport become more balanced, not equal. For true equality we can only offer opportunity to equality, as all teams start each season on zero points and earn recognition buy being the superior team each week, called a mediocrity. I am sure that with more support and constructive criticism all sportsmen and women will improve. Which sports will be on top of the ladder for spectators, sponsors revenue and pay should also be a mediocrity. Currently limited numbers goe to W League football matches, very few go to AFLW and extremely low numbers spectate W Cricket. May I suggest a couple of adjustments which may help, skill levels, improve score lines and a follow on increase revenue and thus wages. As with Golf, the ladies play on a reduced length course to allow lower scores, higher impact shot making and thus better TV coverage. The lady cricketers play on a reduced size field to allow more 6’s and 4’s again better TV coverage. How about smaller fields for both footy codes? Let’s criticise equally.
Prez
Roar Rookie
lol. you have kind of made his point. Cornes copped a massive amount of criticism when playing. No one held back criticism when discussing his abilities or results.
Paul
Roar Guru
Neither do I but they are. I think back to the early years of womens golf broadcasting when guys just didn't get it. Of course the ladies aren't going to hit the ball as far, certainly not back in the day, but they can still play highly competitive and interesting tournaments. Ditto with cricket. If people can wake up to that fact, then womens sport can & will thrive, but constantly making comparisons as Cornes and others do, is counterproductive. As an aside, some of the outfield catching in that womens Test was as good as I've seen in a while. Rachel Haynes pulled in two screamers.
Short Arm
Roar Rookie
Hi Simoc, agree with you re Perry would've been a better captain. She seemed to be very proactive late in the game, talking to the young Sutherland when bowling & suggesting field changes. It was my view Lanning was happy to just get out of the match with the draw but Perry could see the opportunity for a win in the last couple of overs when England had closed up shop. I think it was her that suggested the field be brought in. Lanning certainly missed a chance here when England first showed they weren't going for it anymore, she should have gone on the attack big time. Bring back on your strike bowler, Brown, & surround the bat with catchers. She only did the later in the last over- too late. Interested to know what's happened in the hockey?
Jeff
Roar Rookie
I don’t get why womens’ sports have to be benchmarked against mens’ sports.
ojp44
Guest
Great user name ????
Curmudgeon1961
Roar Rookie
And Gee Kane if you want to talk about skills he couldn't kick over a jam jar and constantly lost his feet. In SA no one talks a bigger game than Glenelg second raters and our local media let's them
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Probably because it was 1 off test with winner getting 6 points . England nearly pulled it off but it was more entertaining than the men .
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
I have the reverse view regards the declaration , in international test cricket you dont give wins away when the series isnt decided and you have a lead in the series even though in this case the lead they have is the result of them counting matches across multiple formats. Lanning should have declared at 270+ with less overs, the English behind in the series had no choice but to chase whatever total set. With the series on the line it was very risky. If the had declared even 10 runs less they would have lost the match, I thought the commentators had lost their minds when they were talking about it. Cummins on the other hand with a 3-0 lead was very conservative in Sydney there is no reason to worry if the opposition flukes a win, and every opportunity to gain a win and the points for the test championship. The women are playing 4 days because the bean counters think there is a lot of money to be made reducing the number of days in mens test cricket and this is the backdoor method of being able to do it to the men. So if bean counters are trying to reduce the length of matches to make more money, and you have T10 and the hundred shortening T20 to make more money. There is similiar pressure in mens tennis to get rid of 5 set matches for financial reasons.
Judy
Roar Rookie
Cornes is nothing more than a flog trying to make himself relevant. Don’t rate him don’t like him
Simoc
Roar Rookie
How was Lannings declaration perfect. It wasn't any better than Cummins. They didn't win either game but in both cases punters said they were excited. To my eyes Lanning has never been a great captain, and I would have given Perry the job. And while King is a good bowler she isn't as good as Wellington or even close. Why do the women need males on the selection panel? The males seem seem to have sight problems. Good old CA would deem females not capable at this stage. And no wonder with the horror showing that Hockley dishes up.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
He does provocateur. Give him oxygen or not ... -------- Phil Carman rubbed his dad's face in the Norwood mud.
JK
Roar Rookie
Your last sentence...yes depending on the state of the deck and the score in the series...but it will be based on scoring potential and experience in the men's game and therefore validated. It is that experience component the women lack. They do not play red ball cricket and as a result their tactical approach is based on their white ball experience...how could it be anything else?...or is a little more guesswork (the long spell of King and lack of rotation with Jonassen and the seamers an example). I am not negatively critical of that, this is purely an observation. And, it would be interesting to find out the rationale behind the declaration...it was great but I wonder if it was more comfortable for Meg because it fitted into a format she knows back to front...a run target in a set amount of overs.
Vicboy
Roar Rookie
I refuse to watch or listen if Cornes is any chance of speaking into a microphone. I would like him to apologise every week Carlton plays for his continued attack on Walsh and Carlton CF to Rozee. He is only negative. The comparison to KB in the mornings is chalk and cheese - long term staff must dread coming to work ????
ShmaxShmillas
Roar Rookie
Do I want 5 days for a test match for women? Absolutely. Do I want 5 sets in Grand Slams? Absolutely. I am wanting to make these changes in women’s sport not to equal men in terms of money or endurance but purely I just think it would be beneficial to the viewers that love these sports to have a longer contest, regardless of it being male/female.
Mat P
Guest
AFLW expanded rapidly, in three seasons it went from 8 to 14 clubs, and the talent pool wasn't there to maintain the standard, let alone raise it. So when it comes to a question of skill level its a no brainer. But that was to be expected. The long-term goal of course its more teams in more markets = more games = more money = full time players. And hopefully it offers an aspirational pathway to those U13 girls to keep playing the sport, rather than giving it up in their mid-teens. Much like footy in Western Sydney, the AFL is playing the long game.
Paul
Roar Guru
Questions for Cornes; why is the basis for your criticisms of women sport based on comparisons to how men play the same games? Why also don't you acknowldege that the very worst of mens sport, eg games between low ranked teams in the AFL, NRL, soccer, etc are some of the worst sport imaginable? I also want to question this statement "When compared to Pat Cummins’ late declaration on day four of the men’s fourth Test at the SCG, Lanning’s decision was much better – all four results were on the cards". Who cares what results were on the table? Lanning declared when she sis because she hoped that would give England an incentive to try and win the game which could lead to losing wickets, which is exactly what happened. Cummins declared when he did because he wanted enough time to bowl out England, end of story. There was never going to be a chance for England's men to win that game once they failed to match Australia's first innings. That both games ended up as exciting draws also seems to have escaped the author's attention.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
It's very easy to make decisions in the commentary box particularly when your not involved in the match . Hodge's comments were probably made with a view to what Australia would do . Kudos to Lanning making the declaration as it gave both sides an opportunity . Could you imagine the men doing something like that . They won't make a declaration even when 400-500 runs ahead .
Paul
Roar Guru
That's now been changed Mark.
WACAyounis
Guest
Cornes demonstrating equality in how he deals with Men and Women here - Notice me notice me! Contrarian yelping as he has always done.