I am working for Cricket in Australia but i don’t get paid for it.

Fussball,that is why i haven’t written about Football yet. I have been watching the A-League and am yet to form an opinion. One thing,though,is obvious. There is a passion among the believers that is good for the future. The administration,apparently,is less than what the code deserves and while the mainstream media is less than comprehensive it does get a fair amount of coverage. Maybe not all of it is informed but then there are few real journalists plying their trade. Many are just reporters who do the rounds and file as a matter of course and not any real conviction.

sheek,you are still not getting my point. It is not the referrals it is the remonstrations and pique and bat throwing and putting the elbow a la Croft into umpires that I am referring to.

Mike, you start by saying your board and CEO “continue to reinforce” the position that ‘International cricket is by far our most important focus” And state that interstate cricket is vital to that focus. Let us list the sins of omission in this regard:
1. The best players are not available for the Shield and as a consequence our “talent” stagnates. You cannot improve unless you are playing against better opposition.
2. What has CA done to improve the attendances? And why would anyone want to watch a competition where the best players do not play?
3. Has CA ever insisted that broadcasters (TCN9 and Foxtel) show more Shield Games? Pay TV is beyond the reach of many and without FTA the game cannot reach many fans. Why is the ABC not given the rights if Channel 9 refuses to show the Shield? With the increase in digital channels why is not feasible for the Shield to be shown?
4. Why cannot a window be cleared in September-November whereby the Shield can have the leading players play? The Australian team will have no cricket between April and August and then head off to Sri Lanka? Why not cancel the tour to Sri Lanka? You will say you have an obligation to the Future Tours Program. Recent history suggests this is moulded to suit short term objectives. A case in point being the hastily arranged two test series against India last October. This cruelled Australia’s chance in the Ashes. Not to mention the ridiculous edict directing Bollinger and Hussey to play in the Champions League. I would suggest bi-lateral arrangements have taken precedence over what is good for Australian Cricket.
Not only have you devalued the Shield but this has the effect of undermining Australia’s International standing. Attendances rise when the national team is doing well in Tests. The figures for this summer are inflated by the Ashes and next summer it will be because of Tendulkar and Sehwag. It does not mask the slide in Australia’s ranking to 5. This slide can be attributed to CA’s focus on the BB. It can be a result of inferior coaching and an overemphasis on producing short-form short-skill cricketers. More Twenty20 has been scheduled into grade and district competitions. This is not a case of “the Big Bash is clearly that product” but a case of the Big Bash must be that product.
Mike, the harder task is to make cricket at all levels more “compelling” This means good coaching of the basic skills at junior levels. Not the indiscriminate slog-sweep to cow corner.
Having failed in your most “important focus” why would an increasingly sceptical public think you have the answers to our cricketing future?
You say you have research that backs your push to expand the BB.It would be in the public interest to study this research. Presumably Channel 9 had research to back their Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth. It lasted just 3 episodes.
The Big Bash will not have the best Australian players available next summer if as you state the competition will run from December through to January. It is also puzzling why you would have the BB go head to head against the Tests against India. There is already too much cricket and you will definitely alienate your existing loyal supporters. It is debatable if any of the BB fans will have an interest in watching a competition where the best are otherwise engaged. The kids you are banking on have to be brought to the game by their Mums and Dads. They will not spend money on watching your “heroes” who are unable to play for the National side because they are not good enough. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Who are the “investors” willing to take a 49% stake in the new BB franchises? I would have thought we have a right to know. The Stanford debacle taught the ECB a lesson in due diligence. The IPL is not exactly pristine. It would be good to know where the money is coming from and if it is sustainable. For all the IPL’s riches payments to players seem to be continually delayed.
In the end cricket in Australia is run by an unpaid army of volunteers who do it for the love of the game. These are your most loyal constituents. These are the opinion leaders that you should be talking to. Many of the club Presidents I talk to are not happy with the extra Twenty20 games that have been scheduled. We have respondents complaining about U-12’s playing Twenty20. Cricket is not a trifling pastime. It is a way of life. It cannot be pigeon-holed into a neat marketing exercise.
I understand that Twenty20 has a market but it should not be at the expense of your existing market. Australia’s cricketing heroes go back a long way. Bradman, Benaud, Border and before them Bannerman, Spofforth and Trumper.Lillee, the Chappells, Waugh, McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist and Ponting.
And what do you propose to give us? Tait and Warner? Why would someone like Brian Taber caution against sending Patrick Cummins to the Centre of Excellence? I would suggest because he thinks the name is a misnomer. Past greats can’t all be wrong. The structure of cricket in Australia is not producing cricketers that have the skills to play International Cricket. Get the process right and everything falls into place.
There was a time not so long ago that a Bradman Baggy Green sold for more than $300,000. The Bradman Museum in Bowral is self funded and does more for the legacy of our cricket than anything the BB could hope to achieve. I come into contact with a lot of young cricket players and fans both in Australia and in India. These people can tell an outswinger from a marketing curve-ball. They are not your fair-weather channel hoppers. These are the ratings that would impress the most hard-nosed broadcaster.
If you want to look at the IPL as your model for success it would be worthwhile to remember it is built on the best players being available. I suggest these “best” players are all Test players..Kallis, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Pietersen, Gilchrist, Hussey, Lee, Steyn. You will have the odd Warner, Christian and Pollard but these are exceptions. There is no shortcut. Australian cricket will prosper when the National team is strong and skillful.
I have spent the best part of my life in Australia and till two years ago extolled CA as the best run cricketing administration in the world. I have had thirty year involvement with a Shires club. I know the grants that are disbursed to Grade and Shire clubs and all this helps. But in the end we pay for our own coaches, we sell raffles to build sightscreens, we scrounge and save to play proper cricket. We twisted the council’s arm and fought with the Dept of Sport and Recreation to build a clubhouse and I would say we are no different to all the clubs in Australia who support cricket.
I also have children in their twenties and thirties who are disenchanted with the cricket that is being played. Their children will probably share this disillusionment. If you multiply this by all the other parents around the country you may get an idea of the angst we share.
You may succeed in jazzing up the viewing experience for those at home but ultimately the “product” (your terminology) will live and die by the game (my terminology) that is played in harsh sunlight. At the moment it does not stand up to the scrutiny.

Rob,the voting pattern is like a movable feast. Prior to the Mumbai terror attacks India .Pakistan.Bangladesh and SL voted as a block. Sri lanka will do India’s bidding because of an interest free loan the BCCI gave them some years ago.

Pakistan lately has been indebted to the ECB and will vote with them. South Africa and australia ,because of their partnership in the Champions League,I would think would vote with the Indian block. India can,in the end,open and lock doors. No power should be concentrated in so few.

sheek,I am actually saying that not accepting the decision adds to the drama.

Russ,In the last 12 months I have spoken with Sehwag,Pietersen and Dravid and they ALL are challenged by Test cricket. Yes they play the short forms and one of them said it is fun and the money is easy. In the end if we do not produce technically proficient cricketers all forms will be devalued and the money every one is chasing will not be there. Forget the quality of the product and you are consigned to a no name brand with dubious appeal and benefits.

To be fair,Ponting sees some of this and has said he wants to see Associates encouraged but is not sure how it should work.

Republican,I still believe Australia has a side that on their day will beat any other side. In practical terms they need to win one more game to be assured of the knockout stage. if they win them all (Kenya,Canada,SL and Pak) they will finish top of their group. Even if they lose one they may still finish top of the group.
Once you get to the quarterfinal stage then you need to play three consistent high quality games where there cannot be any passengers. I see Krezja as the weak link.

Also interesting who they get as a replacement for Bollinger. This is an ideal case for Michael hussey to be the replacement. They need his experience because White and Ferguson may freeze in the big games.Cam White is an enigma. He can be destructive but i think he is caught between being himself and trying to nurdle. he is also not rotating the strike enough. It is mental and I hope he can come good because we need his hands in the slips to catch the Lee and Johnson snicks.

lopati,of coursse it is viable…I would say it will also help the raising of standards in both countries..especially the cricket…but asking cric ket boards to think clearly is like asking our politicians to be honest.

Sheek,while we are trying to” neutralise ” games we are losing one of the essential drama’s of sport.Sport,cricket or rugby,needs umpires who make mistakes…some mistakes can make or break a career…some mistakes can be construed as home town bias. I am asking you guys to think laterally…don’t we all actually enjoy the controversies…is there not a vicarious pleasure in seeing an umpire squirm…and a player with demented eyes looking to kill the ref.?

Sport like life itself is being sanitised and I think we are losing the “contest”…why must evryone be equal? Life does not work like that..I say bring back the best umpires irrespective of nationality…and if crowds and players start screaming it all adds to the spice of the contest.

I would love a Pakistani like Aleem Dar standing in a match at the Eden Gardens and making a howler( no UDRS in India) and then see the crowd get passionate.

Republican,NZ have done well in previous WC’s. It is just that their record in India is not exemplary.

Like in australia,and I dare say many other countries, NZ players are also seduced by the riches on offer in India. They have also agreed to play Twenty20 games in the USA and are being paid decent money. I think cricket basics are being ignored and in the long run this will impact on the quality of the cricketer we see. Unfortunately administrators are unable to see beyond the glitter.

I also believe the Christchurch factor was at play here early on in the NZ batting…by the time the natural contest kicked in it was too little too late.

Sheek,I see a piece by Stuart Clark in this morning’s SMH which shows how out of touch some elite cricketers are. Also how narrow minded and uncaring about anything but themselves. Cricket needs its fans in Bangladesh and ireland and Zimbabwe and Holland. What may be meaningless to Clark is a whole lot of meaning to Bangladesh.

He may have been to Uni and is bookwise but his life knowledge and worldview is as narrow as the darkest one-way alley.

Kersi,Tomorrow’s match aginst England will show how strong India is. Will be interesting to see KPat the top for his second match. He was overly cautious in his first avatar as an opener .He needed more dutch Courage!

Jason,the India-England game at Bangalore is a sell-out. England have a lot of goodwill in India from the time Kevin Pietersen led the team back for 2 Tests soon after the Mumbai terror attack. I spoke with KevinP in the New Year and he was excited about the WC. He “absolutely” loves India. He said” We stay in the best hotels,the food is great and the fans are passionate” If anything this WC will demonstrate the passion the Indians have for cricket. Not every ground will be full but all the talk will be of the WC.

There was a riot for tickets as only a few thousand were released to the public. Often in India it is the privileged that have access. Administrators should be made to sit in the public stands. They should also be asked to queue up once in a while.

Sri Lanka-Australia will be a test and Clarke and Ponting will be the batting keys. Footwork and patience against the spinners and score quickly off the seamers. Once again Lee and Johnson will need to get rid of Dilshan,Sanga and Jayawardne early.

Bollinger is being shipped home with an ankle injury and perhaps Siddle will be the replacement

David,I agree the mental part is what seperates the good from the great. I can’t play any sport without being competitive and there are no gimmes in my lexicon. The concepts of “gentlemanliness” and “fairplay” are not diminished by being ultra-competitive. Even if the other person wins I want him to know he has been in a fight.

Republican,I promise to tell it exactly like it pans out. Stay tuned and look forward to your assesment, cynical or otherwise,tomorrow.

Ok,Chris,we ‘ll leave it at that.

Ben,it was meant as constructive criticsm and I am glad you have taken it as such. Yes,it would be a filip for people in New Zealand but somehow I don’t think the Blackcaps can win. I was impressed with Ponting’s generosity in offering the use of our physio and also his comment that they”are like our brothers.” But once on the pitch it will be playing to win.

Chris,with respect,you are taking a statement in isolation. In time people that suffer losses will move on and be uplifted by art,or sport or something else. But far from debating the point the intent was to offer relief and it was writtent as a mark of respect and offering compassion. No more,no less.As Dan Vettori says the game today will go some way in taking people’s mind off the tragedy for a little while.

Rob,beware the pollie handing out sweets to kids.Schools have a duty of care and must be careful who they invite.The House of Reps is not the most edifying place out of school.

Brendon,you don’t have to get along with someone to appreciate their abilities.Chappell and Miller did not have a problem with Bradman’s cricketing abilities. That is all we are discussing here.
I have seen all the players you mention and neither Ritchie or Blewett would class themselves as great.
I also saw Harvey play and he was up there with his footwork. You may not like him but thats is inconsequential.
There are certainly many modern day greats and most of those you mention have merit. I interviewed Sehwag at length for Inside Cricket and you may want to get the march Issue to have a read. It is difficult to rate players you have not seen,Brendon. Players that are currently playing,like Ponting,Dravid,Sehwag and Tendulkar are all astute enough to know . I will give more credence to their opinion than yours. Having said that I respect your right to your opinion.
Someone once asked Bradman how he would go in the modern game and he said: “Not very well,but you must understand I am 80 now.”

Ben,I was interested in everything you had to say right up to your take on Ricky Ponting and the TV. You were making sense talking about the need for the ICC to be sure footed. But you lost me with what is a non-story. The reputable Indian dailies like the times of India,Hindu and Express only give it passing mention. It is not a major story. It is not a black mark on australia’s image. Ponting,for many ,is an easy target and I would have thought you would refrain from making a judgement. What is important is how Ricky performs on the pitch and how Australia go today.

Rabbitz,it was always an important game and now it becomes important and meaningful.

JohnB,in the end we are all imitations and as Donne said “no man is an island” Though sometimes you wish you were one! Here’s an original: Man is basically good but his propensity to do evil far outweighs the good.

sheek,the analogy is like trying to reform a repeat offender when he is 18….the time to get to him is when his is 8-12…some would say it is the job of parents and in part that is right but in the end ,as a society,we jump around after the event rather than ensuring it does not happen in the first place.