Sydney Thunder skipper Daniel Smith had every right to be thunderous at the lack of Big Bash League technical support when star attraction Chris Gayle was sawn off caught behind against the Perth Scorchers at ANZ Stadium last Wednesday.
With the inaugural BBL such an outstanding success, far greater than expectations, you’d think Cricket Australia would cover all bases.
Especially making sure controversial dismissals are at least minimised, and that includes ‘hot spot’ and ‘snickometer’ technology.
But neither were operative, and despite on-field umpire Mick Martell giving Gayle not out, third umpire Michael Kumutat butted in and sent the West Indian packing.
Gayle was 20 at the time, and the Thunder 1-34. Even that one wicket, Usman Khawaja, was another questionable caught behind decision.
Ace it up Cricket Australia. The players, fans, and television viewers deserve better than that hit-and-miss rubbish.
If the necessary technology is too expensive for Cricket Australia, get the marketing team onto having the necessities sponsored. Problem solved.
On the other side of the coin, it won’t take too many blazing headlines of glaring dismissal mistakes to sour the fan’s ever-increasing interest, and belief, in the Twenty20 format.
Cricket Australia budgeted for an average 16,000 fans for the 31-game series over 43 days. It’s above 19,000 and rising.
For the local derby clash between the Stars and Renegades at the MCG, 40,000-plus turned up. The atmosphere was fantastic, the game a bottler, despite rain interruptions.
Likewise for the Sydney local derby at ANZ Stadium between the Thunder and Sixers with 31,262.
Even Bellerive was a sell-out for the first time at 13,713, with Shane Warne the main attraction.
You don’t get crowds like that for a three-hour game unless the product is right. The return of Test stalwarts Warne (42), and three 40-year-olds Stuart MacGill, Matt Hayden, and Brad Hogg all pulling their weight in the company of tomorrow’s young reps is a winning formula.
Fox’s television ratings have gone through the roof from an average 165,000 to nearly 300,000. A record 472,000 viewers watched the big confrontation between Warne, and master-blaster Gayle.
The huge overall success has prompted Cricket Australia to make noises about increasing the number of teams next season from eight to 10, with Gold Coast, Newcastle, Canberra, and Geelong mentioned as contenders.
But CA mustn’t even think of expansion until the basics are right. And that translates to having the right technology in place for every game.
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