I appreciate that the format is of ZERO interest to my very discerning friends here, but, will anyone pay any attention to the new Big Bash format commencing this summer?
I for one will be if for no other reason then continuing the interest of my offspring in cricket, as this fast food version suits the attention span of single digit aged boys.
With Melbourne having to choose between two teams it will be of interest to me to see how much support the Docklands based Renegades get against the G based Stars. It was a no brainer choice for my eldest as i proposed his options... he loves the big stage that the G offers.
For mine it was a big mistake dividing the city when Geelong was a far better option that would have likely got support from regional (western at least) Victoria, more so with Ballarat not too far up the road.
If the format last longer than 5 years i'd be surprised if the Renegades were still there at that point; more so with the Stars having G. Shipperd as coach.
Still, several months out who knows what this heralds for the game and how it will be taken up by the public, i noted that the days the teams were announced the comments on FB were scalding not just because of the T20 format, but more at the structure of the competition, recruitment and the fragmentation of the Bushrangers.
But i'm sure you blokes don't give a rodents rectum for any part of the whole grotty thing, and this i understand.
Stoph Verismo has spoken!
Yeah sorry mate; as you say, I don't support it, but I do care. This thing has impacted on the contracts of state players with the minimum salary for state players (shield) being lowered substantially so it's really another indicator of CA's preoccupation with 20/20 at the expense of producing decent cricketers that know what a cover drive along the ground is.
ReplyDeleteI've come to the thinking that 20/20 doesn't actually generate interest in cricket at all - just interest in 20/20. Your young fella will be an interesting case study over time to see if he asks you to take him to day 4 of a test match which looks like it's heading for a draw. Without you're influence of course!
great response Lefty, i will address it later as serendipity has come into play and i've just received an email from CA about the Big Bash that i want to share.
ReplyDeletesample of CA questions regarding BB, after getting me to rate (1-5) what formats i like, CA then asked why i didn't like t20 before asking a basic question about my gender!
ReplyDeletepretty lame quiz actually, more about socio-economics than cricket!
i know we don't support it Lefty (although going to games -for me- says otherwise) i like the fact you differentiate that you care.
ReplyDeletei didn't know that salaries had been cut- SHAME CA SHAME!
sadly, t20 will be forefront in the administrative cricket collective psych for awhile while they believe it is a you-beaut cash cow...as it was with ODI. as supporters and lovers of cricket it is up to us to ensure that if it is to happen (which it is) we at least vocalise our opinions and demand we get a product that we find suitable. I know the current format is unsuitable, how do we make it work for us because for better or worse, for some time it WILL be on the cricket landscape.
As my friend, you know where my loves and interests are... but we aren't Luddites and some change is inevitable, how we deal with it will dictate where our beloved game goes. People (in this country, at least) LOVE Test and all it represents, but a governing body like CA has and continues to be out of touch with the demands of organising our game. We are getting this comp, like it or not; where it goes can be up to us if we attempt to be vocal
with my clear bias, it will be hard for the grommet not to have an opinion on Test (he wants to come to b-day, but he knows he has to watch a whole day of Test on tv first b4 that happens!) so we'll see how he goes,... my thing is, at least he likes it.
ReplyDeleteYou want to see what Twenty20 cricket can do, then watch the West Indies bat in Test cricket! I expressed my opinion as stridently as the dot points and limited response box would allow in the CA survey. Whatever happened to that great Australian adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
ReplyDeleteHow has this made Australian cricket stronger? ... God, I'm sounding like an old man ... never the less, how has this made Australian cricket stronger?
i fail to see Lango how that CA survey would help with the new format, do you?
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly a big bash mentality to the WI Test batting, Gale appears to only have 2 modes- stop/start, and while he is certainly a talent, he has made it very clear where his loyalty lies... $'s.
As for the BB, the teams are so contrived that i can't see the whole thing playing out much longer than a decade before something dramatic like an overhaul/teams dropped (or sold) or complete collapse.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't the largest sports club in the country offer to create a franchise team but backed out when told their famouse mascot couldn't be part of the team as no fauna was to be included in names?
such a pity as that would have been a better brand with a greater chance at success.
oh, i forgot to include these CA proposals for the new format:
ReplyDeleteNew Super Over where the batting side decides on the one over in which they earn double the runs scored.
Fan's can keep the ball after a six and a new ball to be used during play.
Allowing bowlers to bowl two bouncers per over.
Free-hits for every wide ball.
Allowing teams to play with 12 batsmen where any batsman can be substituted with the 12th man.
Fielding restrictions to be increased with 1 fielder outside the 30m circle for first 5 overs, 2 fielders upto 10 overs, 3 fielders upto 15 overs and 4 fielders upto 20 overs.
can't wait to see the brawls for the balls! might be the best part of the game!
For what it's worth the rule changes give the bowlers one single advantage while giving batsmen/the batting side at least 3. I'd argue even regular use of a new ball still advantages batting in 20/20. Are 'they' trying to send all bowlers to psychiatrists? This is getting ridiculous! Seriously, they should just use a bowling machine which the batsmen can set for where they want the ball and be done with it. This is getting further and further away from cricket and towards baseball - the removal of keeping the same ball a case in point.
ReplyDeleteI for one can't wait for the new format to begin. It's going to be interesting to see.... fuck it I can't even finish. I just vomited in my mouth a little.
ReplyDeleteAnother classic example of CA telling us what we want. There was massive support in Geelong for a team and very little enthusiasm in Melbourne demanding even one team. The result?? Two teams in Melbourne.
What exactly are they renegading against? It's not like they are a breakaway team. I heard that CA stipulated no animal names for the teams.
At least it's not as pathetic as the Melbourne Heart...
I just vomited in my mouth a little.- come over here for a Roman shower!
ReplyDeleteAre 'they' trying to send all bowlers to psychiatrists? - i'd say yes, and it will show up ultimately when the format slumps due to being too lopsided. people love seeing a ball belted high and long, but a home crowd loves to ess its bowlers shatter the timber too.
how about a batting, AND a bowling team?
Right on Stoph; to me this is not really cricket and far more like the US's staple sports diet so why not make it American - a batting and a separate bowling team. Of course one problem that could arise is that teams are bailed out for 60 and noone likes watching the ball dominate the bat!
ReplyDeleteCan't see the teams being bowled out cheap on the roads they play on.
ReplyDeleteIt is junk cricket and does very little to enhance the popularity of the real game.
To enjoy real cricket you have to appreciate the subtleties of the game.
How can we expect the six fingered mouth breathers drawn to the game by the dick cheese that is T20 and expect them to work out why the run rate is only 3.00 and there has not been a six hit all day?
Interesting interview with Michael Clarke's mentor on cricinfo who coaches juniors in India. He says that 20/20 doesn't even exist at junior level - it's introduced later when players have more sound techniques (ie have the basics) and can then adapt to 20/20 style (oxymoron). He believes that Aus is killing its test aspirations by saturating state and local cricket with 20/20. We need more vocal people that are listened to to come out and make these sort of statements to over-ride the establishment that's hellbent on killing longer form cricket.
ReplyDeleteSurely too much of a good thing results in lost interest?
a t20 Magpies would've had me on side regardless of the format :-P
ReplyDeleteLefty i don't know how CA can be stopped as it is SO clear that their agender is filled with t20 spots. they are either too stupid to realise that the great crowds we are fortunate enough to get for Test are not without reason, or they think that they are "tapping into" this cricket love and offering another option- as well as appealing to the ADHD mentality associated with the format.
must read that cricinfo piece
CA will kill this game. Not the T20 anal leakage, I am talking about the heart and soul of our great game.
ReplyDeleteThe reason thousands dress in white every Saturday.
They should be spending every cent finding a way to promote the longer form. Not forcing an already repugnant pastime on naive and unsuspecting patrons.
The thing I don't understand is how much and from how many respected people do CA need to hear that there is something fundamentally wrong with state cricket and the academy before they actaully do something?
ReplyDeleteI've accepted that 20/20 is here to stay (for a while) and that it is the right of whoever to enjoy it - I can exercise my right to not watch it. What I can't stand is the test team being hampered by it through a poor state structure that entirely panders to the 20/20 juggernaut. Mickey Arthur who has taken over coaching WA thinks that there is plenty of talent in Aus but it is not supported properly by CA and that for as long as this doesn't change, nor will Aus' test ranking. Darren Berry has just taken over coaching SA and will make state players train and play for their district side; ie work their arses off and not forget where they came from. I think it will be the states on their own volition who make a difference by developing players that hold the shield format as the most important and therefore play accordingly. We need more players like Klinger and Ferguson to come through - rather than slap-happy flat track bullies who don't know how to bat for more than an hour.
sigh, sad times.
ReplyDelete