The Serve

Will cricket ever learn

As we all watch this great game descend into mediocrity, its greed rendering its showpiece event pedestrian thanks to long schedules and acres of meaningless contests, Cricket Australia goes ahead and programs the longest summer in history.

If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny.

Two tests against Sri Lanka in November. Nothing dramatic about that. Four tests against the Indians, from Boxing Day through to the end of January. Sure, not ideal, but the Indians have all the money and they can’t arrive any earlier. Fine. With most of December vacant, we’ve managed to shoehorn three one dayer’s against New Zealand plus a Twenty20 match. But what’s this? A Twenty20 game with India after the tests, while the triangular series goes on as normal, twelve sparkling preliminary matches starting in February, with the best of three finals played in March. Yep, March. Football season.

This is the height of gluttony.

By the end of January fans have expended their cricket energy and are in football mode. Now we’re expected to hit February and get excited about a whole new competition. Cricket Australia talks about the success of the summer just gone as if it’s some sort of template. Ah, sorry fellas, this time we don’t have the most hyped series in history. We don’t have farewells to Warne and McGrath. We don’t have Warne, full stop.

Six tests, eighteen one day matches and two Twenty20 games. Goodness that’s a lot. They’ll probably rate reasonably well on television, they more than likely fill the stadiums. The saturation will turn an enormous profit, but what is the long term strategy? We’ve already had the winter matches in Cairns and Darwin scrapped, while those memorable Telstra Dome series during footy finals are gone as well. Has that not taught the decision makers anything?

At the end of each season fans are exponentially more relieved and at the start of each season the punters are ever so slightly less excited.

The cash cow can’t be milked forever.