Cricket Australia discussing moving Sheffield Shield to winter to expand Big Bash

[Parquet Court]

NSW - North Sydney Oval
QLD - Allan Border Field
SA - No idea, Glenelg is used for SANFL
TAS - Cricket Tasmania own Bellerive
VIC - Junction Oval
WA - The WACA

mate, you cant play cricket in perth, melbourne, sydney or adelaide in the winter, night time temperatures are just too low, pitches will be wet in the morning.

even if they did get the pitches up and going they would be nothing like the ones they would play on when summer comes around.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Whatever the level of interest in the Shield may be, CA has an obligation to try to improve it, not kill it off.

How can you select Shield sides in August when there is no district cricket being played? (Which is the period mentioned in the article).

Are the selections based on district cricket form over five months old?

And we've seen the folly of playing Test cricket with no Shield running concurrently.

Do you seriously think all Test cricket should be played before the New Year as well? Just clear the entire deck for two months of revenue raising?

How does the Shield get any publicity/reporting in competition with the football codes out of interest?

It's a harebrained idea from an organization which is completely and utterly focussed on money at the expense of the game.

August is a bit silly. Doesn't need to be so extreme. October would be good.

It's not about killing off the Shield competition, so stop being so melodramatic.

 

[Quadzilla]

Whatever the level of interest in the Shield may be, CA has an obligation to try to improve it, not kill it off.

How can you select Shield sides in August when there is no district cricket being played? (Which is the period mentioned in the article).

Are the selections based on district cricket form over five months old?

And we've seen the folly of playing Test cricket with no Shield running concurrently.

Do you seriously think all Test cricket should be played before the New Year as well? Just clear the entire deck for two months of revenue raising?

How does the Shield get any publicity/reporting in competition with the football codes out of interest?

It's a harebrained idea from an organization which is completely and utterly focussed on money at the expense of the game.

/\ well said

 

[Tulip]

They'll pitch it up against the football codes, wait a few years and then stop it because 'they just can't compete'.

I don't see why they couldn't have spent the money keeping the Bushrangers and Blues instead of the Stars, Renegades, Sixers and Thunder and just advertised them better. That's four unsuccessful franchises vs. two historically succesful but currently suffering sides. That goes for all the state sides, the only good Franchise seems to be the Hurricanes, but the Tigers were never hugely popular, were they.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Why the lack of love for T20 cricket?

Because it is slap and giggle. Most of the time there is never a close game where you need say 10 off the last over to win, like an ODI. There is a lack of skill needed, bowlers are punished too heavily and really, it isn't that exciting. I've seen more exciting ODI/ODD games than I have T20.

 

[Bradesmaen]

August is a bit silly. Doesn't need to be so extreme. October would be good.

It's not about killing off the Shield competition, so stop being so melodramatic.

They already started in October so that they could fit the T20 in..

 

[BarneyBent]

CA have really ****ed themselves over with this franchise system. If they'd stuck to the traditional state sides, they could have played the Big Bash alongside the other formats, no matter how many games they wanted to play, and this wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bomber Bears]

NSW - North Sydney Oval
QLD - Allan Border Field
SA - No idea, Glenelg is used for SANFL
TAS - Cricket Tasmania own Bellerive
VIC - Junction Oval
WA - The WACA

Cant speak for the other grounds, but North Sydney has both rugby league (the mighty Bears in NSW Cup) and rugby union (Northern suburbs in Shute Shield) pretty much alternate weekends from late March (when they can actually get on the pitch) till September or so. There's no way you're having cricket on a ground that has footy every weekend on it, square wouldnt survive.

 

[The_Reaper]

Cant speak for the other grounds, but North Sydney has both rugby league (the mighty Bears in NSW Cup) and rugby union (Northern suburbs in Shute Shield) pretty much alternate weekends from late March (when they can actually get on the pitch) till September or so. There's no way you're having cricket on a ground that has footy every weekend on it, square wouldnt survive.

Could they play in Newcastle or Wollongong?

 

[Admiral Byng]

CA have really ****ed themselves over with this franchise system. If they'd stuck to the traditional state sides, they could have played the Big Bash alongside the other formats, no matter how many games they wanted to play, and this wouldn't be a problem.

Problem with that is you're always stuck with 6 teams. 8-team system has worked pretty well so far, with room to add more teams in a few years time.

 

[Sman-21]

As someone said earlier Shield cricket isnt about making money, its their to help produce players to be ready for Test cricket.
So they need to be playing on the same pitches
They then make money from shield by producing good quality players at international level.

Move the shield to crap grounds, out of aus cricket season.
Theres no point players even going in it.
There better off going an playing county cricket where they will get paid better.

It hasnt been making money for 100 years
It helps produce great cricketers who then help cricket aus make the money there after.
These greedy money hungry c**** will destroy aus crickets future with this idea an end up making them lose more money, coz not many will watch Aus when their crap.

I guess WAFL should stop playing in winter
It makes no money, theirs very little interest.
So WAFL can be played in the summer months Sept- March
An cricket can be played in the Winter months May - October

 

[Bradesmaen]

Problem with that is you're always stuck with 6 teams. 8-team system has worked pretty well so far, with room to add more teams in a few years time.

There is already enough diluted talent in the 6 team comp, with South Australia struggling at times to find enough talent.. 8 team comp has seen it dilute even further with old farts coming back and doing better. Any higher and you might as well go watch grade cricket because it will cost less to watch the exact same standard.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The Sheffield Shield has been the strength of Australian cricket, and the best breeding ground for future Test players for well over a century. Where in hell does Cricket Australia think they are going to find new players to play this bullshit T20 rubbish?

Cricket really needs to take time out from thinking of the money and consider the welfare and future of the game for a change.

 

[Admiral Byng]

The Sheffield Shield has been the strength of Australian cricket, and the best breeding ground for future Test player for well over a century. Where in hell does Cricket Australia think they are going to find new players to play this bullshit T20 rubbish?

Cricket really needs to stop thinking of the money and consider the welfare and future of the game for a change.

The whole idea is that the revenue from T20 cricket subsidises the longer forms of the game. A strong Shield competition requires money, that money has to come from somewhere.

It used to come from one-day international cricket, with the old World Series Cup between Australia and two other touring nations. These days we can't get two other nations to commit to playing the 3-team tournament. It has been replaced by meaningless series of 5 or 7 ODIs between just two teams. The 50-over internationals have lost their appeal as a result. Australian cricket needs something else to revive interest and bring in the coin. A new domestic T20 competition is just the thing.

The extra money will make all forms of the game in Australia stronger. I think we need to stop seeing it as a threat.

 

[The_Reaper]

mate, you cant play cricket in perth, melbourne, sydney or adelaide in the winter, night time temperatures are just too low, pitches will be wet in the morning.

even if they did get the pitches up and going they would be nothing like the ones they would play on when summer comes around.

I'm not advocating for this.
I think Shield in the winter is a disgrace.

 

[Black Diamond]

Given the MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval, Gabba, and Bellerive will all be taken up with footy, it could badly undermine our home advantage in test matches. No to mention how pitches would be affected in colder and wetter weather.

This will also mean the premier format during the summer months when kids play for their clubs will be the BBL. I want to see kids dreaming of a Baggy Green, not a franchise contract.

 

[Bomber Bears]

Could they play in Newcastle or Wollongong?

No idea with Newcastle but Dalton Park (has hosted ODD cricket) is used by the Wollongong AFL side that play in the sydney comp, whilst every other turf ground has league, union, soccer or AFL played on it (Our clubs ground was consistently excellent because, until last year, it'd been 15 or so years since there'd been winter sport played on it but AFL is played there now).

I'd hazard a guess it's much the same all around Sydney and Newcastle as well.

 

[dumb]

argus review?

 

[Magpies B2B]

It would be a foolish move to start the shield in August and also expand the BBL. CA should learn a thing or two from the A-League and it handle expansion. The shield should start in October. The BBL has gone well so far but it is only one season, should focus on consolidating what they currently have.

It would be a disgrace if this happens.

 

[sherb]

The whole idea is that the revenue from T20 cricket subsidises the longer forms of the game. A strong Shield competition requires money, that money has to come from somewhere.

It used to come from one-day international cricket, with the old World Series Cup between Australia and two other touring nations. These days we can't get two other nations to commit to playing the 3-team tournament. It has been replaced by meaningless series of 5 or 7 ODIs between just two teams. The 50-over internationals have lost their appeal as a result. Australian cricket needs something else to revive interest and bring in the coin. A new domestic T20 competition is just the thing.

The extra money will make all forms of the game in Australia stronger. I think we need to stop seeing it as a threat.

How will it make the Sheffield Shield stronger?

 

[Admiral Byng]

How will it make the Sheffield Shield stronger?

Quite simple. The state boards own 50% of the franchise teams. Each board gets more money as a result, More money to spend on coaches and training facilities, more money to pay players. More money around means more young blokes are going to choose cricket.

 

[Bradesmaen]

The whole idea is that the revenue from T20 cricket subsidises the longer forms of the game. A strong Shield competition requires money, that money has to come from somewhere.

It used to come from one-day international cricket, with the old World Series Cup between Australia and two other touring nations. These days we can't get two other nations to commit to playing the 3-team tournament. It has been replaced by meaningless series of 5 or 7 ODIs between just two teams. The 50-over internationals have lost their appeal as a result. Australian cricket needs something else to revive interest and bring in the coin. A new domestic T20 competition is just the thing.

The extra money will make all forms of the game in Australia stronger. I think we need to stop seeing it as a threat.

Yes, but the extra money wouldn't be needed if T20 didn't exist as much because they'd be payed less.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

I don't understand...

Why not play the BBL out of season, rather than the Shield? The issue of the weather (and the impact on the pitch) is less important for games that only last 40 overs total.

Late Feb / early March wouldn't interfere with Test cricket, or Shield cricket and would only clash with pre-season football

 

[Admiral Byng]

Yes, but the extra money wouldn't be needed if T20 didn't exist as much because they'd be payed less.

I doubt that Shield cricket could fund the airfares and hotel accommodation from the revenue it generates. It is unsustainable without some other source of revenue to cross-subsidise it.

The way I see it we can have both a strong Shield competition and a thriving T20 competition if CA get it right. I don't see the success of the T20 format will necessarily be at the detriment of the rest.

 

[Mego Red]

Yes, but the extra money wouldn't be needed if T20 didn't exist as much because they'd be payed less.

You've made some pretty dumb points in this thread, but this takes the cake. The BBL runs at a profit, which can be reinvested. The "they'd be payed (sic) less" is irrelevant, because the extra money they're being paid comes straight from the new revenue.

With less and less people caring about cricket and fewer and fewer players choosing it over football, saying "stuff them, they don't need the money" when Shield players can't even be full time on what they earn, and the Shield runs at an enormous loss ... Well, you clearly don't care about the future of the game.

That being said - run it from Australia Day to March 1. The Shield (and even more importantly, Australia A) need to stay a priority.