Cricket needs you

Kappa

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 7, 2014
27,767
37,124
AFL Club
Collingwood
Sad to see the way ODI's have really fallen from favour amongst the public here in Australia in recent years. Used to be mostly always packed to the rafters and was always a big event and great to watch on TV.
I've also noticed over the past season or two that the Big Bash League is struggling for attendances.
The first three matches in this season's BBL have produced generally very disappointing crowd figures.
Opening night at the Gabba drew 26,784 but last night's fixture at the SCG pulled only 13,247, tonight's match at Geelong saw a miserable 8,421 turn up.
The days of packed stadiums, big drawcards and great excitement in that competition appear to be fading.


T20 cricket has seriously hurt the longer forms, but the problem is no one really cares about t20.. it's just light entertainment, there's no die hards... the crowds are just adults who find it mildly entertaining and kids who enjoy the flashy lights...

It's a soulless cash-grab of a game played by plastic franchises filled with mercenaries.
 
Last edited:

TigerCraig

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 12, 2002
5,070
3,516
Sydney
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Manly
There are elements of the game that are a bit annoying compared to when my passion was at its peak.

Locally I don’t like - And I understand Why they do it but it doesn’t mean I have to like it - that juniors are made to wear helmets. I play in a club where each team has a few senior guys basically shepherding 7-8 young players in their teens. I’m treated like a celebrity because I bat in a baggy cap and can hook and pull. They’re so conditioned to helmets and safety etc.

It might seem minor but that’s part of the exhilaration of cricket that no other ball sport has.

My association brought in this year that all batsman have to wear helmets when facing anything other than spinners, as do all keepers standing up and all non -slips fieldsmen within 7 metres of the bat.

Funny watching the older blokes who have never worn helmets trying to cope (but provides a good excuse when you get out)
 
May 30, 2006
17,516
10,292
Canberra
AFL Club
North Melbourne
My association brought in this year that all batsman have to wear helmets when facing anything other than spinners, as do all keepers standing up and all non -slips fieldsmen within 7 metres of the bat.

Funny watching the older blokes who have never worn helmets trying to cope (but provides a good excuse when you get out)
I doubt I could ever have adjusted to using a helmet. It wouldn't have made my batting any worse, forgetting to take a bat out there wouldn't have done that. But I imagine the discomfort levels would havce been quite high.
 
I remember when some mates and I in our mid 20s cobbled together an 11 for a Sunday league comp. Week 1 we won the toss and batted first and all went out there in baggy caps to bat(got rolled for like 100 or something)

The oppo come out to bat both in helmets resulting in much snide remarks from the quicks. Second ball, our opener who was a tall/lanky/rapid quick smashed one of them straight in the grill.

I wore a helmet for the rest of the season.
 
May 20, 2014
20,822
26,444
AFL Club
Geelong
I remember when some mates and I in our mid 20s cobbled together an 11 for a Sunday league comp. Week 1 we won the toss and batted first and all went out there in baggy caps to bat(got rolled for like 100 or something)

The oppo come out to bat both in helmets resulting in much snide remarks from the quicks. Second ball, our opener who was a tall/lanky/rapid quick smashed one of them straight in the grill.

I wore a helmet for the rest of the season.

TBH I would be more worried about top edging one into my face through my ineptitude than getting clocked by a bowler in the head playing park cricket.
 

Ron The Bear

Up yer arse, AFL
30k Posts 10k Posts
Jul 4, 2006
35,845
36,723
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
Local clubs are merging, playing numbers have declined, standards have declined. Where blokes once block-booked their summer Saturdays and rarely missed games, these days it's a weekly battle to rustle up enough players to fill elevens. You're never ever at full strength except for finals. Blokes go on holiday with the missus, attend weddings, music festivals and the races and occasionally even admit to such things as preferring a day at the beach. It ain't cricket that's changed, it's people. Cricket is a relatively slow sport, and we have conned ourselves into believing we are time-poor.

Sorry, I don't have the answers. Nothing lasts forever; maybe cricket has simply had its day, like jousting.
 

eltrain

Club Legend
Dec 22, 2013
1,134
1,415
Melbourne
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
MVFC, Everton, Red Sox, Bruins
I member going to the G as a kid for one dayers and having nearly a full house, it was an event.

Then they sanitised it for the families and one dayers outside the WC are now dead.
Remember how back in the day before every tri-series the cops would come out in the media and warn everyone of the “zero tolerance” approach to cricket hooliganism? I would argue that this over-policing of one day crowds in the mid-late 2000s had a hell of a lot to do with the sharp decline in the popularity of ODIs in Australia.

It started with the Mexican Wave ban, then the beer snake ban and the beach ball ban. The killer blow was the big reduction in general admission seating at most venues. By the time the annual tri-series was discontinued, all the fun had been taken out of the game off the field, while on the field the games no longer had any sort of context. There was just no reason to go to an ODI anymore.
 

revo333

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 7, 2018
6,755
5,902
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Local clubs are merging, playing numbers have declined, standards have declined. Where blokes once block-booked their summer Saturdays and rarely missed games, these days it's a weekly battle to rustle up enough players to fill elevens. You're never ever at full strength except for finals. Blokes go on holiday with the missus, attend weddings, music festivals and the races and occasionally even admit to such things as preferring a day at the beach. It ain't cricket that's changed, it's people. Cricket is a relatively slow sport, and we have conned ourselves into believing we are time-poor.

Sorry, I don't have the answers. Nothing lasts forever; maybe cricket has simply had its day, like jousting.

Everything you said is spot on and why the sport locally has and will forever suffer and I don't believe there are any answers, it's sink or swim and up to each club to survive on their own.

The association I play in try to make changes but people are to scared of change and can't move on from the so called 'glory days', some 2nd 11 matches don't even have umpires now.

And guys who played no higher than 3rds 5-10 years ago are now regular first 11 cricketers and thats not because they have improved.
 

Bareth Garry

Team Captain
Jan 20, 2014
592
960
AFL Club
Adelaide
Local clubs are merging, playing numbers have declined, standards have declined. Where blokes once block-booked their summer Saturdays and rarely missed games, these days it's a weekly battle to rustle up enough players to fill elevens. You're never ever at full strength except for finals. Blokes go on holiday with the missus, attend weddings, music festivals and the races and occasionally even admit to such things as preferring a day at the beach. It ain't cricket that's changed, it's people. Cricket is a relatively slow sport, and we have conned ourselves into believing we are time-poor.

Sorry, I don't have the answers. Nothing lasts forever; maybe cricket has simply had its day, like jousting.

There is a nice idea I know of in England where local clubs are embracing more tournament/festival cricket rather than the traditional league format every week. It's to engage children/teenagers more. Participation numbers in youth cricket are still substantially down from when it used be the sport of the summer, but the downward trend has at least slowly started climbing again in the last two years.

The idea of what these clubs are now embracing is rather than have one long match between two sides alternating between home and away grounds, have one location for four or five teams to turn up, play shorter matches and allow them to play cricket for longer. It sounds contradictory to play more cricket with shorter matches but it works because it means an opening batsman who has travelled a while to get there only to get out first ball actually has another game to look forward straight after rather than going home having wasted three hours of his time.
 

SportsCentre

Premiership Player
Apr 5, 2015
4,243
10,972
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Charlotte Hornets
I've also noticed over the past season or two that the Big Bash League is struggling for attendances.
The first three matches in this season's BBL have produced generally very disappointing crowd figures.
Opening night at the Gabba drew 26,784 but last night's fixture at the SCG pulled only 13,247, tonight's match at Geelong saw a miserable 8,421 turn up.
The days of packed stadiums, big drawcards and great excitement in that competition appear to be fading.


pre-Christmas crowds have never been overly great.
People can only spend their money once, and the week before Christmas, attending a cricket game isn't high on the list of time priorities or financial priorities.

In saying that, I've gone from watching every BBL game 2-3 years ago to not even having watched an over of this season, expanding the competition has diluted each games level of importance where every game feels very Groundhog Day.
 

Wedge McManus

Cancelled
Jan 16, 2019
2,027
1,822
AFL Club
West Coast
Local clubs are merging, playing numbers have declined, standards have declined. Where blokes once block-booked their summer Saturdays and rarely missed games, these days it's a weekly battle to rustle up enough players to fill elevens. You're never ever at full strength except for finals. Blokes go on holiday with the missus, attend weddings, music festivals and the races and occasionally even admit to such things as preferring a day at the beach. It ain't cricket that's changed, it's people. Cricket is a relatively slow sport, and we have conned ourselves into believing we are time-poor.

Sorry, I don't have the answers. Nothing lasts forever; maybe cricket has simply had its day, like jousting.
Jousting lol. Those were the days. Thousands of people filling a domain to watch two blokes on horseback ride at each other holding a pole. That would've been the equivalent of a rock concert today. We've come a long way👍
 

Not Important

never test the depth of water with both feet.
Oct 4, 2016
7,243
11,411
AFL Club
Richmond
I'd like to know people's thoughts on how we improve the great game of cricket. Footy and cricket are my passion, and i know footy is in amazing shape. Cricket needs our help and it worries me that people like Snake Baker says "I played the sport on and off for 30 years, and it's definitely no longer for me. They killed it". Well here is everyone's chance to put forward what they would like to see at the cricket and get crowds back.
you take notice of snake baker. golly!!!!!

i'm still a big fan of the real deal -test cricket. not so much modified baseball -big bash. understand it is a cash cow though and appeals to the youth market. it will survive. just wish india had less influence on the world scene.
 

Kingpin

Brownlow Medallist
Jan 15, 2004
13,082
933
AFL Club
Richmond
pre-Christmas crowds have never been overly great.
People can only spend their money once, and the week before Christmas, attending a cricket game isn't high on the list of time priorities or financial priorities.

In saying that, I've gone from watching every BBL game 2-3 years ago to not even having watched an over of this season, expanding the competition has diluted each games level of importance where every game feels very Groundhog Day.
Yes that is true and with a struggling economy, this will only get worse.
I'm the same with the BBL, it's lost its wow factor now the big name recruits (A.B DeVilliers aside) are no longer coming out.
I note with interest the ridiculous scheduling of yesterday's match at Traeger Park in Alice Springs, played in the daytime in 43°C heat, just 1,057 people bothered to attend the match which Hobart Hurricanes moved there. Would've drawn more playing at Huonville! 😂
 

Kingpin

Brownlow Medallist
Jan 15, 2004
13,082
933
AFL Club
Richmond
Local clubs are merging, playing numbers have declined, standards have declined. Where blokes once block-booked their summer Saturdays and rarely missed games, these days it's a weekly battle to rustle up enough players to fill elevens. You're never ever at full strength except for finals. Blokes go on holiday with the missus, attend weddings, music festivals and the races and occasionally even admit to such things as preferring a day at the beach. It ain't cricket that's changed, it's people. Cricket is a relatively slow sport, and we have conned ourselves into believing we are time-poor.

Sorry, I don't have the answers. Nothing lasts forever; maybe cricket has simply had its day, like jousting.
Yes, have the very same issues with local football these days. The committment to sport just isn't there any longer.
 

archibald

Club Legend
Dec 15, 2004
2,054
4,680
AFL Club
Richmond
Bring back the triangular one day tournament in Australia's home summer
Get rid of every t20 tournament except the IPL
Make every wicket like the MCG's most recent shield game.
 

RichLeMonde

Club Legend
Sep 26, 2019
1,929
3,539
Sydney
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Celtics
Here's a view from a cricketing ignoramus, which might speak to the OP's question.

I used to love cricket as a kid and teenager - watched all games played in Aus that I could, knew players batting avgs etc.

When the great Australian team featuring Langer, Haydos, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath etc broke up, I found myself losing all interest within a year or two, to the point where I have not watched any cricket for many years.

When I was a kid, the only difference b/w the test team and the ODI team was that they swapped M Waugh's and D Boon's position in the batting order. But for a sport where the players' personalities are a big part of it, around the time of the break up of that great Aus team, and the rise of T20, with so many different players representing Australia in different teams, it was hard to have that sense of identity regarding the Aus team. So many matches seemed to have no significance - there was nothing at stake. I used to love ODI and would watch every World Cup Match, but now no one even seems to notice the World Cup as there are so many matches in the fixture.

This is a very casual and ignorant view - but presumably it's casual viewers that need to be recaptured by cricket - but if there were more high stakes series or tournaments, fewer overall series and formats, and thus a stronger sense of team identity, then maybe that would help. It would also help if, as a society, we were less busy, had more work-life balance, could actually relax for a few hours and appreciate the slow building tension of a test match, and didn't have the attention span of goldfish due to social media and smart phones. I'm an extreme case (not watching any cricket at all), but I know a lot of people whose interest in cricket has waned more than any other sport.
 

spurs

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 2, 2003
5,880
2,919
Perth
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
THFC, Claremont Tigers
you take notice of snake baker. golly!!!!!

i'm still a big fan of the real deal -test cricket. not so much modified baseball -big bash. understand it is a cash cow though and appeals to the youth market. it will survive. just wish india had less influence on the world scene.
Agreed. We need to T20 for new people to the great game. It makes it exciting and they hopefully want more. If they want to know strategy, guts, determination, skill, patience then they might flow into test cricket.
 

deanc

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 13, 2014
5,808
7,535
Waverley
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Tasmania
TBH I would be more worried about top edging one into my face through my ineptitude than getting clocked by a bowler in the head playing park cricket.


I played years at the highest grade many moons ago and only wore a helmet on occasion, mostly during net sessions and usually when 'Mad Mick' from 3rd grade would run in trying to knock everyone's heads off!

Stupid, perhaps, brave, not really, I just never felt comfortable wearing a lid and the few times I did get hit during games, I'd just blame myself from not watching the ball.

Strangely enough I felt more at risk with getting hit when wearing a helmet, felt like I was wearing a target on my head.

I did witness a few nasty injuries to others during this time, yep top edges were deadly, but it never changed my choice not to wear a lid...
 
Last edited:
I remember when some mates and I in our mid 20s cobbled together an 11 for a Sunday league comp. Week 1 we won the toss and batted first and all went out there in baggy caps to bat(got rolled for like 100 or something)

The oppo come out to bat both in helmets resulting in much snide remarks from the quicks. Second ball, our opener who was a tall/lanky/rapid quick smashed one of them straight in the grill.

I wore a helmet for the rest of the season.
I was an early adopter back when you got called *ahem* a NTTAWWTter for wearing one for no better reason that I wasn't much of a batsman and I had a lot more confidence going back and across knowing I wasn't going to cop it in the mush.
 
Back