Does the Sheffield Shield need to go to 5 days?

Admiral Byng

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Cut the comp down to 5 weeks. Play the majority of games Thursday to Sunday with the odd mid week game. As I said, the crowds might not be quite as big for those games, but the TV ratings would still be there.

We can't let Big Bash dictate our schedule or we'll stay where we are. The way it is structured now means the standard of the Big Bash suffers and so does FC cricket.

Allow our test batsmen to play more BB and improve the poor standard of the comp and allow those pushing for test cricket able to play when they should be.

Yeah, I think they need more double-headers on Saturdays and Sundays to squeeze the comp up a bit. Or else cut down a few rounds and not play so many games.
 

Len Nicodemo

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I don't think Shield matches being 4 days instead of 5 is even in the top 20 of the current problems with Australian cricket
Spot on. And as another poster stated earlier, we played Shield cricket over 4 days when we were the no.1 ranked nation so i can't see the issue. The issue is the following;

1. Sheffield Shield isn't the primary second tier competition anymore. It is not even run in conjunction with Test Match Cricket so there is no direct seconds or feeder team into the National level.
2. BBL and other forms of T20 cricket have eroded technique and allowed for players to not only make more money in a very short period of time, but have weakened their skill set to play Test Cricket.
3. Our selectors are searching for Magic Bullet selections when all is required is going back to a conservative approach in a time of need. We don't have the luxury of experimenting, we just need to pick 6 forms Batsmen, 1 Keeper and 4 bowlers. It's really very simple.
4. There is an obsession with an all rounder. We don't need one. We dropped a Batsman for the MCG test and picked an all rounder averaging less than 10 in over 10 test matches.

Address those 4 somehow and we are well on the way to being a better cricketing nation.
 

Len Nicodemo

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Cut the comp down to 5 weeks. Play the majority of games Thursday to Sunday with the odd mid week game. As I said, the crowds might not be quite as big for those games, but the TV ratings would still be there.

We can't let Big Bash dictate our schedule or we'll stay where we are. The way it is structured now means the standard of the Big Bash suffers and so does FC cricket.

Allow our test batsmen to play more BB and improve the poor standard of the comp and allow those pushing for test cricket able to play when they should be.
You want our test Batsmen to play more BBL?
 
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3. Our selectors are searching for Magic Bullet selections when all is required is going back to a conservative approach in a time of need. We don't have the luxury of experimenting, we just need to pick 6 forms Batsmen, 1 Keeper and 4 bowlers. It's really very simple.

The crazy thing is we very occasionally still do this. Last year's Ashes we started with 6-1-4 and were 2-0 up after Brisbane and Adelaide. We brought in Mitch Marsh for Handscomb for the 3rd test expecting a road and he bowled 12 overs, 3 overs, 12 overs, 7 overs, 1 over for the rest of the series. But it worked because he scored hundreds in the 3rd and 5th tests. And followed that up with 96 in South Africa, and then a pretty hard fought 45 in the second innings of the next test. After that he didn't pass 16 in 10 innings and suddenly the appeal of having another seam option wasn't there. The best we've looked as a team in the last few years is when Handscomb/either Marsh have been in form and Smith at 3 or 4 didn't look like the last recognised batsman.
 

Len Nicodemo

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The crazy thing is we very occasionally still do this. Last year's Ashes we started with 6-1-4 and were 2-0 up after Brisbane and Adelaide. We brought in Mitch Marsh for Handscomb for the 3rd test expecting a road and he bowled 12 overs, 3 overs, 12 overs, 7 overs, 1 over for the rest of the series. But it worked because he scored hundreds in the 3rd and 5th tests. And followed that up with 96 in South Africa, and then a pretty hard fought 45 in the second innings of the next test. After that he didn't pass 16 in 10 innings and suddenly the appeal of having another seam option wasn't there. The best we've looked as a team in the last few years is when Handscomb/either Marsh have been in form and Smith at 3 or 4 didn't look like the last recognised batsman.
The issue is that both Marsh and Handscombe have dropped away, but also, something no one has mentioned here, is that India are ICC ranked one and we are 5th. I mean we really are not a great side right now, yet we ran them to 30 runs in Adelaide and showed glimpses of decent cricket in the Melbourne test.

We just need to pick our best team and we have to look at shield cricket for that right now.
 

Len Nicodemo

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The reason I want the schedule to change is so players have the chance to push for their case by playing FC cricket.

The fact that it also means test players may be available for the big bash would just be an added bonus. I'd be more inclined to watch if the quality was better.
For the preservation of proper cricketing technique, I don’t think them playing BBL is great. I completely agree with you re FC cricket.
 

avishka5

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BBL is the cash cow and I doubt CA would want to mess with it.

IMO Australia A should host/tour around the same time Australia play their home tests. In that way all the guys around the test squad are getting games playing red ball cricket and are available to go if needed. They should pluck out the best 15 shield players and rotate them for each game.

This would impact the BBL a little bit but they should improve the salary cap a bit and allow an extra international.
 
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Maybe they should pave all the Shield wickets so we have a bunch of guys averaging 50 and 60 again with the bat.

Well obviously we don't need to do that. It's puzzling though why we aren't developing smarter, grittier batsmen in the current conditions in Shield cricket, though.

Personally, I feel like we could and should fit in more domestic cricket in both the 4-day and one-day formats. How do they manage to fit 14-16 games of each format in in English cricket, while also having a franchise T20 comp?
 

Tigerssaints

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BBL is the money maker,so CA will not move it from the school holiday time
even thou they made$40 mill out of the world cup , they still want more $$$$$$( NO extra state allocation )
each state breaks even , relying on the BBL ,to fill its coffers
 
BBL is the cash cow and I doubt CA would want to mess with it.
And that's a problem, because CA needs to come up with a better structure for its domestic season.
 

StingBitten

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There's a strange sort of mood that grips the nation this time of the year. The wallets are ever lighter than usual but everyone sucks in the summer swells and herd out beyond the paddocks.

The ticket gates are waiting for them patiently - so BBL isn't going to move to the first chemistry test of the term.

But you're correct about the longer format, and people are missing the point about an extra day not making much difference. Firstly, it's a mental * you to the closet quickie the short format of the game provides. It's like an English teacher making you come back after class each day until you finally realize Kurtz was just like you and me.

It won't bring in any extra patrons, it will cost money - but it might just be the nudge that puts us back on orbit.
 

RobsJourney

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Someone was saying on the radio that the junior pathways used to be with the red ball, now it's all about the white ball.

This should be the first thing that is addressed, and immediately.

And for what it's worth, focusing on the white ball is ridiculous as it is. Almost all of the best white-ball players we've had came from our Test side, so go figure? The best cricketers are the best cricketers, hands-down.
 
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