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Gideon Haigh

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Very perceptive here: "Twelve years since the first memorandum of understanding between CA and the ACA, which placed first-class cricket on a full-time professional footing, players have never been wealthier, more cosseted, more protected. Yet over that same period, partly because you can earn a tidy living these days being not very good, standards in the domestic scene are widely regarded as having fallen."
 

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Very perceptive here: "Twelve years since the first memorandum of understanding between CA and the ACA, which placed first-class cricket on a full-time professional footing, players have never been wealthier, more cosseted, more protected. Yet over that same period, partly because you can earn a tidy living these days being not very good, standards in the domestic scene are widely regarded as having fallen."

Although I agree with the article, I disagree on that point. To keep your contract in the state team, you have to be good, and do so for a number of years. If you want to earn more than a "tidy living", you have to be even better, to get a CA contract. Making the domestic league professional can only be a good thing for the skill level of the cricketers.

The argument doesn't even make sense. You can earn a tidy living in county cricket too, that didn't hurt the poms recently, did it?
 
Read this at work today and agreed with it all. Excellent article.
 
He is the best cricket writer in the world. Tragedy he was, largely, behind a paywall at The Times this Ashes. Carving out one of the great careers in cricket writing.

Whilst typically astute, forward thinking and passionate, far from his best effort by any means. But hardly needs to be for those idiots running CA/Coaching staff/Selectors. ****ing w***ers have conducted themselves so incompetently this Summer it makes my blood boil
 
He is the best cricket writer in the world. Tragedy he was, largely, behind a paywall at The Times this Ashes. Carving out one of the great careers in cricket writing.

Whilst typically astute, forward thinking and passionate, far from his best effort by any means. But hardly needs to be for those idiots running CA/Coaching staff/Selectors. ****ing w***ers have conducted themselves so incompetently this Summer it makes my blood boil

He also covered the Ashes for Business Spectator - his articles should be archived on the site so they can still be read. He's a brilliant journalist and his books are great to read. But for some reason, I don't like watching him on Offsiders.
 
He was on The Drum last year talking about the new big bash competition idea.

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And his book the vincibles is one of my most read titles, piss funny.

Also, when you say conservative do you mean cricket wise or politically?
 

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Brilliant. Imagine if any of our bowlers had the amount of spin CA has
 
'That same day Australian coach Tim Nielsen gave a press conference little less odd. Asked whether any members of his team had improved over the last year, he responded: "It depends on how you measure improvement." Well, Tim, it's not rocket surgery: wickets and runs might be a start. "If we sit back and look at the series results," he added, "it would be easy to say none of us have." But it's far from obvious that the view would vary according to the posture from which it was made. Were Nielsen a coach in any other sport, he would only have avoided the sack by resigning. In fact, thanks to a fortuitous extension of his contract last August, he will be around for the next Ashes'

That statement from Nielson shows he isnt the right person to be coaching the national side.

The whole new big bash league is the other example as to how CA has been taken over by a bunch of marketers. Cricket is so enjoyable because everyone goes for different teams in the football, the country / state unites behind their side. I went to a game at the MCG last year and there were 43k there supporting Vics, why should that be jepordised.

Hopefully the debacle that was the Ashes will lead to a change in the outlook of CA and they remember they are about cricket.
 
He also covered the Ashes for Business Spectator - his articles should be archived on the site so they can still be read. He's a brilliant journalist and his books are great to read. But for some reason, I don't like watching him on Offsiders.
Agreed. Because he is the only one who has to look at his notes to make sure he gets all his fancy words out.
 
Ive been a big fan for a while, his reporting on the actual game as it is played is terrific. 'A Fair Field and No Favour', his day by day account of the 05 Ashes is the best cricket book I've read.
 

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He nailed it(as he usually does)

Sadly the people who actually matter (cricket Australia the selectors and timmy have about as much self awareness as dubya did around 2004)

They simply live on another planet to the rest of us and no amount of common sense will change that, nothing is going to change for the better because as haigh pointed out the goalposts have changed, the big bash will bring in its kfc cash and so this season from hell will be thought of as a raging success by those who run our game.

Test cricket is dying in this country not because we don't want it but because the people who run it desperately want(need) it to die, and all we can do is gripe on cricket boards and watch it unfold.
 
This line hit the nail on the head for me

"Test match watchers this summer would have been forgiven for drawing the impression that CA is now a marketing organisation that dabbles in cricket on the side"
 
it was a fair article with some definite good points but the hero worship of the guy here is a bit odd. imo Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh is still an elitist snob and a hanger on who profits from a game he has never contributed to in any meaningful way. for a flog journalist to call someone who took 65 wickets in a shield season a "cricketing nonentity" or whatever he said is the height of trolling
 
Gideon has the best cricketing mind in Australia.

Cricket Australia is full of elitist snobs.

It is run by them.

He would fit in nicely.

Tbh, Gideon High would be a good start as a member of a review team of cricket in Australia after the Ashes Debacle.

We had another win last night. But honestly England are going at half pace. They just want to get home. Plus they are resting their best fast bowlers in James Anderson and Chris Broad anyway.
 

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