ODI ODI Cricket and how to revive it

[gbatman]

You may not know it but there was an ODI series on before the test series. ODI cricket has been non-existent for a number of years but it appears noone wants to know about it anymore, at least until the world cup.

I just feel that Cricket Australia have lost touch with promoting the game and that some rule changes of ODI cricket have made the game dull and boring. And it's not just ODI cricket, test cricket as well as we watch a very empty Optus stadium in the first test.

So how to fix it?

1. The build up. Sport is like sex, the foreplay is important. What happens prior to a sporting match generates interest. It generates emotion, creates a feeling of importance, generates passion and feeling for the contest and gets everyone primed for what is about to happen. Just like foreplay there are things you don't do before sex and there are things you don't do before a sporting contest because it kills the mood, it kills what I mentioned above. You don't talk about your ex before sex and you don't get political before sport. I think regardless of how good the cause is, there is no doubt that some of the actions and processes partaken in before sporting events are mood killers. Play the national anthems and get into it. Leave the causes, the PC stuff, the political stuff all the stuff irrelevant to the contest out of it, do it another way.

2. Going further on the build up, there needs to be more heard from the players before a series. Cricketers need to take a bit out of boxing, get the banter going, get some feeling into the contest and some passion because I'm not seeing that anymore. Guys like Warne and McGrath nominating their men and their bunnies, the sledges, the banter, the individual rivalries, it was a big part of the build up. There is no emotion or passion anymore, it's become very robotic. No aggression, no getting in the oppositions face, just bowl, go back to your mark, repeat. The players don't show it matters or it has meaning and the fans take that feeling on so they lose interest. I feel we have gone too far trying to be nice guys and it's boring, it makes it appear that they players don't care and that flows onto the fans. Imagine Merv Hughes, Shane Warne, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee showing no emotion or saying nothing or not getting into the oppositions face, it was fun, it made you feel like what you were watching was a big deal, it was passion and we don't have anyone bringing that anymore. There are no entertainers anymore and that's part of the reason the players are playing in empty stadiums. The players as individuals aren't doing enough to get people through the gates.

3. The rules. One of the best things in ODI cricket was reverse swing and bowling at the depth. Nothing better than watching Brett Lee trying to bowl as fast and full as he could with the ball starting to reverse. It was something to look forward to in ODI cricket and now with two new balls it's gone.

4. Powerplays. Has it really made the game better to watch? Not in my opinion, you had to get on with it early, we knew when there were changes in the field restrictions, it's over complicated and added nothing.

5. Schedule. People aren't thinking about cricket until at least the first test. ODIs were always played after the test series, it was seen as an opportunity for a team to get some back after losing a test or to rub it in even further for the winning team. There is a blank spot in the sporting calendar after the test series or after the tennis. Use that. It's far enough away from the footy season where that's forgotten, people are thinking and following cricket by now.

6. The tri-series ODI's were great because it was a mini tournament and there were two opponents to play. It wasn't just playing the same team over and over again. When the two touring teams played each other you might not get to see big crowds but perhaps this is an opportunity to take international cricket to regional areas and to cities that don't see much international cricket. Perhaps having two rivals like Pakistan and India come out for a tri-ODI series would generate some crowds and TV viewing.

7. No free to air TV. You're killing the interest and the game by not having it on free to air and that goes for any sport. People need to be able to watch it, follow it then when it comes to their city they might go to it.

8. Advertising. I didn't know that ODI series was on. I heard nothing. I like a lot of people don't watch free to air TV, so how do you reach me? Advertise on social media, targeted ads, Spotify, commercial radio, billboards, social media posts, hear more from the players. CA I think have completely lost touch with how to promote something in the modern world and how to promote sport. I think a lot of what people love about sport and athletes as individuals has been taken away. Oh and promote it on free to air TV, lets not forget that.

9. Cost. Cost of living is hammering people at the moment. Going to an ODI with the family is going to cost a small fortune. Perhaps we need to look at making things cheaper. It's not like going to a big stadium is the best experience. Parking can be a problem. Lining up in huge lines to get a poor quality beer in a plastic cup is far from ideal. Expensive food cheap style food is not ideal. Hard plastic seats all day. It's something that could be improved.

Just some thoughts. Are we killing cricket by doing so many things wrong or are people in a world of constantly accessible entertainment just not as interested? IMO Cricket Australia, how they operate, if they were an AFL club's board the fans would be calling for their heads. Doing nothing for the game and mismanaging it. Taking nothing away from the past when it was at it's peak and how things were don then.

 

[Saints4ever]

You make many good points.
Unfortunately cricket is dying.
In the past I would never miss a game now I found myself just checking the scores with a passing interest.
Something needs to be done fast.

 

[footyfan1978]

5. Schedule. People aren't thinking about cricket until at least the first test. ODIs were always played after the test series,.

You wrong.
I certainly seen and enjoyed some ODI's in November before.
There was a time where Tests and UDI's were sometimes mixed into the schedule and it probably was what I saw in first couple of seasons I grew in love with the sport.
Come home from primary school and tune into a one dayer that had already started. Sometimes took sickies from school to watch so did not miss the start.
So that in itself is not really a real factor for me.
The schedule is all screwed up but, it more about the overall international schedule and how it affects flow of our own cricket season here rather than what you wrote here. If the schedule is so busy that you rest and rotate players and not field your best 11 that reduces my interest rather than when it actually played.

7. No free to air TV. You're killing the interest and the game by not having it on free to air and that goes for any sport. People need to be able to watch it, follow it then when it comes to their city they might go to it.

However, this is spot on.

 

[PhatBoy]

India and Bangladesh turned on a good one last night

 

[Bareth Garry]

There was a competition that ran in England in the late 2000s and early 2010s called the Pro-40 which was a one day competition among the counties that was 40 overs per side. I liked that competition. In ODIs there usually is a lull in play between the overs 15 and 35. That period in the halfway stage of the innings where the batting team just try to consolidate after the powerplay is off and the ball has lost its initial zip. Simply by focusing on keeping wickets in hand in order to attack at the end. And the bowling team spread the field whilte not taking risks with the ball. I've never liked that period of the game where both teams are happy to play low percentage cricket in order to get to the point where the second new ball is available.

In the Pro-40 the fact it is ten overs less meant that the lull in play was reduced quite significantly. Also it meant if one side made the most of the halfway period then it is very hard for the other to recover because before you knew it you were in the last stage of the innings. This competition was cut years ago to bring the county one day format to 50 overs but I preferred the 40 over format and have always thought that it could be help the ODI game evolve.

The thing with ODIs in my experience as a cricket fan is the golden era of the 1990s was really fun because they had a lot of low scoring thrillers. I would say as the pitches became flatter and grounds smaller this trend still continued into the 2000s because that generation of players were the same guys who played with the 90s mindset. Australia was the exception and that is why our team dominated because we were setting targets above a par score and scoring above the required run rates to chase targets down. In the last decade the scoring rate of ODIs across the board has exploded now every team follows that mentality. I remember what a big deal it was when Tendulkar scored the first ever double century in ODI cricket. It took him twenty years. Rohit Sharma has done it three times in less than ten years since. The India vs Bangladesh game this weekend is a great example of a low scoring thriller and if we had more of them I would say the game would better as a fan but it's unlikely.

 

[Teen Wolf]

If there's a sport in the last 20-odd years that has lost relevance faster/greater than ODI cricket, it's boxing ffs. But, true, at its height there were certainly guys like Muhammad Ali who talked the talk (thankfully never got political...).

And yeah we need to restore the TV coverage to its former glory: First innings in the afternoon, Midsomer Murders in the evening.

A portion of the home season's ODIs are on free-to-air, that's how it's always been. Everybody, except the snobs, will be watching on Jan 16, 18 and 21. Those games btw are very cheap for the family to attend, and at grounds where there's plenty of grass to sit on if that's your thing.

Cricket Australia spend obscene amounts of money on advertising across every significant medium, last thing they need is more encouragement. Though I am amused by "put more ads on FTA (I don't watch FTA) because FTA is important (a lot of people don't watch FTA)".

 

[gbatman]

I think the issue with cricket is that it needs to be viewed for what it is, it's a product and it's not being sold well.

We have a really strong team but it lacks excitement machines. By the standards of the last 30 years any way. It lacks personalities. We don't promote the contest well, we don't make it available to watch even.

Society has changed a lot as well.

1. Cost of living. Families are struggling so less likely to pack up he kids and go to the cricket.

2. Kids losing interest in sport. Parents are lazy, don't value sport, aren't great at making their kids do things they don't want to do or struggle to get kids to sport. Kids have so much to do, if they aren't playing sport they are usually glued to a screen. Either way participation is down. I was made to play sport and in the end of I am glad I was, it's not the same now.

3. Kids aren't growing up watching it. When I was a kid there was one or two TV's on in the house and you watched what was on. When the Cricket or Footy was on that is what you watched. Sure I watched my own things in my own time but I grew up watching sport because my parents had it on. Now parents are more likely to be streaming something with the endless supply of content or kids are likely to be glued to their own screen. They aren't growing up watching sport like 30+ year olds did. It's a dying generation.

4. Less ability to play sport or view it. go back 15 years and the amount of people working weekends was significantly less. Weekend jobs are massive now. A lot less people participating in sport or having the time to watch it because they have a weekend job. If it's not that it's the boss not allowing the worker to play sport for the risk they might get hurt. The state of the Australian economy is killing off the traditional sports loving sports playing Australian.

5. Patience. Patience is dead, people are unwilling to wait for anything. Everything is pretty much at our fingertips. We don't allow ourselves to be bored. If we have to wait the phone has to come out. Cricket is a game of patience, it's a game where things slowly build. Our minds are cooked from constant distraction and entertainment by the technology that dwells in our pockets. Our ability to sit and watch 100 overs of cricket and appreciate it is falling over. Thankfully I can do it but I doubt those who don't understand and appreciate the game can.

How you navigate around this is a tricky one. Making the cricket affordable and family friendly and making sure it's on free to air TV is the first start. Getting kids playing cricket and any sport for that matter is the next thing on the agenda. CA should be supplying schools with sporting equipment just as the AFL should be supplying schools with footballs, at least make sure the option is there.

IMO CA is enormously out of touch when it comes to marketing and promoting the game.

 

[11kgm]

Just let ODIS die focus on T20s and Tests

 

[footyfan1978]

There was a competition that ran in England in the late 2000s and early 2010s called the Pro-40 which was a one day competition among the counties that was 40 overs per side.

40 over cricket been around long before then.
Fairly sure in England they used to have 40 over and 50 or 55 over matches in same season in County Cricket.

Also in World Series Cricket they had something similar at first.
Here is some video of 40 over international match in WSC from 1978.

 

[PhatBoy]

If there's a sport in the last 20-odd years that has lost relevance faster/greater than ODI cricket, it's boxing ffs. But, true, at its height there were certainly guys like Muhammad Ali who talked the talk (thankfully never got political...).

And yeah we need to restore the TV coverage to its former glory: First innings in the afternoon, Midsomer Murders in the evening.

A portion of the home season's ODIs are on free-to-air, that's how it's always been. Everybody, except the snobs, will be watching on Jan 16, 18 and 21. Those games btw are very cheap for the family to attend, and at grounds where there's plenty of grass to sit on if that's your thing.

Cricket Australia spend obscene amounts of money on advertising across every significant medium, last thing they need is more encouragement. Though I am amused by "put more ads on FTA (I don't watch FTA) because FTA is important (a lot of people don't watch FTA)".

Is that supposed to be satire at the top?

Ali relinquished his titles and sat out of the sport for two years because of his stance on Vietnam and along with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X was probably the most visible figure in the movement for racial equality in the USA

 

[Gough]

40 over cricket been around long before then.
Fairly sure in England they used to have 40 over and 50 or 55 over matches in same season in County Cricket.

Also in World Series Cricket they had something similar at first.
Here is some video of 40 over international match in WSC from 1978.

40 over cricket in England was the old Sunday League initially.

 

[footyfan1978]

40 over cricket in England was the old Sunday League initially.

Explain to me how it all worked.
I am curious because I heard Lara on commentary answering some questions about his 500 in County Cricket and thought I heard him say there was something like that on one day. So did they actually pause a first class game like a rest day for that match, to play a limited over match on the Sunday and continue with County match on the Monday or have I been confused by what he said?

 

[Gough]

Explain to me how it all worked.
I am curious because I heard Lara on commentary answering some questions about his 500 in County Cricket and thought I heard him say there was something like that on one day. So did they actually pause a first class game like a rest day for that match, to play a limited over match on the Sunday and continue with County match on the Monday or have I been confused by what he said?

Not confused, that's how it was sometimes done. I went to see Warwickshire when Lara played for them play Surrey in a Sunday League game a week or so after his 501, it was at Guildford, I had to get a scalpers ticket and he got a scratchy three ball duck.

 

[JackOutback]

There's a few good points in there but realistically many won't make a difference and we just have to accept that ODIs have been superseded by T20. Most people don't want to watch cricket for eight hours. Of the points made, the only two that I can see really having an impact is bringing it back to free to air (if people come home from work, or turn on the TV on the weekend, and the cricket is on, they may be more inclined to watch) and the triangular series (I think people want to see real stakes and a tournament with a final has stakes, though obviously scheduling two teams at the same time is becoming more difficult as the schedule gets more packed).

 

[gbatman]

1. I think the players need to be told to let lose a bit, don't be afraid to celebrate, show some emotion, be a bit over the top. That sort of thing brings the crowd into the game, it just makes you feel like you're watching something important. I mean we all loved the Brett Lee chainsaw, Warnie fist pump, McGrath and Hughes getting right down the wicket and in the batsmen's face, Symonds jumping all over Matty Hayden as opposed to nothing much. I think the stance we too against sledging and culture has gone too far. It's created a generation of boring, emotionless cricketers who are brilliant but go through the motions. When the players are pumped it brings the crowd to life and gives the game a totally different feeling. There aren't really any entertainers or emotional players in the side at the moment, that creates a boring contest with no feeling.

2. Advertise the bloody game/series! On social media, targeted ads, billboards, radio etc. Reach people as you do in 2022.

3. Piss off the new rules. Powerplays gone. Two new balls gone. Lets see some reverse swing and a simple uncomplicated game.

4. Tri-Series. Bring it back. The touring sides play each other in regional centres and places that don't see a heap of internationals such as Ballarat, Canberra, Townsville, Northern Territory etc. Have a final and a trophy. Something to play for, something at stake. IMO it's important that the touring test team/s are involved in the tri-series.

5. Play it after the test series. What worked in the past will work again. People are still thinking AFL through November, cricket is only just starting to come onto people's minds. By about the second test people are feeling it, it feels like cricket season, they are interested.

6. Wind the big bas back. Shorten the season, it's dying because it's oversaturated.

7. Swallow some pride and make going to the cricket affordable. Cheep or free prices for kids, get families back into the games. Supply and demand, if the demand is low then so must the cost of admission.

8. The lead up, it's part of promoting the game but lets see some interviews in the media of players leading up to a series. Good interviews, good questions, get the competitive juices flowing. Media coverage is so important. There is no build up at all to matches and series anymore.

One-Day cricket is special because it's still proper cricket, it's a different style, technique to T20, it's not like T20 at all it's a faster more aggressive pace of test cricket. That's why T20 specialists suck at it and the good test players are often good ODI players. I think it has a place, it requires some appreciation but it's not promoted and it's been turned into a hit and giggle itself.

We have gone away from everything that has worked in the past and just left this format to deteriorate. There is plenty of time in Feb/March where there is a sporting lull.

 

[Xtreme]

Put it on FTA

Schedule the best teams and not easy beats

Bring in likeable players

PROFIT

 

[Teen Wolf]

2. Advertise the bloody game/series! On social media, targeted ads, billboards, radio etc. Reach people as you do in 2022.

Yeah we heard you the first time.

Here's a personal anecdote that explains why telling Cricket Australia to increase advertising is inadvertently akin to telling them to waste more money:

A few years ago CA bought advertising space from the company I was at. Don't remember the exact dates/length of the run, but if it was something like 1 Dec to 7 Dec, it took them until about 4 Dec to pass on the necessary artwork to us. So they ended up paying $80,000 for $30,000 worth of advertising. $50k down the drain, easy as that, just because nobody at that organisation was organised enough to ensure an email with a few files attached would be sent off in time.

That was a pretty typical exchange with CA, considering the other dealings we had with them. It should make anybody wonder how much of the $35m they spent in biosecurity measures over the last two seasons was actually wasted on administrative * ups.

 

[Plugger46]

Just let ODIS die focus on T20s and Tests

I'd rather never watch T20 cricket again if i had the option
at least with an ODI you get to see the greats still build a proper innings

 

[FredLeDeux]

Why would you want to revive such boring crap?
Turn off the respirator.

 

[gbatman]

Yeah we heard you the first time.

Here's a personal anecdote that explains why telling Cricket Australia to increase advertising is inadvertently akin to telling them to waste more money:

A few years ago CA bought advertising space from the company I was at. Don't remember the exact dates/length of the run, but if it was something like 1 Dec to 7 Dec, it took them until about 4 Dec to pass on the necessary artwork to us. So they ended up paying $80,000 for $30,000 worth of advertising. $50k down the drain, easy as that, just because nobody at that organisation was organised enough to ensure an email with a few files attached would be sent off in time.

That was a pretty typical exchange with CA, considering the other dealings we had with them. It should make anybody wonder how much of the $35m they spent in biosecurity measures over the last two seasons was actually wasted on administrative * ups.

Really good insight as to what's the problem and how well they operate. Imagine a footy club operating like this, just didn't get the membership material up until march... Heads would roll, fans would be complaining, other groups would be looking to usurp the current administration, but there is no pressure on CA to get their admin right. Big elephant in the room. A lot of the failure of cricket and disinterest and feeling we have about it, especially ODI comes back to them. They are failing to compete and operate at a high level in what is a very competitive world.

 

[11kgm]

I'd rather never watch T20 cricket again if i had the option
at least with an ODI you get to see the greats still build a proper innings

I would rather they both die but you know, tests are dying

 

[Sammo360]

India and Bangladesh turned on a good one last night

and again last night. More competitive games like that help.

CA really need to bring back the tri-series.

 

[Aussie_boy]

I reckon a split innings format where Team A faces 20 overs then Team B 20 overs, Team A 25 overs and Team B 25 overs would be awesome.

 

[Cotchin 9]

I think the issue with cricket is that it needs to be viewed for what it is, it's a product and it's not being sold well.

We have a really strong team but it lacks excitement machines. By the standards of the last 30 years any way. It lacks personalities. We don't promote the contest well, we don't make it available to watch even.

Society has changed a lot as well.

1. Cost of living. Families are struggling so less likely to pack up he kids and go to the cricket.

2. Kids losing interest in sport. Parents are lazy, don't value sport, aren't great at making their kids do things they don't want to do or struggle to get kids to sport. Kids have so much to do, if they aren't playing sport they are usually glued to a screen. Either way participation is down. I was made to play sport and in the end of I am glad I was, it's not the same now.

3. Kids aren't growing up watching it. When I was a kid there was one or two TV's on in the house and you watched what was on. When the Cricket or Footy was on that is what you watched. Sure I watched my own things in my own time but I grew up watching sport because my parents had it on. Now parents are more likely to be streaming something with the endless supply of content or kids are likely to be glued to their own screen. They aren't growing up watching sport like 30+ year olds did. It's a dying generation.

4. Less ability to play sport or view it. go back 15 years and the amount of people working weekends was significantly less. Weekend jobs are massive now. A lot less people participating in sport or having the time to watch it because they have a weekend job. If it's not that it's the boss not allowing the worker to play sport for the risk they might get hurt. The state of the Australian economy is killing off the traditional sports loving sports playing Australian.

5. Patience. Patience is dead, people are unwilling to wait for anything. Everything is pretty much at our fingertips. We don't allow ourselves to be bored. If we have to wait the phone has to come out. Cricket is a game of patience, it's a game where things slowly build. Our minds are cooked from constant distraction and entertainment by the technology that dwells in our pockets. Our ability to sit and watch 100 overs of cricket and appreciate it is falling over. Thankfully I can do it but I doubt those who don't understand and appreciate the game can.

How you navigate around this is a tricky one. Making the cricket affordable and family friendly and making sure it's on free to air TV is the first start. Getting kids playing cricket and any sport for that matter is the next thing on the agenda. CA should be supplying schools with sporting equipment just as the AFL should be supplying schools with footballs, at least make sure the option is there.

IMO CA is enormously out of touch when it comes to marketing and promoting the game.

Unbelievably accurate post, this is spot on. The way technology/society has evolved is a big one imo.

I reckon a split innings format where Team A faces 20 overs then Team B 20 overs, Team A 25 overs and Team B 25 overs would be awesome.

They tried this in the Ryobi Cup early 2010s - in theory sounds plausible, but didn’t hit the mark.

 

[HugeJohnson]

What we need is more fireworks. Fireworks at the end of an over, fireworks for a wicket, fireworks for a four, bigger fireworks for a 6.
And loud music. Energetic music, music that gets the crowd going feeling like a party atmosphere.
Cheerleaders before the game, cheerleaders at the change of innings, cheerleaders for a new bowler or batsman.
Flashing stumps, a pitch that changes colour. Play it in the dark with neon equipment. Think outside the box.
Fielders on segways that have a top speed of 100km/h. Think how cool and spectacular some of the catches could be.