Quote:
Originally Posted by bazzap
The biggest problem for the Australian Test cricket team is probably the Australian public who support their team. It is the #1 sporting team in the country by a country mile. It is said that the Test cricket captain is 2nd only to the Prime Minister which is probably true. I have no idea who the current deputy prime minister of Australia is but I can always tell you who the current Test team is. People of my generation had it drummed into them. When a Test or Sheffield Shield game was being played, the cricket was being broadcast on the radio whether at home or in the car. I distinctly remember staying up late at night listening to Bobby Simpson scoring 311 at Manchester in 1964. It was the same throughout my working life. If cricket was on the radio, then that was what was heard in the workshops, on the job, in the office and smoko rooms or in the work car especially in the 70s,80s and 90's. It is in our blood.
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Top post Baz. In England it's unlikely you would ever get that level of interest in football let alone cricket. Most cricket here goes largely unnoticed and receives next to no coverage on free view TV. Sky have a complete monopoly on cricket coverage so the free channels mainly ignore it. If you want to watch cricket on TV then you must subscribe to Sky which just about eliminates the casual observer who would probably tune in for a Test Match, if there was going to be a tense finish, but is unaware of such events as its only covered on Sky.
As T20 is not franchised in England the ECB are starting a new competition known as The 100 most of which will, apparently, be on free view. Its purpose is to appeal to a wider audience and was supposed to start in 2020 but Covid stopped that. It will have nothing to do with County Cricket so its purely a franchise competition. That means the Counties will still be involved in 3 competitions the County Championship, 50 over and T20. However the 50 over competition is being watered down and classed as a "Development" competition, supposedly to give younger players more experience, to counteract The 100 becoming the fourth competition of the season. This means that although there will still be International 50 over cricket this will only be played in England by players most of whom will never play International cricket. Looks like the ECB have classed winning the World Cup as a watershed moment and England will never be able to seriously compete for it again. Well the ECB fuck most things up so why stop now.
I remember John Edrich batting for England and Surrey. Sconed by Peter Pollock and cracked ribs by DKL. No helmets or chest guards in those days.