Troubled Times for Australian Cricket – Ken Jacobs

As we near the end of the domestic season in Australia one can only reflect on what has been a disappointing season for Australian cricket, both on and off the field, culminating in the disastrous Australian tour of India which has not only seen disappointing results on the field but a calamitous outcome that saw four players (including vice-captain Shane Watson) stood down for selection for the 3^rd Test match.

Tours of India for all teams, even the great ones, are never easy but standing down four players for not completing homework required by the coach is certainly not going to make the task any easier. This action was then explained as being the result of not just this misdemeanor but a “culmination of lots of small minor indiscretions that have built up to now”.

While we live in a changing world of sport that sees a multitude of support staff, leadership groups and modern management styles one certainly has to ask the question why action wasn’t taken to nip these “small minor indiscretions” in the bud before allowing them to fester and if not, why not?

There is no doubt, and without being accused of living in the past, there certainly would have been some firm action from some of the team captains and managers that I have known in years gone by!

Coupled with the much publicised “informed player management” of players that has seen players rotated in and out of Australian teams on a regular basis and the bizarre situation in India that saw main strike bowler James Pattinson snare two quick wickets and have India decidedly on the back foot but then only bowl six overs out of 52. Many well-credentialed cricket scribes wondered what on earth was going on with this Australian team!

How often throughout the season did we hear the public cry: “Why can’t we simply pick the best team to play?!”

Certainly the old adage of it being harder to get out of the Australian team than in it has long gone!

But the tour of India is not the only problem that has beset Australian cricket this season.

The Big Bash League (BBL) T20 competition launched amid much fanfare in 2011/12 has not, as yet, risen to the anticipated heights hoped for by Cricket Australia.

While any new competition must be given a reasonable time to establish itself in the sporting landscape, unless the wheel starts turning in 2013/14, the BBL is facing the prospect of becoming a financial disaster for Cricket Australia and its member State Associations.

Disappointing attendances again beset the competition this season (2012/13) and the competition is rumored to have mounted up losses in the vicinity of $10million over two seasons!  Cricket Victoria, which owns two of the franchises, has lost close to $2million on the competition in this season alone!

While shortly expected to announce a new television broadcast rights agreement covering its entire domestic cricket season program of matches, Cricket Australia cannot purely rely on this as the panacea for the BBL.

If the BBL is about attracting new audiences including women and children one area that must also be rectified is to allow matches to be broadcast on commercial radio not just the traditional government owned conservative broadcaster the ABC.

Attendances across the board for the BBL, Test matches and one day internationals were disappointing in 2012/13, notwithstanding some improved attendance figures in the BBL post-Christmas during the holiday period, and there is no doubt in my mind that ticket prices certainly played a significant part in the disappointing attendances.

One of the key stakeholders in Australian cricket, the Melbourne Cricket Club, has also recently taken a whack to its nearby neighbour in leafy Jolimont, Cricket Australia.

In its March newsletter, President former Test batsman Paul Sheahan was certainly on the front foot with a flourishing turn of phrase, just like his beautiful cover drives in his playing days, when he wrote: “The scheduling seems to be dictated by the Indian Premier League, a forgettable form of the game if there is one, the equally unmemorable T20Big Bash League and the desires of the television broadcasters to fit in with their global programming.”

Notwithstanding these views it is well worth remembering that the MCC also profits quite handsomely from the staging of cricket at the MCG!

There does however appear to have been an extraordinary focus by Cricket Australia this season on having players prepared and fit for the upcoming Ashes Series, both in our winter in England and then quickly followed by a further five matches back in Australia. This focus almost entirely on the Ashes or at least the publicly stated focus by administrators to this effect, in my mind is quite disrespectful to the teams/countries that we have played this summer in Australia.

So has the 2012/13 season for Australia been as shambolic as some might think?

Of course not! – the Australian women’s cricket team – the Southern Stars won the Women’s World Cup in India and this followed their T20 World Cup success in Colombo in 2012!

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About Ken Jacobs:

Ken Jacobs has many years of experience operating in the sports and leisure industry across a range of issues relevant to the sports business sector at local, national and international levels.

From 1980-2007 he managed significant growth in one of Victoria’s leading sports as CEO of Cricket Victoria. During this period Ken was responsible for the management of an increase in participation levels from 100,000 to 185,000 across 1100 cricket clubs in Victoria and a growth in revenue from $500k to $25million. He was also responsible for the implementation of Cricket Victoria’s renowned local government and volunteer recognition programs and the implementation of its first strategic plan. This period also included management and promotion of the iconic Boxing Day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which has been recognised by the State Government as one of the State’s marquee events.

From February –May 2007 Ken was engaged by the International Cricket Council as Event Manager for the staging of cricket’s World Cup in the Caribbean region.

The growth in the business of cricket has been replicated across sport generally which includes an increase in employment in the sports sector, an increasing involvement of government at local, state and federal levels which has coincided with increasing commitment in the funding and promotion of sport.

Ken is a qualified accountant (FCPA), is a member of the Australia New Zealand Sports Law Association and has an extensive network of high level sport, government, commercial and media contacts to ensure clients receive the desired outcomes. Ken was awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2009 in recognition of his contribution to cricket and the community.

Ken Jacob’s 

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