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Australian domestic cricket is unique from other high level sports in that it is still a representative XI that each state picks. Most football teams around the world are clubs; all the teams in America?s Major League baseball, National Basketball League and National Football League are all clubs and even in Australia all the football codes field clubs. In fact, the only code in Australia that fields representative teams is rugby league?s State of Origin and City vs. Country games.
Being a representative team means picking the best team from a certain area. In Australian cricket teams this means picking the best cricketers from that particular state. This in itself can be hard for some states as New South Wales and Victoria have a far greater population than the other states while Tasmania has far less area to cover to find those hidden gem players. So, does this mean that states should be able to go to other states and sign their players for the season like the football club down the road can or should they pick all their players from their local area?
Victoria?s dominating team from the 2009/10 season that took out both the Twenty20 and Sheffield Shield competitions had a total of six Victorians, one Western Australian, one Tasmanian, 2 New South Welshman and one Englishman for the Sheffield Shield final. Andrew McDonald being a Victorian is only due to roughly five kilometres and could well be called a New South Welshman by coming from the border town of Albury-Wodonga. So In contrast, all of Queensland?s Sheffield Runners up team contained 11 Queenslanders. So is this really a Victorian win or is it a win for Australian domestic cricket?
The movement of players is not only limited to Victoria. New South Wales had Adam Crosthwaite join their squad from Victoria and Shane Watson come from Queensland to his third state this season; South Australia has poached a total of four Victorians, three New South Welshman, one Northern Terortian and one Queenslander for a total of nine players, Western Australia had four from Queensland, two Victorian, one South African, one Englishman, two New South Welshman and even Luke Ronchi from New Zealand.
So, where does this leave the players that are losing a spot from the interstate trespassers? Well, in a pretty good position for some, and a bad position for others. Michael Klinger has found a new life since joining South Australia after ten years in Victoria where he was struggling to get a game. Two domestic player of the season awards later and he is now pushing for a spot in the Australian line-up. Could Dan Marsh have made it into the Western Australian side? Further back, Shane Watson could not a game for Queensland so moved down to Tasmania to start his career before moving back to Queensland then onto New South Wales to join his partner. Mitchell Johnson also moved to be with his partner when he moved to Western Australia at the start of this season. These states have gotten Australian representative players but fans have not had the chance to see them play in state colours yet. Are these players a good investment for their states and how do the states that the players originate from feel about losing stars? What do the gaining states actually gain from poaching players from other states? Is the money in domestic cricket so large that state boards need to do this? How many young Tasmanian cricketers missed out on a contract with Cricket Tasmania due to their thirteen imports?
Some of the numbers mentioned previous were of players born interstate then played all their cricket in their new state but the majority have moved mostly after their stint at the Cricket Academy where state boards scout potential new recruits. Victoria even went as far as to sign a young player on a six figure contract and promise him first team cricket as not to lose him to the ne Gold Coast Football Club that is entering the Australian Football League in 2011, albeit he was a Victorian. Maybe there is too much money to throw around at players from interstate.
So, does this mean that our states are turning into cricket clubs? Should we disband state representative sides and let the various cities and areas of Australia start clubs and hire players from anywhere? Well, if the proposed ?Australian Premier League? twenty20 league is to start I cannot see how far we are of this scenario.
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Being a representative team means picking the best team from a certain area. In Australian cricket teams this means picking the best cricketers from that particular state. This in itself can be hard for some states as New South Wales and Victoria have a far greater population than the other states while Tasmania has far less area to cover to find those hidden gem players. So, does this mean that states should be able to go to other states and sign their players for the season like the football club down the road can or should they pick all their players from their local area?
Victoria?s dominating team from the 2009/10 season that took out both the Twenty20 and Sheffield Shield competitions had a total of six Victorians, one Western Australian, one Tasmanian, 2 New South Welshman and one Englishman for the Sheffield Shield final. Andrew McDonald being a Victorian is only due to roughly five kilometres and could well be called a New South Welshman by coming from the border town of Albury-Wodonga. So In contrast, all of Queensland?s Sheffield Runners up team contained 11 Queenslanders. So is this really a Victorian win or is it a win for Australian domestic cricket?
The movement of players is not only limited to Victoria. New South Wales had Adam Crosthwaite join their squad from Victoria and Shane Watson come from Queensland to his third state this season; South Australia has poached a total of four Victorians, three New South Welshman, one Northern Terortian and one Queenslander for a total of nine players, Western Australia had four from Queensland, two Victorian, one South African, one Englishman, two New South Welshman and even Luke Ronchi from New Zealand.
So, where does this leave the players that are losing a spot from the interstate trespassers? Well, in a pretty good position for some, and a bad position for others. Michael Klinger has found a new life since joining South Australia after ten years in Victoria where he was struggling to get a game. Two domestic player of the season awards later and he is now pushing for a spot in the Australian line-up. Could Dan Marsh have made it into the Western Australian side? Further back, Shane Watson could not a game for Queensland so moved down to Tasmania to start his career before moving back to Queensland then onto New South Wales to join his partner. Mitchell Johnson also moved to be with his partner when he moved to Western Australia at the start of this season. These states have gotten Australian representative players but fans have not had the chance to see them play in state colours yet. Are these players a good investment for their states and how do the states that the players originate from feel about losing stars? What do the gaining states actually gain from poaching players from other states? Is the money in domestic cricket so large that state boards need to do this? How many young Tasmanian cricketers missed out on a contract with Cricket Tasmania due to their thirteen imports?
Some of the numbers mentioned previous were of players born interstate then played all their cricket in their new state but the majority have moved mostly after their stint at the Cricket Academy where state boards scout potential new recruits. Victoria even went as far as to sign a young player on a six figure contract and promise him first team cricket as not to lose him to the ne Gold Coast Football Club that is entering the Australian Football League in 2011, albeit he was a Victorian. Maybe there is too much money to throw around at players from interstate.
So, does this mean that our states are turning into cricket clubs? Should we disband state representative sides and let the various cities and areas of Australia start clubs and hire players from anywhere? Well, if the proposed ?Australian Premier League? twenty20 league is to start I cannot see how far we are of this scenario.
More...
