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New Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has declared he will fight to end of fans’ greatest bugbears in Test cricket.
A month into his new role, the former Australian Cricketers’ Association and NRL boss spoke on several issues impacting the game in a serious of interviews with mastheads across the nation, but he strongly emphasised his desire to put an end to the sport’s rigidness when it comes to light rain and bad light.
It is a familiar sight in day Test matches, with umpires order players to head to the dressing rooms for refuge from drizzle or glooming skies, as fans at the ground and watching on television frustratingly wait for play to resume despite floodlights being in use.
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Greenberg has had enough of it however, and said he will lobby to the International Cricket Council to find an appropriate solution, even suggesting a change of ball colour.
Perhaps from the red ball to the pink ball, as is used in day/night Test matches.
“It’s something I’m passionate about and it comes from my starting proposition, which is what business are we in? My view has always been we are in the entertainment business and so if we’re in the entertainment business that means we’re trying to make sure as many fans can enjoy their cricket as possible,” Greenberg told News Corp.
“The frustration that goes when we walk off with bad light is we may be one of the last industries left that would do that.
“We need to find ways to innovate and figure out solutions so that doesn’t happen in the future.
“I’m a realist and I understand why (it happens) and I understand the difficulties, but ultimately we want to give fans the best outcomes and there is nothing more frustrating than having to go off for bad light, particularly in an environment where we can play under lights be it with different coloured balls or different technologies.
“It is something we have to address as a sport, not just Australian cricket, but global cricket to make sure we can live up to the expectations of people who are paying good money to watch our sport.”
The SCG has been the worst culprit among Australian Test venues for rain and bad lights delays in recent years, and Greenberg has also suggested another break from tradition at the famed ground.
The AFL has reportedly pushed behind the scenes for several years for the SCG to move to drop-in pitches like at the MCG, Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium.
The host of the New Year’s Test along with the Gabba have kept their traditional wicket tables, despite the AFL’s push.
Greenberg suggested that a move to a drop-in square may be beneficial for cricket as the SCG has struggled in recent years to host domestic matches early in October and November after the Sydney Swans finish their AFL campaign in September.
Last summer, the SCG did not host a Sheffield Shield match until November 24 and did not stage a single One-Day Cup match.
Greenberg believes a potential change to drop-in pitches could lead to more domestic cricket at international venues.
“At the moment we can’t even have a conversation about drop-in wickets in Sydney because it’s not feasible to put one in,” Greenberg told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Cricket has long maintained the need to continue with the wicket squares in stadiums, but my view going forward is there’s flexibility on both parties, and for us to use drop-in wickets to our advantage.
“We need to have an open mind, and I’ll certainly bring an open mind to the conversation, whether it’s in Sydney or elsewhere. If governments are going to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure, what they want in return for that is usage and content.
“So we can’t put our head in the sand … we have to respect infrastructure investment from governments to ensure the venues can be genuinely multipurpose. The advantage for us potentially when we’re not in cricket season or on the shoulder of cricket season, is that we can play additional events with drop-in wickets. So the advantage for sports works both ways.”
SAUDI INVESTMENT; FUTURE OF THE BBL
One of the biggest matters Greenberg is set to the deal with is the introduction of influence by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund into cricket.
There has been reports in recent times of a Saudi-funded T20 league being likely to emerge as essentially a second version of the IPL after the middle-eastern kingdom’s push into sport via LIV Golf, Premier League club Newcastle United, football’s Saudi Pro League, tennis’ ATP and WTA Tours and more.
It was one of the hot topics at Greenberg’s first ICC meeting in Zimbabwe last week, and the new boss of Australian cricket is determined for the sport not experience a divide like men’s professional golf through a breakaway league.
“You don’t have to be Einstein to work out that there’s an opportunity for Saudi investment for a lot of sports across the world,” Greenberg told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The principal point is: do you want it to happen to you, or do you want it to happen with you? I’ve taken a view for cricket that if that were to happen, we’d rather be inside the conversation than outside the conversation.
“We’ve clearly seen what happens when you’re outside the conversation in other sports. So, bringing a curious mind to it, and there will be lots of challenges, but that curious mind will put you in good stead down the track. There will still be some people who feel a level of concern, and that’s completely understandable. And I will share some of those concerns.
“But I also have the view that the world is evolving quickly, so for us to think some of these things will go away, I think would be to the detriment of our sport. So, making sure you’re in the conversation or at least can have the opportunity to listen, is important because I don’t want it to happen without our knowledge or understanding or input.”
Greenberg’s philosophy of working with any potential Saudi investment could mean a big change to the Big Bash League.
Cricket Australia have reportedly been seriously considering the introduction of privatisation to Australia’s premier T20 competition.
It would follow the recent move of the England and Wales Cricket Board to sell off 49 per cent of teams in The Hundred to private investors, including IPL team owners and American investment firms.
Private enterprises already owned teams across the IPL, America’s Major League Cricket, South Africa’s SA20, the Caribbean Premier League and the UAE’s ILT20 before expanding into England.
Greenberg did not rule out that similar could happen in Australia, but it would not come from a position of desperation or necessity.
“I think a lot of people on the back of what’s happened in the UK with the Hundred are just expecting that we’ll do the same thing here. And I’m at pains to point out to people, that’s not the case,” Greenberg told News Corp.
“What we have to do first is let’s have a look at what options for headroom we’ve got, what growth opportunities we have in the league.
“This is a very profitable league. It’s doing really well. So the question for us is how do we maximise some of that?
“Is that changing some of our strategy, is it expansion? And considering all of those things before we even get to the point of, do we want external investment to come into our league?
“We are fortunate we can consider these things from a position of real strength. Everything is on the table so I want to make sure we’ve got an eye to the future to innovate and evolve, but we don’t have to make any rushed decisions.
“… I don’t want to be the sport that puts its head in the sand. I want to be a sport that has the view to the future and is open-minded to both evolution and change, whilst always protecting what’s really fundamental and core to the sport.”
