Thought of the Day: People care who wins

Growing up in Melbourne in the 1980's was a fairly bleak time to be a follower of the Melbourne Football Club and/or Cricket.

The Melbourne Football Club (Go Dees) spent the early part of the decade getting thrashed regularly and sacked their prodigal son, Ron Barassi, after he returned to the club and tried to coach them into something resembling athletes. Things got a bit better later in the decade, with the side managing to make it to the Grand Final in 1988, only to get beaten by the then-record margin (96 points).

Similarly, Cricket gave little in the way of enjoyment as the Australian team strove through its rebuilding period like a turtle walks through cement. Further, there was little to celebrate about the Victorian side, with our state-team regularly taking out the attendance award and doing little else.

Still, sports were (and are) a major part of the culture and you couldn't do much to avoid it, you simply learned who your teams were and you stuck with them.

Which brings us to today. Cricket Australia has recently announced a re-structure of the Twenty20 league, the Big Bash League (or BBL), with new teams to be established that aren't aligned with the State system.

This seems fundamentally flawed, even for Cricket Australia.

Firstly, the premier domestic league should serve to best support the national team, specifically the Test team. Establishing a series of franchises whose goal is to sell broadcasting seems to be directly opposed to this and will surely hurt Cricket in Australia in the long-term, much in the same way that dropping your best batsman will.

Secondly, the way the league has been established seems to be out of synch with the International Schedule. This means players won't be available for either national games (impacting those teams) or BBL games (impacting those teams).

Thirdly, the establishment of the BBL is reported to have come at the cost of investment in Cricket development. While it is all very well to have people tuning in to watch the BBL and KFC product-placement, there wont be much to watch if people stop playing the game well. Or at all.

Lastly, the Australian sports-market is vastly different to that of the front-runner of all Twenty20 leagues; the Indian Premier League (IPL). Local fans won't necessarily support the East Melbourne Hoodanini's just because the Victorian team doesn't exist. Australian's are incredibly parochial and traditional in this way.

C'arn the Mazda's!

If Cricket Australia was serious about revamping the Twenty20 league, while also developing the domestic league, investing in the sport at local levels and making a profit; it would surely make sense to use the resources they have that work, rather than re-invent the wheel?

The IPL may or may not be a corrupt league, but it seems to be working pretty well. Further, attendance at the existing Big Bash league games has been exceeding expectations, so there is plenty of support for the State-based teams that have been going around since the 19th century.

The obvious solution, for mine, would be to expand the IPL to make it the International Premier League and use the solid foundation that has been built for the benefit of all.

While I have no interest in the IPL or the BBL, I do like to know that the Victorian side I have supported through the grave times will continue on. After all, the only thing worse than having a poor team is not having a team at all.