Dear Australian Cricketers, all the best with your Australian Cricket Pay Dispute, but if we’re truthful if this wasn’t an Ashes Summer, we couldn’t really care. And as long as you sort it out by then or in time for the Big Bash, that would be grand.
Outside of the upcoming State of Origin decider, Bernard Tomic’s shameful exit from Wimbledon, the rubbish four game round of NRL, US Seniors Golf Open, Tour de France, Jeff Horn v Manny Pacquiao fight, Daniel Ricciardo winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, AFL, Transfer Rumours in the European Football, trying to guess where between 13th and 17th Ipswich Town will finish in this year’s Championship, anything else that BeIn Sports offer up on Foxtel, and after all that the Australian Cricket Pay Strike is right at the front of our mind.
We attempted to Google what all the arguing is about, and the best we could find was best explained in this article from a much better source, and if we’re honest that deal didn’t sound too bad. If we read it properly, a State cricketer is getting over $200K. Not a bad wage for someone playing Sheffield Shield and the invisible One Day domestic tournament. That should work out close to a $1000 per member of the public that comes out to watch them. Certainly a lot better than the average wage, and a reasonable reward for getting to play sport for a living.
And don’t try and compare this to the World Series breakaway of the 70’s, that won’t help. The players of the pre Packer era were really treated like shit, and they had to have an (token) job and play. And those players from the 70’s were much more likeable, and had some greatly admired facial hair.
Maybe we’re just getting grumpy towards cricket. After years of slowly being tortured every summer by the self love-in dross-fest that is the Channel Nein Summer of Cricket, interest in Test Cricket is at an all time low. In fact we sat out last summer due to paltry offering. We only tuned in for the Big Bash, and if that goes to Channel Nein, we won’t even do that. And we won’t be alone. Ugh, can you imagine Channel Nein with Big Bash? While we think about it, why not sign our petition to stop Channel Nein getting the Big Bash TV Rights. You’ll have even less bargaining power if those clowns get it and there’s fewer viewers and sponsors willing to get on board.
In saying all of the above, we’d like to point out to you Australian Cricketers that we would class ourselves as quite the Cricket fans. We get along to Alan Border Field once a year to taste some Sheffield Shield. But if we’re losing interest, and don’t really care if you end your boycott soon or not, then a large chunk of the public will be even further behind the interest stakes than we are.
But it seems obvious that you don’t really care what the public think, why else would you have Shane Watson involved. There would hardly be a sportsperson in Australia over the last decade that could produce a collective Meh from the general sporting fan. Perhaps you needed someone to review something obvious and get it wrong.
The parade of people fronting radio shows and news pressers haven’t really made the public’s blood boil for your cause.
Maybe if you had got someone interesting on board like Brad Hogg, Colin Funky Miller, Merv Hughes, or someone likeable as a public face, the public could care some more. The fact that you are all a bit dull doesn’t help us get interested enough to care for your plight.
The only saving grace you cricketers is that an array of Channel Nein Cricket commentators are coming out against the current players, and the best example is the Michael Slater – Ed Cowan stoush on radio. There is no one the public hates more in Australian cricket than the Channel Nein Commentary team, and especially Slats. So the more they come to the party, the more chance you have of getting the public on side.
Perhaps a tactic could be to get a current player to call out a Channel Nein commentator once a week and wait for the fall out. The more you involve the clowns from Nein, the more chance the public will get on side with your cause.
We’ve already lost the Australia A tour to South Africa which is a shame, as it could have given Australia a good preparation heading into the Ashes, and who knows what else will go before you come to an agreement. Hopefully not too much, as if we are underdone for the Ashes and it still goes ahead, and you are flogged by England we will care even less than now.
Despite all of the above, we wish you good luck and hope we will see you back on the field soon. At least for the Ashes Test series and Big Bash. If you play nothing else we wouldn’t really mind. Our life will go on if we don’t get to sample the Matador Cup this year.
If you don’t you may cause irreparable damage with the sporting public. And one thing for both sides to consider is that if the public stop giving a shit about cricket, they will stop attending and stop watching, therefore providing less money for you to both argue about.
Sort it out soon won’t you?
Yours sincerely,
The Gurgler.
