Also the poor opposition.
But I don’t think you could start the NY test today, if the Boxing Day test went the distance it would be one rest/travel day.
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Should start on the 2nd. I get it’s a short turnaround but it’s only the third test of the summer.
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I thought there was a minimum number of days between tests (calculated on 5 day test duration) too
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I know it’s usually been in mid November (this year was significantly later due to the World Cup) but it’s not unheard of for the season to start in October. Even early November would be OK. That period after the AFL/NRL finals is becoming a bit of a void (aside from Bathurst and the Spring Racing Carnival but both of those events are not what they once were) and it’s a good slot to get the cricket underway in my view.
I’m sure Seven/Fox/CA and Nine/TA wouldn’t promote the other event but I could see other media outlets hyping up the day.
I disagree, given the BBL’s promoted as a family sport I think there’s more value in it (and you will get a better attendance) being in the late afternoon/early evening when it’s near the time of school going back. Extending it into the first week of February for the finals (and having them on Friday/Saturday/Sunday night) would be OK I guess but it runs the risk of the competition dragging out and losing momentum like it has in the past.
And given that the Tennis has a lock on the last Saturday and Sunday nights of the school holidays, it only leaves afternoon slots available. They could run against the tennis but there’s the real risk of cannibalising the audience- that’s not so bad if it’s regular season games but would be a disaster for a final.
I’d actually recommend the 4th as the best start date this year with New Years Day being a bit too short between tests. Lots of businesses and workers are back to work this week (a lot take just the 3 working days between Christmas and New Year) and having days 3 and 4 on the weekend works better than days 4 and 5.
Pretty sure it’s three days but can’t find the relevant regulation.
One way to get the New Years test underway on New Years Day would be to start the Boxing Day test on the 23rd or 24th and have a ‘rest day’ on the 25th. It’s been done before, in 1950 and 1952. The only thing with starting on the 24th would be that it would have to be a 4 day test, not unthinkable given it’s been trialled and Day/Night tests are also a recent phenomenon.
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Boxing Day won’t be a 4 day test. And the broadcasters don’t like the rest day.
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It isn’t unusual for the test series to be starting in early December, even in World Cup years.
The problem I think becomes how you work in the domestic schedule. The Sheffield Shield doesn’t start until late October already following the One Day Cup. An early November slot for test matches doesn’t leave much time for players to gain long format form before the international series. Now you can play your bilateral ODI/T20 series in this early slot to fill the gap before the test series, which they have done in the past, but that doesn’t solve the problem of the weather issues with the Sydney test.
What other media outlets are there though? You have the two highest rating FTA networks, Pay TV, just about every major newspaper and some of the highest rating radio stations on one side or the other. The others would pull the “It’s a massive day in sport” line, bit they aren’t going to really hype it.
They tried an afternoon slot (Eastern time) for the final, but it has since returned to a primetime spot. It works better for the broadcasters, paricularly Seven with news commitments. The final has generally been on a Saturday, so you need to have midweek finals to allow enough rest and travel time between games. Night matches simply work better for this to allow as many people after work to attend as possible.
Which is why they have either gone before or after the tennis finals. This year they are having the final on the Wednesday before, which further pushes the need for a night final.
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Covid years that was the case, before then I’m pretty sure most years have been second half of November.
I’d flip the Sheffield Shield to start in September before the One Day Cup.
Even with the vested interests from a lot of our media outlets I’m sure some (most likely News Corp) wouldn’t be able to resist a bit of hype and hyperbole, but that’s just my view and may not be the actual case.
My proposal was based on the competition starting on NYE with no New Years test so the BBL gets clear air over the school holidays as a quickfire 1 month tournament (and access to all the Test stars). Finishing before the tennis finals would be too short and going out into February would kill momentum once families are back in the school routine.
Starting mid December and going through to the middle weekend of the Aus Open could work as a decent compromise and not drag on for too long, but just means that you don’t get the Test players until mid-season.
But ultimately it’s just my thoughts on how to deal with the Sydney rain issue and the BBL’s decline in popularity- not worth getting too absorbed by it as I’m sure absolutely no-one at CA is paying any attention to me anyway 
Probably nil, as they’d chuck the eastern states off to 7mate during the news like usual 
But that does make 12pm is a bit of an awkward time. There is already the oddity of the Perth test having had their days starting at 10.20 (and not either 10 or 10.30) to get eastern states’ Seven News going right off the calling of tea - and in this day and age that’s more predictable than believing that stumps will ever get drawn as per scheduled time…
I suspect they’d have to do the same here, start it at 1.20 to satisfy Seven, yet that might get up some traditionalists’ noses in Melbourne with it finishing most days as late as 8.50 [again, the overs never get bowled on time :P], or even 9.50 if there were rain delays.
Australia achieved a 3-0 clean sweep of women’s ODI series against India, thrashing the hosts by 190 runs in game 3 in Mumbai. Australia made 7/338 from their 50 overs, thanks to a 189-run opening stand between player of the match Phoebe Litchfield (119) and Alyssa Healy (82), the team’s biggest partnership versus India. India were never in the contest, bowled out for 148 in the 33rd over.
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What is going on in South Africa?
After thrashing India by an innings and 32 runs in the 1st Test, SAF have just been bowled out for just 55 in the 2nd Test.
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Yeah I saw this. Thats what happens when you name a C grade side lol. 
It was a dramatic opening day. Overall, 23 wickets fell.
Led by Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India had a solid start reaching 4/153, before losing their last six wickets for zero runs to be all out on that score.
South Africa then batted for the second time and lost another three wickets cheaply to be 3/62 at stumps.
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It’s their best XI playing aha
Usman Khawaja has won his second consecutive McGilvray Medal, chosen by ABC Radio commentary team as the best Australian test player of 2023. He scored 1,210 test runs in 2023 at an average of 52.60, including three centuries and six 50s during the period.
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South Africa and West Indies may have sold their souls to white-ball cricket, but I hope Pakistan persist with test matches. Despite the dropped catches and some poor efforts, they have shown a lot of grit and have seriously challenged the Aussies at a couple of points in this tour.
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Slow over rates aren’t a factor in tests like this!
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I can only wonder what if they took that sitter of catch when Marsh was on 20 in the 2nd innings in Melbourne. Australia would have been 5/44. He made 96.
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Mark Taylor made a decent point in an SMH article yesterday; the best teams of an era are usually the best fielding sides. The West Indies of the 1980s (Gus Logie, Jeff Dujon, Viv Richards) and Australia in the 90s and 00s (Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor himself) are the key examples cited.
Pakistan have always been a bit ‘how’s it going’ in the field. This has been compensated for at times by brilliant bowling (Wasim, Waqar) and mercurial batting.
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I never thought he was a great fielder.
Too slow and only ever caught the ball if it came straight to him.
Mark Waugh was a bit too casual at times too.
It’s probably a little unfair on the current team, but their fielding performance often brings back thoughts of their history with match fixing
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