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Martin Devlin: NZ Cricket is in a lot of trouble

Author
Martin Devlin,
Publish Date
Thu, 16 Apr 2020, 12:44pm

Martin Devlin: NZ Cricket is in a lot of trouble

Author
Martin Devlin,
Publish Date
Thu, 16 Apr 2020, 12:44pm

Out of every sport in New Zealand facing a crisis because of  the coronavirus, I believe cricket is in the most trouble of all.

It's also the one sport we've heard nothing from. And when I say nothing, I mean zero. The governors of the game here, so quick to  chest-thump about the oh-so-healthy state of their finances, have been completely absent on offering any kind of clue as to how they might resurrect their sport once the fears of this pandemic ease.

Because the blunt truth is, there is no cricket. Just where and against who will our international players be competing next?

The IPL has been postponed until further notice so shelve that for the fortunate few pre-selected to play. Next up on the schedule was a limited overs tour in June up the Northern Hemisphere vs Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. To suggest that will go ahead is as daft as the decision to let boundaries decide last year's 1-day World Cup.

Following that soon to be flagged four team tournie we are meant to be playing another limited overs series in the West Indies. To suggest that that tour will go ahead as per  current plans is as idiotic as thinking our country will be fully back to normal once lockdown ends.

The most sobering realisation most of us are slowly coming to is that nothing will ever be the same for a very long time. And what I mean by that is the impending and devastating economic impact predicted to carve through every aspect of society, the most extreme consequences of which  just don't bear thinking about.

The problem cricket faces, and this is all cricket, is that it is truly an international sport. Without nation states playing nation states, what actual cricket is there?

And don't start telling me about the domestic game here, there and everywhere because NO-ONE CARES. Without the Ashes, Oz vs India, the Black Caps vs any opponent what cricket are you going to be compelled to watch again? The NZ domestic game that attracts fewer paying spectators than the Sky Sport camera crew contracted to cover it? Oh puh-leeze.

The 4-day comp here hasn't pulled in a crowd since before NZC CEO David White wielded a bat.

What I'm saying is without international tours, be that teams coming here or our lot going there, cricket as a spectator sport in this country simply doesn't exist.

And now with no free radio coverage and such sparse free to air tv coverage, how is the sport going to even maintain a presence let alone attract a new generation of players. That sound of silence you hear is New Zealand Cricket's answer to the crisis, their multi-layered plan to ensure the survival of their sport.

There is no short or medium term plan for cricket to resume being played. And it's about time someone from  the cash-rich NZ body began to explain how they intend their sport to be saved.

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