The Roar
The Roar

The Roar

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Joined June 2023

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Former sports historian who enjoys writing with a bit more flair. Have published one book, Not Playing the Game: Sport and Australia's Great War (2021). Almost finished the next one, The Football War: the VFA and VFLs Battle for Football Supremacy (2024). A Carlton fan despite my best intentions.

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The several examples I listed in the final third of the piece

The relentless push for 'professionalism' is putting AFL players at risk

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AFL
 
3d

Thanks for this. Not sure I excused any player for breaking the law or being unfit. That’s a reasonable expectation of an elite athlete. I also clearly mentioned players must endure a level of public scrutiny if they accept their large pay cheques. Another reasonable expectation. What I was pointing out was the infractions clubs make on their employees rights who they believe are their property.

The relentless push for 'professionalism' is putting AFL players at risk

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AFL
 
3d

Concerning you found the Essendon drug saga, hawthorn racism saga and concussion class action hilarious…

The relentless push for 'professionalism' is putting AFL players at risk

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AFL
 
3d

Well, first of all at no point did I ever say getting paid their wages was a violation of their human rights, so we can put that to bed. Secondly, the occupations you listed are occupations that people knowingly accept as hazardous. AFL players likewise accept the hazards that come with their occupations, namely injury and public scrutiny. What they don’t and should not accept are undisclosed or illegal acts that occur during their time of employment, such as those listed in the article.

The relentless push for 'professionalism' is putting AFL players at risk

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AFL
 
3d

Hey Elvis. I am not sure if you read the article but it clearly states footballers have an obligation to meet their employers needs. However, no amount of money can compensate for a breach of your basic human rights and safety, which seems to occur regularly to AFL players. A mentality of ‘well we pay you X amount so you will do anything we say’ leads to these kinds of abuses. Footballers are entitled to personal lives and outside interests but most of all their personal safety and respect, just like anyone else.

The relentless push for 'professionalism' is putting AFL players at risk

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AFL
 
3d

I think cricket’s administrators definitely need to revisit the play book Dwayne, which has not been altered for some time.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

haha I like that one Andrew. Test cricket does have a nasty knack for survival I’ll admit!

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore its consequences.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

I think your key point Gordon is still rooted in the assumption that T20 skills are the same as those of the longer format. To assume that you can only improve your batting or bowling through extended “time in the middle” is based on the predication that you will be playing a longer format. As I mentioned, players who adapt faster, who can adjust their play from less time will thrive, while those who have better endurance but take longer to “get going” will fall away.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

With respect, I am not sure I agree. T20 will likely replace redball cricket at all levels, and players will move up and down as they always have. Skills will change, some facets of the game will grow in importance and others decline in importance. Some players will rise who are better suited to the short format, others will struggle to adapt and fall away. But the game will endure as it always has. Only time will tell of course, and if Test cricket is still around in 50 years I will be a very happy man.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Oh there have been a few just as self-centred. The Australian cricket board for one and the MCC in England for another.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Thanks for this Georgie. I think they are important precedents for us to consider. And no doubt history and fate do not run an inevitable course. I guess from my interactions with Indian cricket fans and media is that the IPL is becoming the central focus of attention. It is in effect like domestic footballing competition. You support a city-based team over the course of a season, with an ultimate prize up for grabs once a year, which provides neat narratives for any loyal follower. It is also played in a timeslot that suits the Indian lifestyle. International Test cricket is still structured like it was played in the 1910s, a number a somewhat meaningless bilaterals played across five days at ungodly hours. I love this about the game, but it doesn’t bode well in the modern commercial landscape of professional sport, particularly for nations like South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka who don’t have things like the Ashes to keep them up until 2am. Australia ran cricket for a short while, and England before us. But we have to face facts we no longer can dictate terms. The money is in India, and therefore so is political control. And India loves the IPL.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Hey BigGordon. I think I will agree with your first point but disagree with your second. India are definitely the hegemony in world cricket, though they are running the play book just like their predecessors to some degree. I highly recommend the writing of Indian historian Ramachandra Guha, who outlines that world cricket was run by England between 1877 and 1977. From there Packer and Australia ran it from 1977 to 2005. Now India and the IPL run cricket. All three have run cricket as they saw fit, with little care for other nations or the overall balance and health of the game. As to your second point, while many fine T20 players have cut their teeth in the red ball game, I think this is simply owing to the fact that pathways from local to elite cricket are traditionally red ball structured. The more money being made off T20, the more likely crickets owners will make these pathways more T20 centric, and you will get better T20 cricketers. But thats just my theory.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

I like it Rowdy. Any method that benefits the cricket community as a whole is fine by me.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Very true Micko. It is ironic that Test cricket was born in death, as per the Ashes. But this time I think there is a real threat to it, given the popularity of franchise T20. Kerry Packer might have destroyed international cricket in 1978 had he been so inclined with World Series Cricket, but he loved the traditional format and handed it back to the Boards for a slice of the pie. But I am not so sure about the IPL and others. They want the whole thing, and I cannot say I blame them.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

You have cut to the heart of it Kizman. Cannot blame for poorer nations and their players for choosing franchise T20 when they have been neglected for so long.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Some reasonable criticisms made here. Although I appreciate the bind the AFL finds itself. If we want to avoid mistakes like what happened to Adelaide, we need to spend heavily on things like technology (some of the best cameras for example cost millions of dollars). But in order to raise the necessary funds, you need to manipulate your competition so that it makes the most money, eg having a compromised fixture that focuses on the “big Victoria clubs”, as you say. So, it is a delicate balance.

Crows robbery the latest in a long list of failures by Gill's arrogant AFL

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AFL
 
2w

Yeah which is a real shame. Some of my fondest memories of cricket are of ODI cricket. But having 3 different formats operating at once seems like a good way to cannibalise your business.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Spot on Josh. There has been a reluctance to help other Test playing nations grow the game. So places like South Africa and the West Indies are naturally looking to T20 to keep the game going there.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Your defensiveness Don is revealing a serious amount of insecurity and fear when it comes to new ideas, people and different ways of doing things. It is a natural human instinct to fear what you don’t know, but I promise you, you are not in any immediate danger. You can put aside your survival instincts and open your mind up to the “other”.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Thanks Badmanners. I wish I had thought of the Murray’s Mints line! What a beauty.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

I hope so Jack. I love Test cricket more than anything. But whether it is financially sustainable in a modern commercial sporting landscape is debatable.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

You are entitled to view T20 as hit-and-giggle and boring. But that is only your subjective opinion, not a universal truth. Many find Test cricket boring, and they are entitled to that view, though that does not make it universally true either. It is all a matter of personal preference.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Hey don. As I mentioned I am and remain a Test fan over anything else. But I think this snobbish attitude toward T20 is lame. T20 players have different skill sets. To genuinely love the game is to love the game, whatever format it is.

The death of Test cricket, and the Australian summer, is nigh

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Cricket
 
2w

Yeah Knox also points to the emergence of the AIS Cricket Academy in the late 80s early 90s a vehicle to identify and cultivate the immense talent coming through. WSC helped to begin the process of professionalising the code which laid the foundation for this academy.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Cricket
 
3w
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