Durban: Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg has revealed he told curators at major venues to prepare flatter pitches for this summer and beyond, amid fears about a recent spate of two-day Test matches that have damaged the game’s finances.
Greenberg’s presence at the annual conclave of groundsmen was unusual by his own admission, but underlined the rising level of concern about matches being played “in fast forward” on grassy pitches with a souped-up Kookaburra ball.
Three of Australia’s past seven Tests have ended in two days, including the Perth and Melbourne Ashes matches, which were estimated to have cost around $15 million in lost revenue.
“I addressed the curators’ conference, not something I thought I’d do,” Greenberg said in Durban. “When I arrived, curators have been meeting apparently every year for a number of decades, and it’s been a while since they’ve seen the CEO come and talk. So I think that maybe sent a message.
“What we’ve said is if you’re erring on which side of the line to roll on, then make it flatter, maybe slightly less grass, because the game has evolved over time. The way batters are batting and players are playing cricket. I’m not sure if our wickets have kept pace with that. The data and the stats certainly tell you that.
“I am worried about short Test matches over time. I think a one-off is fine. You can deal with it. But over time, if we continue to see that trend, that will hurt the sport. It’ll hurt cricket, both from a commercial lens, but also just the purity of Test cricket and the beauty of a five-day close draw is as much a part of the fabric of Test cricket than a win or a loss, and so I don’t think we want to lose that.”
Greenberg has previously stated that the MCG and SCG Tests would not be moving in the event of BBL clubs being sold to private investors who may want a clear window for the tournament. But he has now conceded there is nothing guaranteed after the expiry of government and broadcast deals in 2032.
“So we’ve said in the way we’ve pitched our documents and the way the process would work is the Sydney Test match is contracted right through until 2032, so it’s contracted both with government and it’s also contracted in our broadcast negotiations,” he said. “What happens beyond 2032, I think, is a question that we will have to address.
“We would like to think that we can retain our Test schedule as it is into the future, but we’re also realistic to understand that we need to keep an open mind to that, and is there another way to do it? So it’s not simple, it’s not binary. But I think the Sydney Test match works really well where it is.
“It’s proven that over time outside of the weather. But again, as I’ve said before, the BBL games that are played on the evenings of a Sydney Test match are some of the highest-rated BBL games we have all summer. So you want to be certain that to change something, you get a better outcome than what you get today.”
Asked about recent NSW opposition to CA’s sale process for BBL teams, which played a large part in forcing the resignation of chair Mike Baird, Greenberg effectively said it was now too late to stop.
“The project was approved by the CA board last month,” he said. “The project’s well underway. The Renegades sale process is in market, and we’re expecting that to come to a conclusion before Christmas. And I think what will follow shortly will be a number of other states who are looking to sell 49 per cent and the idea of the self-determination model is for those who don’t want to sell, they don’t have to, and they’re not prescribed to do so.
“The sovereignty of their decision-making should be respected. And my view the whole way along has been the sovereignty of those decisions should equally be respected for those who want to sell and those who don’t want to sell, and that’s the model that we’ve built. So change is difficult. I found it quite difficult in Australian cricket because I had tried to align everyone’s interests, and we didn’t get there. So this is where we’ve landed.
“I’ve sat with the CA board who have oversight of the game’s national interests. That board made a decision last month to proceed with the project. It was strongly supported by three of six states. There are a number of other states now looking deeply in the model of their position in that, and that will unfold over time.”
Greenberg also addressed concerns raised by Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney that women’s international cricket is being pushed to the fringes of the Australian summer. Top women’s players are in India during January due to the lucrative WPL.
“We could play up against WPL, but I know it’s not something our players want us to do, and that’s why we’re not doing it,” he said.
“We just have to work around some of the constraints and try to get creative. Try to play maybe the WBBL later to jam into a later start of the BBL.
“That would be part of the private capital conversation, I think what’s been lost a little bit is how we can use that to grow the WBBL, not just the BBL. And that’s something I’ve spoken to Ellyse about at length about, her desire to see the WBBL take the next step. I’m not sure if we can do that without some assistance.”
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Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
