Pinch hitting and penny pinching, and the rise of money in cricket

Learning to tonk the ball on a flat-pitch will get you a far larger payday than learning to go the distance and grind-out a score in difficult conditions - as is often needed in Tests. And in the last few seasons we have seen few centuries scored and fewer games go into the fourth day in the Sheffield Shield than has been the case in recent memory.

We have to ask what Cricket Australia's priorities are: is it securing the largest profit or the future of test match cricket in Australia?

While all this has been taking place, the WACA cricket ground - one of the game's most iconic pitches and hallowed home of Denis Lillee - faces financial uncertainty and real questions over its continuation as a test ground. All the pyrotechnics and chart-music blaring between deliveries in the BBL have successfully increased cricket's profile, but you have to wonder if similar effort was put into marketing the Sheffield Shield could the long-form game also grow under the spotlight?

There are seismic shits occurring in cricket at the moment. The recent influx of new money generated by T20 cricket and the rapid development of India seem to have brought with it issues which often accompany windfalls. There is no reason why these changes cannot be positive for the sport, in the same way the Packer revolution was ultimately beneficial in growing the game. However, we should also be vigilant not to compromise the tradition or integrity of the oldest form of the game. We should not lose sight of the fact that the role of money is to sustain the game for the fans, and that the sport is not a means to gain profit for the game's administrators. Now more than ever, cricket needs its fans to cast their attention on those in charge, as should always be the case when leaders ask for more money and power.