Cricket Australia determined to get full season of Sheffield Shield over the line despite virus concerns

An entire Sheffield Shield season is now a priority for Cricket Australia — with a potential start-up date that may shock many — as it pushes to get the red ball season started and completed. News Corp understands there are moves to convene a special meeting of the Australian Cricket Council — made up of key leaders from across the game — to ensure every option is explored in trying to get the red ball season started and opportunities are available for Test incumbents and hopefuls to push for selection against India. That includes a push to consider a much earlier start to the Shield competition, potentially as early as in a month’s time, in a bid to bank first-class matches now in case the virus does force a season shutdown at some point. Players and states were privately expressing fears last week that there might not be any red ball cricket played before Christmas, amid a perception Cricket Australia weren’t treating the kickstarting of the domestic competition as enough of a priority. But on Wednesday, it’s understood the CA board gave strong assurances to stakeholders — that while there can be no guarantees during a pandemic — it will move heaven and earth to try and get a full 10-game Shield season away, despite the obvious financial and logistical challenges presented by COVID-19. All options will be canvassed if a planned meeting of the ACC goes ahead; the national cabinet which features CA chairman Earl Eddings, players’ boss Greg Dyer and the chairmen of the state associations. It’s understood Eddings for one is strong on the importance of Shield cricket. As Test stars like opener Joe Burns ponder what kind of match practice they might expect before the first Test against India at the Gabba, there has been a push in certain quarters for the Shield to get started as soon as possible and utilise facilities in Queensland and the Top End that are not being used by the AFL. CA will consider this proposal, but sources say the one thing they are firmly opposed to is shipping players away into hubs for months on end to get bulk matches played as the AFL have been forced to do. Not only would the biosecurity costs be exorbitant for a competition that is not propped up by TV dollars, but there are concerns over player welfare. In many ways, the Shield is the toughest competition to make work in a pandemic, because matches take four days at a time, and multiple venues are needed to produce first-class wickets. MORE CRICKET PANDEMIC MONEY DRAIN THREATENS TO STUMP SHIELD There is a renewed push to reduce the number of Sheffield Shield games and some believe a strong chance the one-day Marsh Cup competition may not be played at all as cricket counts the cost of the pandemic. The Sheffield Shield and all elements of Australia’s domestic state cricket fixtures are under pressure with states baulking at requests from Cricket Australia to contribute to the biosecurity bill in a meeting this week. Victorian cricket is the most vulnerable, but NSW is not far behind with teams from both states facing the prospect of having to set up a training base outside their home to avoid quarantine restrictions. States and head office are sorting priorities and counting costs in an ever-changing environment. The BBL and WBBL will survive unscathed, but the Shield, Marsh Cup, WNCL and other competitions are under scrutiny as the expense of putting players into biosecurity bubbles becomes apparent. The one-day tournament looks least likely to proceed, the Shield may well be trimmed and the WNCL is also under pressure. The WBBL will go ahead in September to fulfil broadcast commitments, but will be conducted in a hub with Tasmania one of a few states hoping to host the event. NSW and Victoria are out of contention, and Queensland is a real possibility. South Australia and WA are both positioning themselves to host the Indian Test side in a lockdown situation, but could also come into play. NSW is the only state association not to lay off staff but the majority have no spare money and were not happy to hear head office asking for contributions to cover biosecurity when the expense of that had been used as part of the argument to reduce grants. States told The Weekend Australian on Friday that they were surprised to be asked to contribute when they do not know what their budgets look like this year. Cricket Australia is yet to reach a deal with them over reductions to the grants. When David Warner spoke this week he seemed under the impression the Shield season would not start before Christmas. At this point round one is pencilled in for early October but no fixtures have been released. Victoria faces the prospect of moving its players out of the state soon or they will be hamstrung by quarantine regulations and NSW is in the same position. The additional cost of running cricket away from your home base is exacerbated by player per diems which rise on a sliding scale if players are away for home for a long stretch. Acting chief executive Nick Hockley called state chief executives together for a meeting this week where it was made clear he wants cricket to move on from the squabbling that has cost the game in recent months but a day later tensions were laid bare when state high performance managers were asked to contribute to the costs of the summer. Hockley will meet with CEOs again on Monday. The AFL is spending around $3.3 million a week to keep its competition running. STATES CRIED POOR When asked to contribute the states cried poor and pointed out there was no genuine proposal on the table. The associations had been asked to take a 25 per cent cut to their budgets from head office but three months later that issue, which in part cost then CEO Kevin Roberts his job, has not been resolved. States said they did not know how much money they had and if the 25 per cent cut was fact their coffers were empty. At one point the Australian Cricketers Association representative in the meeting was told the players organisation should reach into its reserves to help out the local game. The game is scratching scabs off old wounds in some senses. A proposal some months back to reduce the Sheffield Shield season was defeated when the ACA pointed out there could be no changes to the domestic season without its approval. FINCH ‘NICE BLOKE AND CAN PLAY’ IF YOU DON’T MIND Most people will tell you that Tim Paine is the captain of the Australian cricket team, but in truth he only runs one third of the men’s teams. Aaron Finch’s role as skipper of the ODI and T20 teams is often overlooked. This should have been Finch’s time. The Australian T20 side should have been finetuning itself to win the T20 World Cup on home soil. It is the one major international trophy that has never collected dust at headquarters. Finch last led the team onto a field in front of empty stands at the SCG in March in an ODI match against New Zealand. It falls on him and his extended ODI-T20 squad to lead Australia back onto the field with the squad due to fly out to the UK and into quarantine to play three games in each format. Restrictions on player movements and behaviour are going to be onerous on the tour. The players can’t go out, will have to keep their own rooms clean as staff will not be allowed in and they will be Covid tested every five to seven days. The captain admits that having characters like Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner locked inside a hotel inside a cricket ground for an extended period is going to be tough, but is relieved that at Southampton they will have access to a golf course which should keep Glenn Maxwell occupied for part of the time. Because they cannot hire clubs a lot of players are carrying golf bags along with their cricket kits. Finch’s captaincy has always been something of an afterthought. He had the T20 job but lost it when Steve Smith took over. When the ODI role became vacant because of Smith’s ban Paine was given the role, but it soon became apparent that it was too much for the Tasmanian and he gave it back to Finch. UNIVERSAL LOVE He has quietly and incrementally grown in stature since. There’s universal love for the thick-set opening batsman who is one of the most popular guys among teammates and staff. Justin Langer is quick to remind people of the role the Victorian batsman has played in getting Australian cricket back to the right place. “Painey gets all the accolades and rightfully so,” the coach told The Weekend Australian. “He has been magnificent in the post South African period. In my coaching career I have been so fortunate. When I was at WA I had Simon Katich and Adam Voges, two outstanding people, and now I have Tim Paine and Aaron Finch. “I didn’t have a relationship with Finchy when I started like I had with Tim and relationships are crucial in this game. I didn’t know him, but we have built one, he has been fantastic. “He’s worked through the scars of having been captain before and then not being captain. He’s got some layers to him and he is determined. If you ask my kids who their favourite player is it is Finchy because he is such a nice bloke. “He’s a knockabout guy from Colac but he is such a nice human being when you get to know him and he’s a bloody good cricketer. I think there’s still a lot more upside to him. You watch.” UNASSUMING CHARACTER Finch is an unassuming character and an unassuming captain. “I love the strategy that goes on behind the scenes, all the planning and preparation for tours, working out the specific, nitty-gritty stuff, that’s the stuff I really enjoy doing,” he said. “I really enjoy leading the team, I’ve got some great resources out on the ground. I do love captaining, I like having my balls on the line making those gut feel decisions when your heart is in your mouth and you know it is going to go one way or another fairly quick. I like those challenges, sometimes you get them wrong, it’s probably a fifty-fifty outcome, but I’ve got some great players in the team who make me look like I’ve made the right call when sometimes I haven’t. “Giving guys confidence and letting them know you are backing them is key. A lot of the time you have to take the result out of it, whether that be the game result, the result of that one bat and ball or a mini five-over battle that can determine a game in the middle of an innings. “Sometimes you have to take the win or loss out of the equation so that when the game is over if you can know that you made the decision for the right reasons the outcome is irrelevant. “As long as you are giving your players enough confidence to execute their skills under pressure, that is all you can ask of them.” Finch shrugs off the disappointment of the T20 World Cup being cancelled. “It was a blow to cricket in general,” he said. “You saw with the T20 women’s World Cup and the excitement that brought to Australia. Having the girls so dominant in that final was amazing. “It would have been great to carry on that momentum they built up, but it’s not to be. As expected, bringing 15 teams in to Australia and getting quarantined while having the best opportunity to perform at their best would have been too hard. “Hopefully we get that back sooner rather than later.” MORE CRICKET