Glut of games designed to ensure cricket is No.1 sport in Australia and fend off football’s challenge

HOW much cricket is too much? Answer: for those of us who love the noble old game more than any other sport, there is no such thing.

Ashes Test Series Australia v England, Fourth test MCG, Cricket.Shane Watson,

HOW much cricket is too much?

Answer: for those of us who love the noble old game more than any other sport, there is no such thing.

But even the most besotted fans are in danger of overdosing in the coming months, and — if you hadn’t noticed — it’s already under way.

For proof of that, there it was in the Sunday papers like the first swallow of summer — a report that Shane Watson is injured. Already.

The accident-prone all-rounder sprained his ankle stepping on a ball — a form of awkward mishap patented by Glenn McGrath in England a few years ago — and will now miss the tour of Zimbabwe, which begins when the team flies out on Wednesday.

This short series of one day-matches against the hosts and South Africa marks the start of the busiest season ever for Australian cricket, in all its various forms, genders and levels.

Michael Clarke, Darren Lehmann and company assembled in Brisbane over the weekend for a training camp and for some of them, there will be minimum breathing space until the final of the one-day World Cup — the main event of the summer — brings down the curtain at the MCG on Sunday, March 29, which is more than 200 days away.

Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke will soon jet out to Zimbabwe for a three-team ODI series.

After Zimbabwe, Clarke’s men play a T20, three one-dayers and two Tests against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in October.

Then there are one-day series at home involving South Africa, England and India to prepare for the World Cup (funny how the three most politically important nations get this opportunity for practice and those with lesser clout do not) plus four Tests against India and a full array of tour games, women’s one-dayers, international T20s, the Big Bash and the Sheffield Shield.

From October 4, when the Ryobi Cup domestic one-day series begins, there will be scarcely a cricket-free day.

This many-faceted fixture is so complicated Cricket Australia’s strategy experts worked through 72 drafts before they could accommodate every match without unworkable clashes.

It adds up to 332 days of cricket — 84 international and 248 domestic — at no fewer than 15 Australian venues.

Cricket Australia is pulling out all stops to make sure this translates to a big win for the game.

It last week published research that suggests participation numbers in clubs, schools and women’s and kids’ cricket are booming, which follows earlier reports that last season saw record TV ratings and new benchmarks in digital and radio coverage and attendance.

“This year promises to be even bigger,” says CEO James Sutherland.

All this is in line with the oft-stated ambition to make cricket Australia’s favourite sport.

But the game’s governors are acutely aware soccer also is on the march, with the new FFA Cup competition, the A-League and the blockbuster Asian Cup all competing with cricket during the summer, and the likelihood of the International Challenge Cup bringing some of the world’s biggest teams to Melbourne soon afterwards.

With the AFL also jockeying for position, the cutthroat battle for the sports market has probably never been more fiercely fought.

So as Clarke and company take block this week, they will know the heat is going to be on this summer in more ways than one.

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Twitter: @Reedrw

Originally published as Glut of games designed to ensure cricket is No.1 sport in Australia and fend off football’s challenge