Aussie coach Justin Langer pleads for end to bitter broadcast war as Marnus Labuschagne shines in England

Yes, there will be bigger squads but COVID-19 has changed the playing field and Justin Langer says broadcasters and cricket bosses must sit down and work out a win-win for both parties.

Justin Langer says both parties need to come to an agreement for the sake of the game.

Justin Langer has called on frustrated broadcasters to sit down with Cricket Australia to navigate a path through the conflict that has seen Seven threaten to walk away from the game.

“I just like win-win,” he said.

“I like people, whether its Cricket Australia and the ACA (Australian Cricketers Association), whether it is Cricket Australia and our partners the broadcasters.

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Justin Langer says both parties need to come to an agreement for the sake of the game.

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“It would be no surprise to anyone that partnerships to me are everything. My opening partnership, my partnership with my wife, partnership with my family, my partnership with my players and friends, I’m a very loyal person.

“I like to think in partnerships you have honest conversations, you sit down together and you get win-win situations. In this case I hope, and I’m sure it will be, because for the health of the game and to put smiles on the face of people who love cricket we are looking for win-win.”

Langer had appeared to hint at future conflict when he’d said before leaving Australia for a white-ball series against England that everybody would need to compromise this summer, indicating that teams would need bigger squads which would rob the Big Bash League of access to even more players than usual.

Seven West chief executive James Warburton was so angered by the prospect he suggested last week that the network may as well be broadcasting grade cricket which would cost nothing instead of the BBL which cost the broadcasters millions every year.

Langer admitted squads would be bigger because of the virus.

“I guess an indication is that we brought a 21-man squad over here for this tour and a lot of it has to do with biosecurity and some of it because we had to get some match practice in as we have over the last few days,” he said.

“I would imagine the squads would be a little bigger. Usually we have 14 players then we let a few guys go, but with the border restrictions that’s not going to be as easy. We haven’t settled on a number yet but we’ll keep working through that.”

The Aussies played the second of their T20 warm up games at Southampton on Tuesday night ahead of the first game against England on Friday.

Alex Carey and Marnus Labuschagne both hit centuries while Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis scored half centuries in the intra-squad game.

Labuschagne’s, even allowing for Langer’s hyperbole, sounds like one of the better innings you will never see and may have firmed him up for a start in the T20 side ahead of Stoinis.

“Absolutely sublime; it was brilliant to watch, actually,” he said.

“What a young player, as we know. Who could have guessed his acceleration in improvement? That’s what we love to see.

Marnus Labuschagne was in great touch in the latest warm-up game.

“We’ve had a pretty settled T20 side over the last 12 months or so and all we can ask for is that guys bang so hard they are putting pressure on the guys in there.

“So, whether Marnus plays this series or not, or certainly the first game on Friday night, time will tell; we haven’t decided that yet. But he’s certainly done, as has always been the way since coming into international cricket, everything he possibly could. It was classic to watch!

“He was hitting Pat Cummins, the world’s best, over point for six. And his partnership with Alex Carey was just so much fun to watch.

“It was great watching two great young Australian players going in hard against top opposition so it was great practice.”

Lust for big bucks behind cricket being bashed

- Robert Craddock

When Cricket Australia does its inevitable review into what went wrong with its Big Bash television rights deal one word lies at the bottom of the mess … greed.

Cash hungry CA executives just could not help themselves.

To get the magic $1 billion tv rights figure they so craved they had to stretch and bend the Big Bash so far out of shape it morphed from that tasty snack that left you hungry for more into the main meal you just couldn’t get through.

What other sporting competition in the world has ever quickly grown from 32 fixture games to around 60 matches without any push from the broadcasters or fans?

Channel 7, who want to sell the Bash rights, have stunned the cricket world by their withering public attack on CA but their boldness is the underpinned by the knowledge they will never be back so they have nothing to lose.

This will be their one and only deal with Cricket Australia, so there is no relationship to protect.

Seven are doneski. Gawwwwwwn … in spirit if not is presence.

The one complicating factor for them is if they do not sell the Big Bash how on earth do they sell it to their sponsors?

It’s hard to take your product to the market and give it the razzle dazzle sales pitch when your company is on the record saying it’s whiffier than your fishing tinny the day you failed to find that rogue prawn head hidden in the hull.

Tasmania’s Matthew Wade has thrilled households with some of his big hits.

Significantly, Seven still have four years left on their cricket deal which may feel like 40 for them in the current environment. It is a worrying long period for the broadcaster and for cricket.

The message for CA is they are quite good at doing deals but poor at maintaining relationships.

That fact is spelt out by the fact that CA are now out of favour with all three free-to-air networks with Channel 9 glad to be out of the building and Channel 10 still furious at being told they had the rights only to have that call change a couple of hours later.

Eventually, like all relationships, CA may reach that seismic moment where they ask themselves “I wonder whether the problem is us not them?’’

Former chief executive James Sutherland had his faults but one of his strengths was somehow finding a way to keep key partners reasonably happy.

The Big Bash League was a huge success when first out the blocks.

Things have not been the same since he left. As CA grew its core values became milky. Key metrics became more important than the personal touch.

One of cricket’s major problems is the game has no leader.

Rugby league boss Peter V’landys may not be perfect but he tackles big issues head on and somehow convinces all of the game’s stakeholders he is listening to them.

The game trusts him not to let it down. His public statements are clipped, precise and direct to the point where he can be confrontational yet somehow soothing in the one sentence.

Who does this in cricket? No-one.

The game is leaderless and rudderless. CA’s last commanding voice of authority was Malcolm Speed who left two decades ago.

Originally published as Aussie coach Justin Langer pleads for end to bitter broadcast war as Marnus Labuschagne shines in England