Several stars of Australian cricket return for a blockbuster Sheffield Shield clash, but no one will be there to watch

Australian cricket’s biggest superstars in a historic rivalry at the MCG, yet the stands will be empty. SHANNON GILL reports on the curious reality of a Sheffield Shield ‘blockbuster’.

In today’s parlance it was the first ‘blockbuster’ of Australian sport.

Way back in 1865 the intercolonial cricket match between Victoria and New South Wales was scheduled for Boxing Day at the MCG. Tom Wills, having invented Australian rules football seven years prior, topscored with the bat, took wickets and skippered Victoria to a resounding victory.

For more than 100 years it continued as a regular holiday fixture, the biggest sporting event in summers where there was no international tour.

Daily crowds broke 20,000 consistently and twice in the 1920s complete match attendances outstripped the Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth Test crowds held last summer.

Crowds watching the Sheffield Shield in 1969. Picture: Supplied

When the navy and royal blue meet again at the MCG this Sunday it will lose nothing for talent from those heady days.

“It feels like we’re turning back the clock a little bit with the players on show. ”says Cricket Victoria GM of Cricket Performance Graham Manou.

Global superstars Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon will be there, along with international veterans Marcus Harris, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, Moises Henriques and Sean Abbott.

Then there’s those on the cusp looking to establish themselves; Will Sutherland, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Ollie Davies, Fergus O’Neill and the headline act, teen Test opener aspirant Sam Konstas.

Teen sensation Sam Konstas will press his Test claims at the MCG. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

“It’s really impressive,” Manou says.

“Australia has prided itself as having a first class system that’s always been recognised as one of, if not the best. And at times opinion has been that it’s as good, if not better than some Test match cricket.”

And it will be played in the most fierce spirit.

Shield performances remain the true mark of peer respect inside the sheds. From Wills to Warne, via Bradman and Benaud, this is the clash that greats have earned their stripes in.

“There’s still a deep seated love and passion for it within the playing groups coming through,” Manou says.

The passion in the rivalry still evident on-field. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Yet for all the box office names and uber-competitiveness, the stands will be empty.

Last time the two teams attracted more than 1000 people to a game at the MCG was 2010.

If that many turn up on Sunday it will be a pleasant surprise, for the sport long gave up on marketing this format of the game.

As a veteran of 96 Shield games for South Australia Manou knows that empty stadium feeling.

“Especially when you’re playing at an arena like the MCG, it can be a disconcerting when you’re tapping your bat and you’re hearing an echo come back,”

Marketing resources below international cricket are solely ploughed into BBL and WBBL matches. Sad for the purist, yet understandable given Shield crowds dwindled decades ago.

The competition now is simply a cost centre for talent development. This year there is not even a naming rights partner to offset some of that cost.

It’s a result of the incongruities in the cricket public’s tastes.

Test cricket still boasts healthy attendances in Australia, obliterating ODI crowds and exceeding T20 crowds in Melbourne and Sydney. Yet a match in the same format this Sunday, with much greater star power than your garden variety BBL game, won’t register at all.

A Steve Smith six is retrieved from empty stands by John Hastings and Fawad Ahmed back in 2013. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

Despite the apparent fall from public consciousness, Shield cricket is more accessible than it’s ever been with Kayo Sports and the Cricket Australia website streaming live broadcasts of every ball of every match.

“And people are watching,” says Cricket Australia’s Head of Broadcast Richard Ostroff.

On any given day of Shield action the sound of cricket on phones, computer screens or televisions crackles in the background of true believers’ offices.

“There remains a committed cohort of Shield fans that are always keen to consume and we’ve been pleasantly surprised with the viewership numbers of the early matches this year,” Ostroff says.

“Year on year there’s growth.”

A lazy Sunday afternoon on the couch watching the two old rivals should be a no-brainer for cricket fans, so there is effort being made to give this unusually star-studded encounter its due.

Steve Smith will play his first Sheffield Shield game for more than three years at the MCG this weekend. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Cricket Victoria has been pushing the match on it social media channels all week, while Cricket New South Wales is taking the unusual step of sending a media manager to an away game to facilitate interviews with its superstars prior to the match and after each day’s play.

Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will travel and be part of that too, both expected to play in the one day fixture at the completion of the Shield match.

Given the stars, the historic rivalry, that there’s no clash with the bulk of community cricket and that fans could pick any seat they want in the MCG, Manou says it’s ample incentive to turn up.

“It’s not often you get an opportunity to literally rub shoulders with some of our Australian greats and up and coming talent.

“When they’re normally here for Tests they’re not as accessible, whereas during a Shield match they’re playing at the highest level but equally they become much more accessible.

“So get down and enjoy it, it doesn’t happen often.”

Originally published as Several stars of Australian cricket return for a blockbuster Sheffield Shield clash, but no one will be there to watch